Private. Wellington Infantry Battalion. Service number 10/3379.
Early life:
Joseph was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 29th January 1888, the son of Elizabeth Hannah Robinson. His mother married Joseph Midgley on December 23, 1891 and Joseph took the surname Midgley, but retained his mother’s maiden name. We are not sure if his stepfather actually adopted him. Joseph (senior) and Elizabeth went on to have twelve children!
By 1901 he was thirteen and living at Slack Farm in Oakworth with his step-father, his mother, four brothers and two sisters. He was a paper maker, probably at The Turkey Paper Mill, just down the hill at Goose Eye. His brother Frank Midgley also served and was killed in the war.
Note: Slack Farm is actually named as Slack House (see map) and has since been demolished and it it’s place is Newsholme Manor which is a hotel, caravan/camp site and bar/restaurant.
By 1911 Joseph was twenty-three, working as a butcher and journeyman for the Co-operative Society and still living at Slack Lane in Oakworth with his parents, six brothers and five sisters.
Emigration:
At the age of twenty six, Joseph emigrated to New Zealand (eventually), sailing on the P & O ship S.S. Benalla. The ship departed from the Port of London on 26th February 1914 and sailed for Sydney in New South Wales, Australia via Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. It would have taken several weeks to get there. Joseph’s ticket was no. 908 and he travelled 3rd class which wouldn’t have been particularly comfortable. He gave his occupation as ‘Farmer’ and indicated that his intended future residence was New South Wales, so we don’t quite know how he ended up in New Zealand. He was also a trained butcher so perhaps he was offered work and an option to emigrate to New Zealand, during or shortly after the journey.
War service:
His name appears in the alphabetical Roll of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1914 but we think this date is when the roll was begun.
We have a copy of his New Zealand Army service records which indicate his New Zealand address was 24, Munro Street, Napier. He enlisted as part of the eighth draft on August 24, 1915 and joined B Company of the 2nd Battalion, Wellington Infantry. His service was to be for the duration of the war and his step-father Joseph Midgley was his next of kin.
The Army records noted that they had no explanation on file as to how Joseph Midgley was the father of Joseph Thomas Robinson.
His medical details were as follows: Age, 27 years and 4 months; Height 5 feet 5 inches; Weight 147 lbs; Chest 34 inches. He had a dark complexion with grey eyes and fair-ish hair and his religion was Baptist. (Slack Lane Baptist Chapel was just across the road from his family home in Oakworth.)
He was described as well-formed and in good bodily and mental health, and free from any of the usual defects which might have affected service such as hernia, variocele, varicose veins and haemorroids or skin ailments.
Joseph went overseas from New Zealand on November 13, 1915. He disembarked at Suez on 20th December, 1915 and was posted to his unit on 1st March 1916.
Clearly his experience as a butcher stood him in good stead, as he was appointed Company Cook at Ismalia on 8th March 1916.
The Battalion embarked at Alexandria, on 9th April 1916, they were bound for France.
Joseph was seriously wounded in action on June 9, and died at 4.45 am on June 10, at number 8 Casualty Clearing Station, which was based at Bailleul between January 1915 and 4th March 1917. Joseph’s death was caused by a bomb wound to his left leg and shock, and he was laid to rest in grave 169, row B, plot II of Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord).
Keighley News report dated 24th June 1916, page 7:
OAKWORTH. Soldier’s Death From Wounds.
Private Joseph T. Robinson Midgley, son of Joseph Midgley, Slack Farm, Oakworth, and Nephew of Mr Midgley, draper, Church Street, Keighley, has died from wounds. He was formerly a butcher employed by the Keighley Co-operative Society, but emigrated to New Zealand about four years ago. There he joined a colonial contingent and was seriously wounded in action.
Post war:
Joseph was posthumously awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal for his war service. These were sent to his father Joseph along with his personal effects and the record shows that the medal action was completed on 24th October 1923.
He is listed in many records as Joseph Thomas Robinson, but his name on the Oakworth War Memorial is J. T. Midgley, along with his half brother Frank Midgley who was also killed in the war, whilst serving with the 11th Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment.
He is remembered on the Oakworth War Memorial in Holden Park, Oakworth as ‘Joseph T. Midgley,’ and on the Oakworth Great War Centenary roll of honour as ‘Joseph Thomas Robinson Midgley.’
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He is also remembered in New Zealand on several war memorials:
Borough of Northcote Roll of Honour
Auckland Museum online memorial
(We shared our information about Joseph with them in 2015.)
He is also remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on his grave at Bailleul.
Joseph Robinson’s Great War memorial scroll is held at Keighley Library, along with his half brother Frank Midgley’s scroll.
What’s confusing is that their names say Joseph Robinson and Frank Midgley, but now we’ve been able to explain their family relationship and the reason these two scrolls are together in the archives.
Joseph’s parents were still living at Slack Farm in the 1921 census, along with eight of their children.
His stepfather Joseph died on 15th May 1927.
Elizabeth Hannah was living at 17, Church Street on Oakworth in the 1939 Register, with four of her daughters. She died on 5th April 1943.
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Information sources:
England and Wales birth records.
1891 Census.
1901 Census.
1911 Census.
New Zealand Army Service Records.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Soldiers Died in the Great War.
P&O Outbound Passenger list.
Auckland Museum.
Keighley News archives held at Keighley Library.
Map extract above by courtesy of the National Library of Scotland website.
1921 census.
1939 Register.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995.
