Memorial

Plaque Head 1915 Abbey

Hexham

Memorial Name: Plaque Head 1915 Abbey (H51.07)

NEWMP Ref No.: H51.07

Parish: Hexham

Original Location:

Priory and Parish Church of St. Andrew, Market Place.

South choir wall

Which War:

1914-18

Materials Used:

Red and white marble.

Who Commissioned:

Dorothy Head.

Inscription:

To the glory of God, and in ever loving
memory of
John Oswald Head: Hackwood,
who died
July 28th 1914. Aged 85 years.
Also of his son
Reginald Head, Captain,
1st Border Regiment,
who was killed at Gallipoli on April 28th 1915
aged 30 years.
Erected by Dorothy Head.

Memorial Description:

Plaque 20 inches high x 30 inches wide (52cms x 76cms), with rounded centre top.

The central panel is white marble, with a red marble fluted border.

At the top is a laurel wreath in which is a black cross.

The letters are in black Roman capitals.

Names:

See above.

Notes:

1. “Captain Reginald Head, of the 1st Border Regiment, was killed at the Dardanelles. The family is well known to us all, and has been closely identified with the Abbey. He leaves a widow and a newly-born babe whom he never saw. May God bless them and comfort them and his widowed mother, who lost but a few months ago her husband, and now mourns the death of her gallant son. The only sister mourns too, for Reggie was so much, so very much, to each and all”. Hexham Parish Magazine June 1915 Page 6

2. The Newcastle Journal 18/12/1917 reports the proposal to erect a memorial in Hexham Abbey to J. Oswald Head and Captain Reginald Head.

3. See Reginald Head’s Every Name A Story entry