Pte 38820 Frederick Holden

• Age: 25
• From: Wigan, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Tuesday 24th July 1917
• Commemorated at: Menin Gate Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 4 & 6

Frederick Holden was born in Wigan on 17^th May 1891, the son of John Holden and his second wife Betsy (nee Banks). He was one of six children; he had older siblings Emma, Rose, Mary, Albert and Beatrice, and a younger brother Charles.   and his father in 1913.

The 1901 Census shows the family living at 63, Melverley Street, Wigan, Lancashire. His father, John, is aged 62, born in Wigan in 1839, is a retired cab driver, his mother, Betsy, is aged 45, and was born in Dawley, Shropshire, she has no occupation listed. They have seven children at the taking of the Census; Dora aged 26, born 1875 is a cotton spinner, Rose aged 20, born 1881 is a dressmaker, Mary aged 16, born 1885 has no occupation listed, Albert aged 14, born 1887 is a warehouse boy in a cotton mill, Beatrice aged 12, born 1889, Frederick aged 9, born 1892 and Charles aged 7, born 1894, were all born in Wigan.

The 1911 Census shows the family now living at 46 Kendal Street, Wigan, Lancashire. Frederick's father, John, is aged 72, and is still a cab driver, his mother, Betsy, is aged 55, and has no occupation listed. They have been married for thirty two years and have had eight children of which one had died. At the taking of the Census, they had four children still living in the household; Albert Edward aged 24, is a crane driver, Beatrice aged 22, is a seamstress, Frederick aged19, is a vanman carter and Charles aged 17, is a wood turner.  

His mother, Betsy, died in 1911 and his father, John, in 1913.

Frederick married Minerva Elizabeth Sherrington (born 1894) in late 1913; there appear to be no children from the marriage. They lived at 193 Dorning Street, Wigan.

Before the war, he worked as a groom and gardener at Lower Whitley.  

Frederick enlisted in Wigan in May 1916 and initially joined the 12th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. In February 1917 Frederick received injuries from ‘an explosion’ and was evacuated to the U.K., spending time in hospital in Manchester. He returned to the front in April 1917. 

He was serving with the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private 38820 when he was killed in action on the 24th July, 1917, aged 26 years.

Frederick's body was not recovered or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Belgium.

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient. In the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. New Zealand casualties that died prior to 16 August 1917 are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

His death was announced in the Wigan Observer on 18^th August 1917.

Soldiers Effects and Pension to his widow Minerva.

His widow Minerva remarried in 1918 to a Sergeant in the U.S. Army.

We currently have no further information on Frederick Holden. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.