War Memorial
The name F. Parker appears on the Leigh War Memorial, and it is thought to refer to Fred Parker, who served with the Middlesex Regiment. Establishing which Parker this was has taken some careful detective work, aided by an old photograph kept at the Leigh Cricket Pavilion.
The picture shows a Leigh football team and dates from around 1904. Among the names listed with it are F. Parker and T. Parker. Age estimates from the image suggest one man was about 30, give or take five years, while the other was around 22, again with a five-year margin.
The 1901 census helps to identify the pair. It records Thomas Parker, born 1874 and aged 27, working as a cabman, alongside Fred Parker, born 1884 and aged 17, then employed as a stable boy. The two were brothers living in Wood Green.
The household at 36 Nightingale Road in the civil parish of Wood Green, Middlesex, was headed by Thomas. His wife Minnie, aged 23, came from Wood Green itself, and the children were Florence M, aged 3, Sidney F, aged 2, and Mabel D, aged 1. Also present was their sister Mary Ann, 28, a domestic servant who, like Thomas, had been born in Colesden, Bedfordshire. Fred, listed as a brother, was born at Begwary in the same county. The return is catalogued as Class RG 13, Piece 1258, Folio 165, Page 54, with HSN 289.
There is a puzzle over the photograph. By 1904 Fred would have been 30 and Thomas 20, which fits the estimates neatly — but the names on the picture may have been swapped between the brothers. It seems likely the two came to Leigh specifically to play football.
Another name on the memorial with a Wood Green connection is James C Davis, who was born in Leigh, Kent. The 1891 census shows him aged 12 at West Gate Lodge, and by 1901, aged 22, he was a hosiery warehouseman in Wood Green, possibly within the Morley organisation.
Identification remains difficult: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records two Thomas Parkers and three Frederick Parkers killed while serving in the Middlesex Regiment, among thirty-one Parker casualties from that regiment overall. This page was last updated on 6 November 2007.