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BOSTON ST BOTOLPH WAR MEMORIAL

World War 1 & Boer War - Roll of Honour with detailed information
Compiled and Copyright © Bill Ball 2010

The memorials are located in St Botolph Church, Boston. There are two plaques to men who died in the South African War and two plaues to men who died in World War 1.

Photographs Copyright © Bill Ball 2010

Two similar brass plaques with incised black and red lettering are fixed to the nave wall. Each lists one Boer War casualty and has a top section bearing the arms of Boston, with the motto “per mare at per terram”.

IN MEMORY OF
PRIVATE FREDERICK WINGFIELD HARWOOD
OF THE VOLUNTEER ACTIVE SERVICE COMPANY,
2ND. BATTN. LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT,
WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY,
AT PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, ON THE 9TH. DAY OF JUNE, 1900.
THIS TABLET IS ERECTED IN SORROWFUL
REMEMBRANCE BY THE INHABITANTS OF BOSTON.

IN MEMORY OF
PRIVATE WILLIAM FREDERICK LENG,
OF THE 12TH. COMPANY, IMPERIAL YEOMANRY,
WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR KING AND COUNTRY,
AT GRAAF-REINNET, CAPE COLONY, SOUTH AFRICA,
ON THE 23RD. DAY OF JUNE, 1901.
THIS TABLET IS ERECTED IN SORROWFUL
REMEMBRANCE BY THE INHABITANTS OF BOSTON.

Photographs Copyright © Bill Ball 2010

There are also two individual memorials, each with the names of two World War 1 casualties. A copper plaque with incised lettering, fixed to a metal surround, bears a regimental crest and the words:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
MEABURN STANILAND
CAPTAIN 4TH. LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT
TOWN CLERK OF BOSTON
KILLED IN ACTION NEAR HOOGE IN BELGIUM
29TH. JULY 1915, AGED 35 YEARS.
ALSO OF HIS BROTHER
GEOFFREY STANILAND
2ND. LIEUT. 4TH. LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT
KILLED IN ACTION AT LINDENHOEK IN BELGIUM
13TH. APRIL 1915, AGED 34 YEARS.

A second copper plaque, set in an ornate stone surround, bears two service crests and the words:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF
THOMAS BASIL WOOD
2ND LIEUT 4TH. BN. LINCS. REGT.
KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE
OCT:13TH 1915. AGED 20 YEARS.
ALSO OF
CHARLES SINCLAIR WOOD
LIEUT R:N:R:. KILLED AT SEA
MARCH:19TH 1918. AGED 29 YEARS.

Boer War
HARWOOD Frederick Wingfield
Bpt 10.1.1878, Boston St Botolph, son of Robert James & Martha Harwood. Private 6603, 2nd Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment, South Africa Field force, died 9.6.1900 Pretoria.
LENG William Frederick
Private 27680, No 12 Company, Imperial Yeomanry. Enlisted 20.2.1901, Nottingham, posted to South Africa 8.3.1901. Died of dysentery, Graaffreinnet, 23.7.1901 (note, date differs by a month from tablet, but is taken from military record). Born 1880 Skirbeck, Boston, bpt 15.8.1880 Boston St Botolph, son of William Frederick & Ellen Susanna Leng née Sinclair of Whisor(?) House, Boston. Unmarried.
1914-1918
STANILAND Geoffrey
Second Lieutenant, 1st/4th Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment. A solicitor, volunteered at outbreak of war. Killed in action 13/4/1915 at Lindenhoek, Belgium, age 34. Born 18.2.1881, Boston, son of Robert William Staniland of Hussey House, Boston; husband of Millicent Ellen Marianne Staniland née Leather of The Abbey House, Louth, Lincs. Buried in Grave VI. 1, Dranouter Churchyard, Heuvelland, Belgium.
STANILAND Meaburn
Captain 1st/4th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed in action 29/7/1915 near Hooge, Belgium, age 35. Pre-WW1, had served in South African War, then in Territorial Army, was a solicitor and Boston's town clerk. Born 6.12.1879, Boston, eldest son of Robert William Staniland, of Hussey House, Boston; husband of Frances Sophia Dickinson Staniland née Hall, of Wyberton, Boston. Buried in Grave VI. 15, Dranouter Churchyard, Heuvelland, Belgium. His brother Geoffrey is buried nearby.
WOOD Charles Sinclair
Lieutenant, HMS Motagua, Royal Naval Reserve. Enlisted 1914, previously in merchant marine. Killed 19/3/1918, age 30, when HMS Motagua, an armed merchant cruiser was in collision with US destroyer Manley off Irish coast and damaged by her exploding depth charges. Born 10.8.1888, Boston, son of Charles William Wood and Mrs Emilie Kate Wood of Skirbeck, Boston; husband of Mary (Mollie) A. R. Wood née Mason, of Hyndland Rd., Glasgow. Commemorated on Memorial 30, Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
WOOD Thomas Basil
Second Lieutenant, 4th Bn. Lincolnshire Regiment. Killed in action 13/10/1915 at Lindenhoek, Belgium, age 20. Born 15.5.1895 Boston, bpt 9.6.1895, St Botolph, Boston, son of Charles William Wood and Mrs Emilie Kate Wood of Skirbeck, Boston. Commemorated on Panel 31 to 34. Loos Memorial.

Last updated 7 January, 2022

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