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Quorn WW1 Roll of Honour - John Jesson Lucas
Died 13th May 1915, aged 20
Battle of Frezenberg, Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium
John, known as Jack, was a Trooper (Private) in the Leicestershire Yeomanry, and one of the seven young men from Quorn who died on 13th May 1915, at the battle of Frezenberg in Belgium.
Family background
He was born in Quorn in 1895 and was the eldest son of Thomas Lucas and Sarah Jane Lucas (née Jesson), who according to the 1911 census had six children. In 1911, the family, including Jack, are recorded as living at 18 High Street, which was then the Bulls Head Pub. It is thought by his family that the pub was run mainly by his mother, whilst his father, who was a jeweller and watch & clockmaker, ran his shop at 7 High Street on Quorn Cross. Before he joined up, Jack was employed helping his father in the jewellery business.
Taking a horse to war
When men joined the Yeomanry, they were asked to bring a horse if they could. Jack’s father had two horses, which he used when he went to wind clocks at big houses such as Beaumanor and Swithland Hall. Jack took one with him, and apparently his mother was quite pleased to see it go, as she thought it was too wild!
Below:
1) Jack Lucas.
2) The tall building is the old Bull’s Head pub where the Lucas family lived. It is now 18 High Street.
3) This brass memorial vase is still owned by Jack’s family, but it wasn’t always on a shelf in their house. Jack’s niece, Mary, remembered her mother explaining that there used to be a cabinet in the North aisle of the Church, containing about twenty similar vases, but that a new vicar, in the 1940s or 1950s, wanted to make more space, and offered the vases back to the families. Apparently this caused a lot of bad feeling. More examples of memorial vases can be seen with the entries for the Moore brothers (Artefact 2293 ) and the Rennocks brothers (Artefact 2286).
4) Jack’s father, Thomas Lucas, standing in the shop doorway at 7 High Street, where he and Jack worked.
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Submitted on: |
2020-01-13 |
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Submitted by: |
Sue Templeman with many thanks to Anthony and Mary Plummer |
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Artefact ID: |
2295 |
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Artefact URL: |
www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2295 |
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