Brenda McMahon has submitted the following:-
Arthur was born on June 17th 1884 at Middridge then later baptised August 10th 1884 at Shildon.
He was the son of Joseph and Annie (nee Wright) the couple married in 1873 and went on to have several children. Annie was Joseph’s second wife. He had previously married Maria Hodgson in 1867 but sadly she died in 1872 at the young age of 25. Joseph and Maria had two daughters together although one died in infancy.
The 1891 census shows the family living at Middridge village. Father Joseph was a butcher by trade. He was from Yorkshire. Arthur’s siblings included Annie, John (who was also a butcher), Fred, Alfred and Minnie. Their mother, Annie, died in 1894.
By 1901 Joseph senior had now progressed to become a butcher/farmer on his own account. He had a shop in the village so probably his son, John still named as a butcher, helped out there. Fred and Arthur were both classed as farmer’s sons working on the land.
1911 census shows that the family dynamics had changed considerably as, for whatever reason, only the 3 sons were left running the farm at Barn Hill, Middridge. John William, the eldest, is shown as the head with Fred and Arthur as brothers working on the farm. All brothers were single.
Their father died on July 25th 1917 of senile decay with son Fred by his side.
Arthur attested for service on December 11th 1915 at Shildon although he wasn’t called up immediately for duty. His service reckoned from September 3rd 1916.
His medical report showed him to be 5’5” tall, weighing 133 lbs with good physical development. He was considered fit for active service. His faith was Church of England.
Arthur joined the Durham Light Infantry and embarked at Folkestone for Boulogne on January 1st 1917. By 12th January he was posted to 7th Durham Light Infantry and within a couple of days was in the field. On October 10th 1917 he was transferred to 5th Battalion D.L.I.
He had several service numbers allocated to him during his service including 7/9799 (1/7 DLI). Other numbers quoted are 5803 when first attested with 7th Reserve Battalion Durham and also 15221. Due to poor condition of records it is difficult to ascertain which battalions and dates they refer to. At his death his number was 277340.
On October 30th 1917 he was in action but subsequently wounded with gunshot wounds to his right hand and leg. The leg injury being severe. He was treated at 4th General Hospital Dannes-Camiers. He rejoined his battalion about Xmas time 1917 having been granted a short leave home. However the legibility of the record is very poor so some information is not decipherable.
Arthur was reported missing early on March 24th 1918 , death was presumed on or about that date. It seems he was killed as the Fifth Army was being driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields.
His family were very worried about their brother so both his sister, Minnie (now Jackson) and brother, Fred wrote to the authorities for news. They hadn’t heard from Arthur since March 21st 1918. It is likely that by the time their letters were received Arthur was already dead
The monies due to Arthur amounted to £14.11s.9d (including war gratuity of £9.0.0) which were divide between his brothers and sisters - £2.8s.8d to Fred, John, Alfred Elizabeth Minnie and Mary.
In total Arthur served 2 years 104 days.
Medals: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Arthur Wright Butterfield is remembered in Middridge on M51.01, and in Stockton on S138.35 page 6
He is also remembered in The DLI Book of Remembrance page 58
