Pte 57792 Albany Howarth

• Age: 19
• From: Pallion, Durham
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• D.O.W Thursday 19th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Abbeville C C Ext
  Panel Ref: II.E.25

Born  in 1898, he was named Albany, but used the name Albert, and was known as Alby. He was the son of James Lowrie Howarth and his wife Charlotte Frances (nee Simpson). His parents were married in 1889 in Sunderland. Alby was the fifth born of eleven children; brothers Robinson, John, James, Gilbert, and Richard; sisters Charlotte, Sarah, Esther, Edith, and Mary. His father was a shipyard worker.

On the 1901 Census the family can be found at 12 Duncan Street, Durham. His father, James, and his mother, Charlotte, are with 6 children declared in teh household; Robert, John William, James, Gilbert, Albert and Charlotte.

On the 1911 Census the family have moved to 7 St Lukes Road, Pallion, Co. Durham.  His father, James, and his mother, Charlotte, are  with 11 children; Robinson S, John W, James, Gilbert, Albany, Charlotte F, Sarah E, Richard, Esther, Edith and Mary.

Using the name Albert, he married Helen Wake in 1915 in Sunderland, and their daughter Mary was born the next year. Prior to enlisting, Alby was a heater at Messrs. Doxford’s shipyard.

Alby enlisted in Sunderland as Private 15782 Army Cyclists’ Corps, and he was subsequently transferred to the 18^th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. 

He died of wounds in the 1^st General Hospital on 19th April 1917, aged 19.

He now rests at Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension.

For much of the First World War, Abbeville was headquarters of the Commonwealth lines of communication and No.3 BRCS, No.5 and No.2 Stationary Hospitals were stationed there variously from October 1914 to January 1920. The communal cemetery was used for burials from November 1914 to September 1916, the earliest being made among the French military graves. The extension was begun in September 1916. During the early part of the Second World War. Abbeville Communal Cemetery contains 774 Commonwealth burials of First World War and 30 from the Second. The Extension contains 1,754 First World War burials and 348 from the Second. The Commonwealth sections of both cemetery and extension were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

A notice in the Sunderland Daily Echo on 20^th April 1917 reported that,

“Official news has been received by Mrs. Howarth, 12 Sunnyside, South Hylton, that her husband, Pte. A. Howarth, King’s Own Liverpool Regiment, has been admitted into hospital, dangerously wounded in the spine.”

Following confirmation of his death the family placed notices in the Sunderland Daily Echo, 24^th April 1917: 

Died of wounds, Pte. Alby Howarth, King’s Own Liverpool Regiment.
Somewhere abroad in an unknown grave,
My dear grandson lies sleeping;
For his King and country his life he gave,
Into his Saviour’s keeping.
Ever remembered by his loving grandmother, Mrs. E. Morrison, 9 Albion Street, South Hylton.

Died of wounds April 19^th, Pte A. Howarth, King’s Own Liverpool Regt.
How he fought, no tongue can tell
How bravely, how wisely, and how well;
For King and country he did his best,
Christ took him home with Him to rest.
Ever remembered by his loving aunt Bella, uncle Bill;  also uncle Dick (in France), and aunt Nellie. 

Died of wounds, 19^th April 1917, aged 19, Pte. A. Howarth, King’s Own Liverpool Regiment.
We mourn his loss, and well we may,
He was so kind from day to day;
His heart was good, his spirit brave,
And now he lies in a soldier’s grave.
Deeply mourned by his loving brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Mary. 

Died of wounds on the 19^th of April 1917, Pte. A. Howarth, of King’s Own Liverpool Regiment.
No loved one stood beside him,
To hear his last farewell;
No words of comfort could he have,
From those who loved him well.
Deeply mourned by his loving brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Agnes.

Died of wounds April 19^th 1917, aged 19 years, Pte. Alby Howarth, K.O.L. Regt., the dearly-loved son of James and Charlotte Howarth.
No mother’s care did him attend,
Nor o’er him did a father bend;
No sister or brother by to shed a tear,
Only comrades his last words to hear. 
Deeply mourned by his sorrowing father, mother, sisters, and brothers Gilbert (with the Colours); also sister-in-law Alice.

Died of wounds, April 19^th 1917, Pte Alby Howarth, King’s Own Liverpool Regt., aged 19 years, the beloved husband of Helen Howarth (nee Wake) of South Hylton.
Sleep on, dear husband, as the days go by.
We cannot see the grave where you lie;
For the waters of the ocean keep us apart,
But your smiling face shall shine in our hearts.
Sadly missed by his sorrowing wife and little daughter; also father- and mother-in-law, and grandfather and grandmother, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.

His parents had already suffered when they lost another son, Alby's older brother Private John William Howarth – 15439 who served in the 7th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, was declared missing and presumed killed on 16^th February 1916. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres. John William Howarth was aged 22 and was married to Alice and had a daughter also named Alice. 

Both brothers are commemorated on the Memorial at St Lukes Church, Pallion.

Soldiers Effects and Pension for Alby to widow Helen and child Mary. Another pension record later to Helen Bolden, Cooper Street, Southwick, Sunderland. 

His widow Helen remarried in 1923 to William Bolden. 

We currently have no further information on Albany Howarth. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.