Peter Wise and Brenda McMahon have submitted the following:-
Cecil was born in 1899 at Barnard Castle the son of William and Mary Ellen (nee Clark) and later baptised on 29th November 1899 at the Parochial Chapelry. The couple had married at St Cuthbert’s Durham on 13th June 1896 and went on to have 5 children although one died.
The 1901 census showed William (a rural postman) and his wife Mary together with their son, Cecil, William’s sister Emily, Uncle John (a sexton and general labourer) and a boarder, Edwin Law.
By 1911 the family had grown to include siblings Annie, John, young Emily and of course, Uncle John.
Prior to war Cecil had been an apprentice barber in the town shop, on The Bank, owned by his father’s cousin.
Cecil enlisted into the army at Bishop Auckland on 6th December 1917 at the age of 18 years and 1 month.
He embarked for France on 5th May 1918 and joined his battalion on 19th May 1918.
Cecil was reported missing presumed dead. His death date was officially given as 11th October 1918.
Cecil William Blenkinsopp is remembered at Barnard Castle on B135.02, which spell his surname Blenkinsop, B135.23 and B135.25
