35324 PTE. R. BRINDLE. BEDS.R.

 

Robert Brindle was born in the third quarter of 1880 in Chorley and baptised at Chorley St Laurence on 19 September.  His father was Robert Brindle (b. 1850 in Wheelton), originally an overlooker in a cotton mill, but later a publican.  His mother was Susannah March (b. 1842 in Chorley).  Robert and Susannah were married in 1875 and they had three children: William (b. 1875), then Robert, and finally Mary (b. 1886).  So in 1891, Robert snr was running the Roebuck Inn (the address is given as Botany) but he died in 1894.  In 1901, Susannah was running the Hospital Inn on Brindle Road (at the time it was called Back Lane).  William was a barman and Robert jnr was working as a cotton weaver.  However, Susannah died in 1909 and she passed the Hospital Inn on to her three children who were all engaged in running/managing the pub in 1911.

 

SDGW says Robert was born and lived in Bamber Bridge.  Although he was born in Chorley, by the time he enlisted he had probably lived at the Hospital Inn for more than 20 years, so that may account for the error.  SDGW also says that he enlisted first with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, with service number 24198.  There seem to be no other records for this service number, so it’s impossible to know how long he was with the Loyals for.  However, at some stage he was transferred to the Befordshire Regiment with service number 35324.  He was posted to 2nd Garrison Battalion which arrived in India in May 1917 to form part of the Karachi Brigade in Sindh Province (then part of India now in Pakistan).  Unfortunately, there is no War Diary for this Brigade so we don’t know what duties Robert was involved in, nor what was the cause of his death.  He died on 15 October 1918, aged 38.  Register of Soldiers’ Effects confirm his next of kin as his brother William, and there is also a record of his will, confirming his next of kin and his address as the Hospital Inn.

 

Rank:  Private

Service Number:  35324

Date of Death: 15/10/1918

Age:  38

Regiment/Service:  Bedfordshire Regiment, 2nd Garrison Bn. 

(Buried at Karachi Cem. A/E. B. 8.).

Cemetery/memorial reference: Face 1.

Memorial:  DELHI MEMORIAL (INDIA GATE)

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