Diary: St Matthew's dedicates new hall

Digest of stories from The Luton News: Thursday, May 31st, 1917.

St Matthew's Church 1907

  • St Matthew's Church photographed by T. G. Hobbs in 1907.

Considerable interest was taken on Whit Monday by the people of St Matthew's, Luton, in the dedication of the new Parish Hall (pictured below) which, as Wenlock Street Chapel, was purchased from Park Street Baptist Church some months ago.

The surpliced procession in the afternoon from the church to the Parish Hall was witnessed by a large crowd of people. The Suffragan Bishop, the Rt Rev Bishop Hodges, unlocked the door of the hall and performed the dedication service, after which a public meeting was held.

Purchase of the hall was arranged in February for £1,000,the amount to be paid by September 1st. To date £860 had been raised, including an unsolicited donation of £50 from Lady Wernher at Luton Hoo and £1 from a fund started by a factory girl.

The occasion was also an opportunity to give a welcome to St Matthew's new curate,the Rev W. E. Lewis, who had previously been working among miners in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales.

  • Luton District and South Beds Canine Association had arranged for a dog show to be held in the Corn Exchange on Monday but, for some reason unknown, the Privy Council issued an order on Tuesday last week, which came into force at once, forbidding the holding of dog shows. Consequently this show had to be abandoned, after all arrangements had been made and expenses incurred.

  • The body of one of the latest victims of German snipers, Pte Percival Edward Clark, who passed away in Newcastle Hospital on May 25th, was brought to Luton yesterday and interred in the General Cemetery. The 26-year-old son of Mr and Mrs Charles Clark, of 53 Malvern Road, Luton, he had been shot in the thigh on May 3rd. Prior to enlistment he was employed by hat materials firm Barnard & Dawson, King Street, and in April 1915 had married Ellen Sole. They had a baby girl born 11 months before his death.

  • After enduing all the dangers of the front line trenches for three months, coming unscathed through great bombardments, Pte John William Cooper (Welsh Regiment), whose home address is 77 Dallow Road, Luton, had the misfortune on May 22nd to fall into a deep shell hole containing water, where he was drowned before anyone could render assistance. He was aged 38 and single and had worked for many years at Messrs Lye's dyeworks before leaving to work at the Hewlett & Blondeau aeroplane factory at Leagrave.

  • Mrs Cherry, of 162 High Town Road, Luton, is undergoing a period of great anxiety, having been notified that her husband, Sgt Sidney Cherry, of the Suffolks, has been missing since an engagement on April 28th. She has received a letter from a Seaforth Highlander stating that in an advance they were lifting a dead German officer in a trench when a pocket-case fell from the officer's pocket. It contained photographs and cards relating to Sgt Cherry's family. How they came into the possession of the German is unknown.

  • Another young Luton life prematurely cut short is that of Pte Victor Freeman Baxter, the 19-year-old son of Mr and Mrs William Baxter, of 7 Villa Road. Before the war he worked in the engineering trade for Messrs Hayward Tyler & Co at their Luton works. He joined the Beds Regiment at the outbreak of war and was subsequently transferred to the Leicestershire Regiment.

  • The parents at 39 North Street, Luton, of old Territorial Pte Albert Hughes have been officially notified that their son was killed in action. He had served for over 10 years in India with the Beds Regiment and had been called up at the outbreak of war to serve in the Worcestershire Regiment.

  • On Tuesday morning Mrs Rosetta Manning, of 105 Boyle Street, Luton, learned that her husband, Pte Frederick George Manning, of the Beds Regiment, had been posted missing since an engagement on April 29th. Prior to enlisting he was employed by Messrs C. Franklin, coal and coke merchants, Manchester Street, Luton.

  • Also officially reported missing is Pte John Cain (Essex regiment), of 116 Hartley Road, Luton, who went into an engagement on April 28th and had not been seen since. He was aged 24 and had worked at the Diamond Foundry as a grinder before joining up. He had been drafted to France within a few days of his first wedding anniversary.

  • L-Cpl Harry Snoxell, of the Beds Regiment, husband of Mrs Snoxell, of 31 Boyle Sreet, Luton, has been killed in action in Egypt. He was a keen footballer and had been employed by Brown & Green iron founders.

  • A letter written by the Sister of a hospital in France to Pc and Mrs Housden, of Warren Hill Lodge, New Mill End, Luton, revealed that their wounded son Pte Arthur William Housden (Beds Regiment) had died there on May 24th.

  • Gunner Reg Newman, son of Mr Marshall Newman, of the Luton Post Office, has been wounded in France and is now lying at Napsbury Hospital, near St Albans. He was shot by a sniper, a fellow signaller being killed. A thick telegram case with covers of tough millboard - a rough sort of writing pad given to him by his father - was the means of saving Pte Newman's life.

  • Pte George Fleckney, Machine Gun Corps, is now at Eastleigh Military Hospital, near Southampton, suffering from shell shock. The Mangrove lad had been transferred from the Beds Regiment and had been in France for about nine months. A dug-out in which he and others were 'carrying on' was exploded and nine of his comrades were killed as as result.

  • Former Lutonian Mr T. G. F. Carter, now a surveyor of taxes at Folkestone, provided a graphic account of the German air raid over South-East England on May 25th. Fortunately, he, his wife Nellie and their children were unharmed, although they heard very heavy explosions not far away.

  • An unusual accident happened on Sunday afternoon at the yard adjoining the premises of grocers and wine merchants Messrs Forman & Co, Market Hill. A horse which had got out of a stable stepped on the cellar flap, which gave way, letting the animal through. The horse was liberated, happily little the worse for its mishap.

  • A large number of people left Luton for the brief Whitsun holiday, but the majority went only short distances. The Midland Railway passengers chiefly chose London, and the GNR was very busy with passenger traffic to Dunstable and Stanbridgeford for Totternhoe Knolls. The seaside tickets were practically untouched.

  • Bank holiday was not forgotten at Wardown V.A.D. Hospital, and in the evening a special concert was arranged for the patients. Miss Sheila McCarthy and Mr Bob Barry visited the hospital, and for two hours laughter reigned supreme, along with songs, duets and dances.

  • The wedding took place at St Bartholomew's Church, Ipswich, on Saturday of Miss Florence May Arnold, of Ipswich, and L-Cpl Henry Grant, son of Mr H. E. Grant, of Round Green Dairy, Luton.

  • At the Salvation Army Temple, Park Street, on Tuesday, Commandant Paul officiated at the wedding of Pte Harry Friar, son of a Salvation Army officer, and Miss Rhoda Lay, of Luton. Pte Friar was invalided home from France some months ago and is now fully recovered, proceeding with a draft to France tomorrow.

  • On Saturday afternoon an alarming accident occurred at the Midland goods yard, Hitchin Road. A military wagon, belonging to the Army Service Corps, with two horses attached was being loaded with hay when something frightened the horses. They suddenly bolted and dashed out of the yard towards Midland Road, flinging a cyclist off his machine and buckling its back wheel. One of the horses fell and the other pulled it along for several yards, but this stopped the wild career of the animals, which were taken to Messrs Powdrill's stables. The cyclist was only slightly hurt.