Jon Trickett

South Kirkby Man Charts History

SOUTH KIRKBY MAN CHARTS HISTORY

Jon Trickett MP this week met with South Kirkby resident Bryan Thomas to get a first hand look at the local archives website founded by Mr Thomas. After seeing the site and hearing about the work Mr Thomas has put in, Jon is encouraging Express readers to visit the website and add any information they can.

The idea was born for Mr Thomas after he had been looking on the Cenotaph in South Elmsall for names of his relatives.  What struck him was how all the men remembered there were remembered by their first initial and last name. It made it hard, he thought, for himself and others to tell whether the names there were for relatives or not.

Mr Thomas wanted to make sure that all those who died in service of the country were named in full. He had the same experience when looking at the South Kirkby Memorial for Miners lost in the pits. Mr Thomas has also found names that were never included on the cenotaph or on the miners’ memorial and wants to make sure those men are recognised as well.

Mr Thomas started logging names from his research and decided that perhaps the folk of South Kirkby and district would like to help fill in the gaps and lost names, especially the families of men who died for their country.

Mr Thomas does not want to take any credit for the content of his site, as much of it was done by others. The information has been gleaned from many places and wherever possible, Mr Thomas attributes sources. Mr Thomas did and is, however, trying to make this a complete archive.

The archive is also turning into a general archive for the entire area, with a Common Road School register started – that register is becoming very popular.

Mr Thomas said:

‘These guys gave their lives for us. It seems a little bit impersonal not to know their full names. These heroes must have had proud parents, siblings, sons and daughters maybe. At the very least they deserve the honour of being given their full names.’

‘Despite it's downfalls, I love where I live and think South Kirkby deserves more recognition in the modern world – lets put our history online for people inside and outside the area to see. I hope people will take a look at the site and get in touch’

‘I have ready quite a lot more information to put on-line but I am at present redesigning the site to hopefully generate some more interest.’

Mr Thomas retires next year and hopes to devote more time to the site and research behind it.

Jon said about the meeting:

‘This is a great site that is really trying to connect the past, present and future. It is always important to know the roots of our area and where our families and communities came from – I hope people will ‘fill in the blanks’ with Bryan’

‘I really enjoyed meeting Bryan; he knows a lot about our area and is passionate about what he is doing. I have linked to his site from my website to help people find it.’

The web address to find Mr Thomas’ site, South Kirkby and District Residents Archives (SKRADA) is: http://www.southkirkby-archives.talktalk.net/

Editors Notes

Picture attached:

Jon Trickett with Councillor Laurie Harrison and Byran Thomas at South Elmsall Library.

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