RAINHILL Civic Society committee man Brian Renshall tells us this year the Society will hold an event to commemorate the Centenary of the start of WW1.

With the help of Stephen Nulty members have been researching the lives of men whose names appear on Rainhill War Memorial and have now learned more about the demise of Reginald Wright.

Brian said: “Reginald Wright was born on July 15, 1892. His parents were Edward and Margaret (nee Crompton) and he was a solicitor’s clerk. He had three siblings, Marion, Cecil and Frederick. The family hailed from The Holt area of Rainhill, as did his grandparents on his mother’s side, Joseph and Mary Crompton. He also had an uncle Vincent.

“Reginald served with the RAMC, died on Feb 25, 1919 and is buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery, Hong Kong.

“An inscription on the family headstone in St Anne’s churchyard records that he was ‘of the HMS Madras’. However, it would appear there is no such vessel, but there is a hospital ship, the HS Madras, and given that he was in the Medical Corps, could somehow have served on that. We hope that members of the Wright or Crompton family may help us complete the picture.”

Brian has managed to get a death certificate which revealed that Reginald died from pneumonia aboard ship. The Society has also traced relatives in New Zealand who have forwarded a letter written to Reginald’s mother by the nurse that attended him before he died.

“It’s very moving and will be included with all the other info we now have on him at our WW1 Commemorative event at the end of September,” said Brian.