Good day mary26,
Nice to hear from you.
As I mentioned in the initial post on this thread, my primary interest in the Belton family from Cleator Moor has been connected to a 'Roll of Honour' (i.e. a 'Book of Remembrance') for the War Dead from the district from the Boer War to the present day. There are people who have said, or written, that two of your grandfather's elder brothers - Patrick and John - died while fighting in the Boer War.
However, up to the present time I have been unable to find any record either that these two enlisted to the army or that they died due to the war. Like many from the Cleator & Cleator Moor district they so appear to have gone out to South Africa to work in the mining industry before the war and were there when the war broke out. They may well have died out in South Africa but not necessarily due to a reason connected to the South African war ... unless you know differently?
I have recently completed the 'Book of Remembrance' for the Cleator & Cleator Moor district, recording the details of all casualties I have been able to trace. However, enough space has been left to add in additional names if the evidence turns up later on. So, if you do have details about Patrick and John that could assist clear up the query, it would really be appreciated.
What we can trace is that your grandfather Andrew Belton and another brother, James Belton, enlisted to the Westmorland & Cumberland Yeomanry. These two also went out to South Africa to fight in the war. As you will know, neither of these two died in the South African war. As sometimes happens, years later stories can tend to get merged and I have wondered if somehow the stories about the Belton brothers have been merged over the years.
A couple of your kinfolk visited West Cumbria in the summer of 2012 and I was able to show them some of the places where your forebears had been associated with in Whitehaven and Cleator Moor, and someone who remembered your grandfather's visits to West Cumbria. As I am sure your mother and you will be aware, your grandfather was a major benefactor of the R.C. parish of St Mary's, Cleator from the 1920s to the 1950s. This was the time when much of the work in the churchyard was done by the long-term unemployed men of the district, such as the building of the replica Lourdes Grotto, a Stations of the Cross and other work.
Some of your relatives are interred in St Mary's Churchyard, including your grandmother Mimi. The local newspaper covering the area in and around Whitehaven and Cleator Moor, 'The Whitehaven News', reported various news items about your grandfather and his family over the years, including the wedding of your grandparents and a story about how he was given the title "Kaid". I did take copies of these for my own background research (i.e. not for publication). As usual with research, there are good things and some less good ... but that is how it sometimes goes when researching!
You may already have copies of the photographs - one of the wedding of your grandparents, one of your grandfather in the robes of a "Kaid" ("... a Whitehaven kingmaker") and one from when he spoke at a meeting at Cleator Moor in the early 1930s. If you do not already have copies of these and would like to see them, if you send me your e-mail address by a p.m. and I will forward them on to you for your family album. I also have photographs of your family plot in the churchyard so if you wish to have copies of those for your family records I could send you those as well.
Regards to your mother and your family.
With best wishes
Jos
