Pauline Priano has submitted the following:-
John Hawarden Tweddle, one of 12 children, was the 2nd son of his surviving 4 brothers and had an elder and two younger sisters. His parents Thomas Tweddle and Catherine Tench were natives of Winlaton, District of Gateshead, County Durham, born 1849 and 1850 respectively, and married in 1869, settling in their home village where Thomas was a butcher. Their son Anthony was born at Back Street, Winlaton in 1871 and baptised May 21st, Emily 1873, Thomas Edwin 1877 and John in 1881 at Sand Hill, Winlaton. Over the next ten years Catherine gave birth to the remainder of her surviving children, Lily, October 24th 1882, sadly whilst she was pregnant with her daughter Catherine who was born in 1887, 6-year old Thomas Edwin died in 1886, George Thornton was born in 1889 and Norman in 1891 whilst they were living at 12, Church Street. Both Thomas Tweddle and his son Anthony (20) were employed as butcher’s assistants, John (10) and Lily (8) were scholars, Emily (17) assisted her mother looking after the home and younger children.
At the age of 23, Anthony Tweddle departed, August 24th 1894, from Southampton aboard the “S.S. Cuzco,” bound for Melbourne, Australia, but had returned to Winlaton by 1899 where he was married to Ann Isabella Bullerwell, with whom, by 1904, he had 2 children. He became a master butcher and in 1911 was running his own shop in Winlaton. Emily Tweddle had married in 1896 to house joiner Michael Ladler and had a daughter.
In 1901 John was the eldest living at home but had not followed in his father’s footsteps, instead he was employed as a house plumber. He and his father supported his mother and siblings, also living with them was his 24-year old cousin Elizabeth Ann Tench, a dressmaker. By 1911 the family was living at 10, Parliament Street, Winlaton, Thomas (62) ran his butchery business and employed his sons George (21) and Norman (20) as his assistants, Kate (24) was an elementary teacher, and John (30) a master plumber was also an employer, Lily Tweddle had also married into the Bullerwell family, having taken as her husband, her sister in law, Isabella Ann’s younger brother William, in 1904.
Tragically Emily Ladler nee Tweddle died in 1911, aged 38-years, she left a widower and 3 children, the youngest only 2-years old.
Thomas Tweddle of Winlaton died in 1913, his widow moved in with her son, farmer and butcher, George Tweddle, at Loup Farm, Blaydon-on-Tyne, as did John, George and Norman all of whom were still single.
Master plumber John Hawarden Tweddle was initiated as a member of Freemasons Hall, Clavering Lodge No 3920, Blaydon Bank, Blaydon on Tyne, June 10th 1914, just prior to the commencement of war with Germany, declared August 4th 1914. He enlisted, exact date unknown, at Blaydon, Northumberland, assigned as Sapper 223704 to the 248th Field Coy Royal Engineers, allocated to the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division as of March 1915. He was married at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland during the 3rd quarter (Jul/Aug/Sep) 1917 to, school teacher, Florence May Davison, born May 4th 1889 at Scotswood, Newcastle, baptised at Benwell, a suburb of Newcastle, June 5th 1889 and where the couple settled at 133, Farndale Road.
The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division had served in Turkey during the Gallipoli Campaign from where it was withdrawn and in 1916 had been taken over by the British Army. Sapper Tweddle joined his unit in the field on the Western Front. The Royal Engineers were responsible for the supply chain to the armies at the front, maintaining railways, roads, waterways, bridges, transport and maintaining phone lines, guns and various weapons.
During 1916 the 63rd R.N.D. fought on the Somme before moving to the Arras sector in 1917, participating during the Actions of Miramont on the Ancre, January to March 1917 and the Battles of Arras, before moving to Belgium, arriving at Ypres just before the commencement of the Second Battle of Passchendaele, October 26th-November 10th 1917 and Welsh Ridge after the operations of Cambrai. The division was rushed back to the Somme in France when the Germans attacked on that front again, March 21st 1918, seeing action at the 1st and 2nd Battles of the Somme at St. Quentin and Bapaume and during the Battle of Albert, August 21st-23rd 1918.
Sapper 223704 John Hawarden Tweddle was wounded in the line of duty and evacuated back through the lines to the 150th Field Ambulance where he succumbed to wounds sustained, August 28th 1918. He was interred at Bucquoy Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France. Made by the Royal Naval Division burial officer, it contains 68 graves of servicemen who died between May 23rd-28th 1918. Sapper Tweddle is at rest grave B. 5, he was 37 years of age.
His widow of Farndale Road, Benwell, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, received all monies due to him from the Army, a pension of 13 shillings 9 pence, awarded February 26th 1919 to be received weekly as of March 10th 1919. Her husband was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal which were sent to her home address, they were returned by Florence May, John’s medal card bears the remarks, “medals not desired by widow,” and, “rec returns BWM & VM’s unwanted by widow.”
John and Florence May’s marriage was childless, she never remarried and in 1939 was sharing a property at 6, Hawthorn Terrace, Bellingham, near Hexham, Northumberland, with widow Mary Hardie (81). Florence May Tweddle nee Davison died aged 81-years, May 24th 1970, registered in the district of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland.
In 1919, farmer, Anthony Tweddle and his family, wife Isabella Ann (Tench), daughter Margery Foster Tweddle (1901) and Anthony Tench Tweddle (1904), were residing in Sudbury Corio, Victoria, Australia where Anthony Snr died in 1953.
Lily Bullerwell-Tweddle, died June 16th 1956.
George Thornton Tweddle served with the Royal Artillery during WW1 and was discharged due to disability and returned to Loup Farm, a farmer and butcher. He was initiated as a member of Freemasons Hall, Clavering Lodge No 3920, Blaydon Bank, Blaydon on Tyne, August 10th 1921. Married in 1922, district of Gateshead, County Durham, to his first cousin Elizabeth Tench they had two children, John T. Tweddle, September 27th 1924 and George A. Tweddle, December 19th 1926. George Thornton Tweddle died in 1966.
The death of Norman Tweddle, preceded that of his siblings, March 10th 1950, all registered Gateshead, County Durham.
Catherine Tweddle nee Trench died in 1928, district of Gateshead, County Durham.
In God’s safe keeping. Rest In Peace.
John Hawarden Tweddle is remembered at Blaydon on B111.01at Ebchester on E58.02 and at Winlaton on W85.01 and W85.02
