Dedication of Hoby War Memorial May 30th 1920
From the All Saints Church Accounts book:
On 30th May after the evening service, which was attended by a large number of local sailors and soldiers and ex servicemen, an address was given by Admiral Earl Beatty, who dwelt on the lesson of comradeship which the war had taught us and spoke of the sacrifice made by the men whose names are inscribed on the memorial stone on the north wall of the Church, over the text (in Latin) ‘Make them to be remembered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting’
Hoby War Memorial Fund
Memorial Fund Accounts
A committee was formed in the summer of 1919 to raise and administer a fund to celebrate the conclusion of peace after the Great War and erect a memorial to the fallen. It was decided to hold athletic sports in Mr Bailey’s field and a ‘meat tea’ and to place a tablet in the Church to the memory of Hoby men who fell in the war.
At the end of the First World War communities raised their own funds to construct their war memorials and Hoby was no different as this account of the village fund raising efforts shows. There were no Government rules to decide which names should appear on which memorials, communities decided this for themselves. The lack of rules has lead to many inconsistencies and inaccuracies and again Hoby is no different in this respect. The village included the name of William Crane who, although one of the first volunteers was honourably discharged from the army and did not serve overseas. However, Alfred Higgins who had been killed in France was omitted. More understandably, it also omitted Sydney Graham, a native of the village, who had moved from Hoby to Enderby after the 1911 Census but before he enlisted.
RB Brooks, the treasurer who signed the accounts, is Paymaster Commander Richard Brooks who served on HMS Colossus during the war and lived at the Chantry.
Restoration of the War Memorial 2008
Hoby War Memorial
After nearly 80 years attached to the north aisle wall of All Saints Church, the War Memorial had been badly damaged by water, bat urine and a lack of maintenance. The gold leaf that once picked out the names had all but disappeared, it looked grimy and neglected. In 2008, to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, The War Memorials Trust and Hoby with Rotherby Parish Council each gave grants of £805 towards cleaning and repair of the memorial.
The memorial is a bronze plaque with an alabaster frame and the inscriptions are on gilded raised letters. The bronze plaque was cleaned with ph neutral soap in de-ionised warm water and white spirit to remove greasy deposits. The alabaster frame was re-pointed with plaster of Paris. The frame was then cleaned with reduced water V&A mix (white spirit/water and non ionic detergent) and cotton wool swabs. The blue border of the plaque had deteriorated and was repainted in acrylics. The gilt inscription and alabaster frame have been regilded. Finally, the whole tablet was coated with Cosmolloid wax and buffed with a soft cloth. Skillingtons of Grantham carried out the work and a perspex sheet was hung in front of the memorial to give it protection from bat urine.
The War Memorial was the work of Francis Jordan of the Dryad Metal Works Leicester.
Links to the names on the War Memorial:
Hoby soldiers not included on the War Memorial
The Barkston War Memorial
Charles is remembered in Hoby
Private Alfred Henry Higgins – A Hoby Soldier Remembered at Barkston
Lance Corporal Charles Henry Read – A Soldier Remembered at Hoby
Private Sydney Graham – A Hoby Soldier Remembered At Enderby
