Frank's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Frank Oldfield was born in Kerridge on 11 July 1889, the son of Mary Ellen (née Pimlott) and Benjamin Oldfield, a stone quarryman. In 1891, two-year-old Frank was living at Clarke Lane, Kerridge, near Bollington with his parents and baby sister Carry, aged six months.
By 1901 Frank's mother had died, and 14-year-old Frank was living at 2 Bank Street with his widowed father, sister Carry and brother Charles, aged 8.
Frank married Amelia Wynne on 27 April 1907 at St Paul's Church, Macclesfield. In 1911 the couple lived at 19 Mills Croft, Bank St, Macclesfield, with Amelia's widowed mother Julia Wynne, brother Henry and sister Sarah Ellen. Frank was working as a rag gatherer and his wife Amelia was a silk piecer. Sadly the couple said they had two children and both had died.
MILITARY SERVICE
Frank enlisted in Macclesfield on 18 November 1914, first joining the 2nd Cheshire Regiment with service number 18509. He was drafted overseas on 7 March 1915 and was wounded in May, returning to Folkestone for treatment in a hospital there. After his recovery he was drafted to Egypt.
Frank's death was announced in the Macclesfield Times on 4 January 1918:
KILLED IN EGYPT - LOSS TO ST PETER'S SCHOOL
Official notification reached Mrs Oldfield, 18 Tabor St, Macclesfield on Wednesday that her husband, Pte Frank Oldfield, Ches Regt, was killed in Egypt on December 13th. Pte Oldfield was a native of Bollington and 29 years of age. He came to reside in Macclesfield as a boy and had been employed as a doubler at the Adelphi Mill, Bollington, since leaving school. Pte Oldfield was connected with St Peter's Sunday School and enlisted in November, 1914. The deceased soldier was drafted out to France in January 1915 and was wounded the following May, being invalided home to England. He underwent treatment in hospital at Folkestone and upon recovery was sent out to Egypt, where he had been nearly two years. Pte Oldfield took part in both battles of Gaza and in the fighting for Jerusalem. His brother, Pte Charles Oldfield, is serving in France in the Cheshires, and a brother of Mrs Oldfield, Pte Harry Wynne, Ches Regt, is at Gibraltar. A portrait of Pte F Oldfield will appear next week.
COMMEMORATION
Private Frank Oldfield is buried in Grave Ref. R. 67. in Jerusalem War Cemetery.
In Macclesfield, Frank Oldfield is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall and St Michael's Church war memorials.
NOTES
Brother of Private Charles Oldfield, who served in France with the Cheshire Regiment; and brother-in-law of Private Harry Wynne, who served in Gibraltar with the Cheshire Regiment.
SOURCES
GRO Indexes: Births, Marriages
England and Wales Census: 1891, 1901, 1911
De Ruvigney's Roll of Honour (Ancestry)
WWI Medal Rolls (Ancestry)
Lives of the First World War website
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Macclesfield Times: 4 and 11 January 1918
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.