Manchester Roll of Honour
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About the Manchester Roll of Honour
Search more than 63,000 names in a listing of Manchester companies and the men working for those companies who served in some capacity during WWI.
The book 'Manchester City Battalions Book of Honour' was published in 1916 to mark the formation of the 90th and 91st Brigades of the Manchester Regiment which comprised the 16th to 23rd Battalions. The first part of the book consisted of platoon lists and photographs and the second part of Rolls of Honour compiled by companies and institutions.
The Rolls of Honour list men who have enlisted in the Army and Royal Navy and mostly relate to companies in and around Manchester. There is a significant number from Yorkshire, however, as well as a few from Cheshire and Derbyshire.
Some 724 companies and institutions are included, of which the most substantial rolls are:
- Cooperative Wholesale Society Ltd.: 6,815 names
- Manchester Corporation: 5,529 names
- Calico Printers' Association Ltd.: 2,965 names
- Manchester Ship Canal Co.: 3,539 names
- Manchester Grammar School: 1,304 names
The detail provided in each of the rolls varies considerably. A small number of men are identified by last name only and many more only by last name and initials. There are also entries, however, in which the ranks, service numbers and regiments of each man are identified. A number of men are identified as killed or missing in action and a small number are recorded as having been rejected as unfit for service. A very small number of rolls include photographs of the men named.
The rolls do not provide extensive information; however, knowledge of the company for which a man worked may lead to further information from other sources. A number of records of companies in the Manchester area are held by the Greater Manchester County Record Office and Manchester Archives and Local Studies. Other archives may also have relevant holdings.
Some men in this roll also served in the Manchester City Battalions
The Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society provided us with these records.
Begin with the basics
The name of the person you are searching for may not be recorded in the way you expect. Henry John Davies, for example, may have been recorded as Henry Davies, Henry J Davies, H Davies, or even H J Davies. We would therefore suggest that you initially search using their last name only. If you receive too many results, you can then add a first name to narrow them down.
First name variations
If you don’t find the result you want first time, it is worth trying every possible variation in the first name field.
Your ancestor might have used a different first name in everyday life from the one that appears on official records. For example, your great-uncle Jack’s birth name might have been John. If you can’t find someone recorded under the name you expect, try variations of that name. And if you still can’t find your ancestor using their full first name, try entering their first initial instead.
Last name variations
We’ve added an ‘Include variants’ tickbox next to the ‘Last name’ field to allow for common differences in spelling or incorrect spelling. For example, if you search for the name ‘Foakes’ while ticking the variants option, you may also get results for ‘Folks’, ‘Fookes’, ‘Forkes’, ‘Foukes’, ‘Foulkes’ and ‘Fowkes’.