Main CPGW Record
Surname: CROWTHER
Forename(s): Maurice Robinson
Place of Birth: Grassington, Yorkshire
Service No: 15/252
Rank: Private
Regiment / Corps / Service: Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
Battalion / Unit: 'C' Coy 15th (Service) Battalion. (1st Leeds)
Division: 31st Division
Age: 26
Date of Death: 1916-07-01
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 2 A 2 C and 2 D.
CWGC Cemetery: ---
CWGC Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: CONISTONE-WITH-KILNSEY, YORKSHIRE
Local War Memorial: GRASSINGTON, YORKSHIRE
Local War Memorial: HEBDEN, YORKSHIRE
Local War Memorial: LINTON-IN-CRAVEN, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Maurice Robinson Crowther was the son of John and Elizabeth Crowther, née Robinson. John was born at Eccleshill near Bradford and Elizabeth at Barnoldswick, Yorkshire.
1901 Grassington, Yorkshire Census: Well Lane - Maurice R. Crowther, aged 9 years, born Grassington, son of John and Elizabeth Crowther.
1911 Grassington, Yorkshire Census: Ridley House - Maurice Robinson Crowther, aged 19 years, born Grassington, son of John and Elizabeth Crowther.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Pte Maurice R. Crowther, 15/252, W. York. R. Theatre of War first served in: (3) Egypt. Date of entry therein: 22.12.15. Pres. Dead.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Pte Maurice Robinson Crowther, 15/252, 15th W. Yks. Presumed Dead 1.7.16.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Maurice Robinson Crowther, 15/252, 15th Bn W. Yorks. Date and Place of Death: On or since 1.7.16 France. Death presd. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Father and Grantee - John. £10 18s. 10d.
UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: Pte Maurice Robinson Crowther, 252, 15 W. Yorks. Date and cause of death: 1.7.16. Shell explosion. Name(s) on card(s): Dependant: Mr John Crowther. Relationship: Father. Address: Grassington, Skipton.
The 15th (Service) Bn Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) (1st Leeds), informally known as the Leeds Pals, were amalgamated with the 17th (Service) Bn Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) (2nd Leeds) to form the 15th/17th Battalion on the 7 December 1917.
Short biographies of Maurice are included in:
‘Swaledale & Wharfedale Remembered – Aspects of Dales’ life through peace and war’ by Keith Taylor (2006).
‘Missing But Not Forgotten – Men of the Thiepval Memorial Somme’ by Pam & Ken Linge (2015).
See also: ‘Silva Gars’ by John Crowther (1930).
Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry
View Entry in CPGW BookEntry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:
CROWTHER, Maurice Robinson, [Grassington], West Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action, France, July 1, 1916.
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Click the thumbnail below to view a larger image.
Private Maurice Robinson CROWTHER
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment)
Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 31st Division
View Additional Image(s)
Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records
John Crowther with his son, Private Maurice Robinson Crowther
Courtesy of Upper Wharfedale Museum, Grassington
John and Elizabeth Crowther, née Robinson with their son, Private Maurice Robinson Crowther
Courtesy of Upper Wharfedale Museum, Grassington
Private Maurice Robinson Crowther
© IWM (HU120651)
View Craven Herald Articles
View Craven Herald Articles
18 September 1914
GRASSINGTON
Kitchener’s Army – A largely attended meeting for recruiting purposes was held in the Town Hall on Saturday, when a number of young men of the district gave in their names. Mr Maurice Crowther, son of Mr. John Crowther, of Grassington, has joined the ‘Pals’ at Leeds.
04 May 1917
CROWTHER – July 1st, 1916, killed in action on the Western Front, Pte. Maurice Robinson Crowther, of the West Yorkshire Regiment, son of Mr. John Crowther, Ridley House, Grassington.
04 May 1917
ANOTHER GRASSINGTON HERO – PRIVATE M. R. CROWTHER
We regret to record the fact, now officially communicated from the Infantry Records Office, York, of the death of Private Maurice Robinson Crowther, son of Mr. John Crowther, Ridley House, Grassington. The intimation reached Mr. Crowther on Sunday morning that the sad event occurred on July 1st 1916. Pte. Crowther joined the Leeds Pals on September 12th 1914, was trained at Colsterdale Camp, moved to Ripon Camp in the spring of 1915, and in September of that year to Salisbury. In December 1915 the battalion sailed from Liverpool for Egypt. Their boat collided with a French steamer at dead of night, cut it in twain, but, with the exception of two or three, saved all its crew. Soon after the boat was chased by two German submarines, one torpedo just missing its object by about ten yards. The battalion arrived in Egypt on December 21st, and the Leeds Pals and the Bradford Pals, who journeyed by the same boat, enjoyed roast beef and plum pudding in that ‘land of sand and lice’. In January 1916, the two battalions were ordered to France, where they suffered very severely, as hundreds in the West Riding know to their cost.
The Chaplain to the Battalion wrote months ago that Pte. Crowther had given his life to King and Country. It was his wish to be killed rather than be taken a prisoner – in fact he had vowed never to become a prisoner himself nor take one – the latter determination being based upon his experience of the Germans, whom he stigmatised as “brutes and beasts”.
04 July 1919
CROWTHER – In kind and loving thought of my dear son, Maurice Robinson Crowther, Leeds ‘Pals,’ killed in action on July 1st 1916.
I honour thy memory, noble son,
For thy stern duty done
In the Battle of the Somme.
Jno. Crowther, Ridley House, Grassington.
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
18 September 1914
GRASSINGTON – KITCHENER’S ARMY
A largely attended meeting for recruiting purposes was held in the Town Hall on Saturday last, when a number of young men gave in their names. Mr. Maurice Crowther, son of Mr. John Crowther, of Grassington, has joined the ‘Pals’ at Leeds.
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