LiveTheirStory

The archives at Chatteris Museum are a treasure trove of documents about the life of the town. In 1903 a list was made of all the boys then attending the Sunday School. (A note was added in 1908 with a few more names, the total number coming to 46.) This list, kept in the Museum, is invaluable for family historians because it lists not only the boys’ names, but their ages, birthdays and addresses. Their stories can then be traced.

My eye was caught by the name of Sidney Shanks, grandson of Reuben Shanks senior, whose story I posted about in my series on the Shanks memorial. Sidney was in the newspapers as a baby in 1893, when his father Reuben was ordered to have him vaccinated, and subsequently fined 10 shillings with 18 shillings and 6d costs when he failed to do so. Given the plethora of childhood and early deaths among Reuben’s own siblings, one wonders why he refused.

Even sadder, however, is the fact that Sidney died young as well, at just 19 years of age. Had he lived, he would no doubt have served alongside his contemporaries in World War I. At least five of the names from this group appear on the Chatteris WWI war memorial. Here is the full list, noting that it’s a work in progress!