John Haney

Military funerals aroused local interest wherever they were held, not least because with so many men away at the Front, there was a genuine awareness that all who died in uniform were the sons of someone somewhere. Although his funeral took place away from Dewsbury, John Haney’s burial at Hurst Cemetery, Ashton-under-Lyne, was no exception.

The local press recorded that a large number of people witnessed the ceremony conducted by Father Casey of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. John Haney died on 25th November 1915 at the military hospital attached to the Ashton Barracks. As John was a member of the Manchester Regiment, it was the band members of the Regiment who headed his funeral procession, and other men from it who fired volleys over the open grave, and sounded the Last Post. His funeral took place on 27th November 1915.

Whilst John Haney’s address on the papers relating to his military service state he lived at 3, Bolton Yard, Castle Hall, Stalybridge, his sister Mary Haney was a resident of their home town of Dewsbury – hence the appearance of his name on the War Memorial in Our Lady and St. Paulinus Church. Born in the town around 1874, John Haney was forty-one when he died. He had served with the 9th Battalion of the Manchester Territorials for 7 years and 295 days, when he attested for home service on 3rd October 1915. On 18th November, he was discharged on the grounds that he was not likely to become an efficient soldier; this may well have been due to ill-health, particularly in light of the fact that he was very shortly afterwards admitted to Ashton’s military hospital with chronic bronchial catarrh.

30163 Private John Haney, Manchester Regiment, died 25th November 1915 and is buried in Ashton-Under-Lyne (Hurst) Cemetery, Lancashire, England.

By Mr Peter Bennett