A BOOK of Remembrance, commemorating the fallen of the First World War, is being compiled.
But Coun Malcolm Hyland, who has put together the history of soldiers from Staining, says he has hit a stumbling block, and is calling on villagers to help with memories they may have of local 1914-1918 war heroes.
Coun Hyland, who serves on Staining Parish Council, began his project after seeing how faded the Roll of Honour at St Luke’s Church had become.
He decided to look into the lives of the 22 soldiers listed on the roll.
He said: “A lot of the First World War records were destroyed by a bomb attack in 1942.
“I’ve had help from Robert Dobson and June Dowling from the Lancashire Family History Society, and I have spent a great deal of time at the library, but there are still some names that I cannot find any history of, even up to the 1911 census.
“I am hoping there are some descendents who maybe still live here who can help me finish the book off.”
Coun Hyland is in need of any information possible on Lance Sgt Colin Taylor, as he currently can find no record for the soldier.
He also wishes to speak to the remaining family of Pte William Ferguson.
The researcher has found a couple of people who could be the Pte Ferguson from the Roll of Honour, but he believes it was probably a man born in Weeton in 1880 and lived at Ream Hills with his father, Henry, sister Margaret and brother Joseph.
In 1901 he was a farm labourer and married Mary Ellen Rawcliffe from Marton in 1905.
Anyone who can help with Coun Hyland’s project can contact him on (01253) 885561.
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