Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Great Crosby (St. Luke) Churchyard | C. 731. | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.120 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 45B GQS | |
| 4. Memorial: | Liverpool Masonic Hall War Memorial | Col.1. Hope St. | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Early Life :
The majority of this legend is courtesy of Geoff Cuthill of the Province of West Lancashire, to whom the project is grateful.George, according to the baptismal record book of St Peters Church, Liverpool was born on 30 May 1886, and was baptised on 13 September of that year, the son of Mathew Henry Craig, a shipwright, and his wife Hannah (nee Harvey), then living at Page Street. The couple had married at Dudley, Warwickshire in 1865. The 1891 census shows George as the sixth of seven children at 32 Cobden Street, Everton, Liverpool, and at the same address in the 1901 census he is recorded as a 14 year old office boy. There is a George Craige, recorded as born 20 May 1886, employed as a ‘lad clerk’ by the Great Western Railway Company at Liverpool. He was employed there from 5 July 1900 as a messenger, before taking a position as a lad clerk on twenty shillings per annum on 12 November 1900. He resigned his position on 4 January 1902.
The following census of 1911 has George and his family at 43 Queen’s Road, Everton. George had siblings William H, John H, Catherine, Charles, Mary, Matthew and Ernest.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 10th Battalion (Liverpool Scottish) The King's Regiment |
1/10th (Scottish) Battalion August 1914 : in Fraser St, Bootle. Part of South Lancashire Brigade, West Lancashire Division. 2 November 1914 : landed at Le Havre and transferred to 9th Brigade, 3rd Division. 6 January 1916 : transferred to 166th Brigade, 55th (West Lancashire) Division. |
| Action : Natural Causes |
Natural causes is attributed those deaths due to causes that were not directly associated with the war. Included in this are wartime deaths resulting from, for example, theSpanish Influenza pandemic and its associated pneumonia problems and other attributions such as age and exhaustion. It also groups those who through Post Traumatic Stress committed suicide as a result of their experiences.
Detail :
On his 26th birthday, 18th August 1915, George joined the 1st Lancashire Hussars as Private 1805 (later re-numbered to 250768) and proceeded overseas with them on 17 January 1916. On 22 September 1917 he went to No.14 Officer C.B. until 26 June 1918, when he was gazetted as a Second Lieutenant to the 10th Battalion The King’s (Liverpool Regiment) also known as the “Liverpool Scottish” part of the Territorial Force.
George would marry Elizabeth Graham Machell by special licence on 27 June 1918 in Liverpool, which appeared in the Liverpool Echo the following day saying he was a Second Lieutenant with the Liverpool Scottish, son of the late Mathew Craig. His spouse, Elizabeth, now serving as a nurse, was daughter of the late Thomas Graham Machell and Mrs Christina Machell 35 Linacre Road, Bootle. The census of 1911 for this address shows Elizabeth as being born in Dumfries, Scotland and employed as a Ships Stewardess. Elizabeth had been fortunate when as one of only nine stewardesses to be rescued, she survived the sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May 1915.
George joined the Reserve Battalion at Oswestry on 9 July 1918 but was not fated to return for overseas service as only three months later he caught influenza, (many would follow in the subsequent epidemic), which turned to pneumonia, and he died whilst in the Military Hospital at Oswestry, Shropshire, on 28 October, 1918 aged 33. His body was brought back home and laid to rest in the local churchyard of St Luke’s, Great Crosby in C731. Unfortunately time has not been kind to his headstone, a marble cross, as this now lies on the floor, broken. George was awarded the British War and Victory medal pair, which were sent to his widow at 35 Linacre Road.
A report on his death appeared in the Liverpool Daily Post on the 7th November, 1918, under the headline "Toll of the War." "Second Lieutenant G. Craige, son of the late Mr. M Craige, of Liverpool, recently died after a few days illness, following pneumonia, at the Military Hospital, Oswestry, aged 32 years. Joining the army soon after the outbreak of war, he saw active service for nearly three years. Being recommended for a commission, he returned home and was gazetted to the 10th Liverpool Scottish. Lieutenant Craige was about to return to France when he succumbed to his illness. For a number of years he was a member of the Sir Walter Raleigh Lodge (No. 2,837). He leaves a widow and numerous friends mourn his death."
In addition to masonic memorial, George is commemorated on the Roll of Honour at the Regimental Museum of the Liverpool Scottish and the Litherland War Memorial, Town Hall, Litherland,
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Sir Walter Raleigh No. 2837 E.C. | West Lancashire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
13th May 1911 | 10th June 1911 | 9th September 1911 |
George was initiated into Sir Walter Raleigh No 2837 on 13 May 1911, a bookkeeper age 24 years of 43 Queen’s Road, Everton. He would be passed to the second or fellow-craft degree on 10 June, and raised in the third or master mason degree on 9 September with his Grand Lodge certificate issued 28 September 1911.
Charles Craige, his brother, also living at this address, was initiated into the Lodge in October 1918, just before George died.
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley