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Iball, Thomas

Thomas Iball was the son of James and Ellen Iball of Church Road. Father James, a general labourer, was born Buckley and baptised 22 July 1867 at Bistre. Mother Ellen was born c1869 at Tarvin, Cheshire. Thomas was born in Buckley c 1893. In 1901 the family included 3 more children: Clara (1894), Henry (1897) and Herbert (1899). The 1911 Census has the family still at Church Road with 4 more children: Lillian (c 1905), George (c 1907), Nellie (c 1909), and Vera (1910). From a grave stone at St. Matthews Buckley, Ellen died 1931 and James 1948.

Before enlistment Thomas was employed at Elm Colliery.

From the County Herald, November 1917
It is with regret we learn that Private Thomas Iball, son of Mr. & Mrs. James Iball of Church Road, was killed in action on October 26. He was 24 years of age and before enlistment he was in the employ of Messrs. George Watkinson and Sons, Ltd. at the Elm Collieries. He was a member of St. Matthew’s C.L.B.
From the County Herald, December 18, 1918 we learn that Thomas’s brother Herbert was seriously wounded
Seriously Wounded – Mr. & Mrs. Iball, Church Road, received information from the War Office that their son, Private Herbert Iball, is in hospital dangerously ill and seriously wounded. He was removed to Rouen Hospital where his parents both went to see him. He is in very critical condition.

Herbert survived the war and died in 1937. Thomas is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

The name Iball appears six times on the Hawkesbury Memorial (Albert, Charles, George, Llewellyn, I. J., and Thomas), plus James is on the Bistre Memorial. Charles, George, and James were brothers, sons of Peter and Martha, living in Doncaster but born in Buckley. Iball is a uniquely Buckley name; in 1881, every one of the 71 people with the Iball name in England, Wales and Scotland lived in Buckley. In statistical terms the number of Iball men who died was about five times greater than would be predicted based on population. This does not count Reuben Stanley, killed in 191Albert Iball of Langold, Nottinghamshire and William Harold Iball of Abergavenny were killed in WW2


Learn more about the other soldiers on the Buckley Memorial

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