Main CPGW Record
Surname: COPE
Forename(s): Tom Harry
Place of Birth: Skipton, Yorkshire
Service No: 39170
Rank: Private
Regiment / Corps / Service: Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
Battalion / Unit: 2nd Battalion
Division: 11th (Northern) Division
Age: 35
Date of Death: 1918-11-06
Awards: ---
CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: At West End. A. 27.
CWGC Cemetery: BETTRECHIES COMMUNAL CEMETERY
CWGC Memorial: ---
Non-CWGC Burial: ---
Local War Memorial: SKIPTON – ERMYSTED’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL, YORKSHIRE
Local War Memorial: SKIPTON, YORKSHIRE
Additional Information:
Tom Harry Cope (born 1 January 1883) was the son of Samuel and Catherine Gibbons Cope, née Calton. Samuel was born at Market Rasen, Lincolnshire and Catherine at Salford, Lancashire.
1901 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 11, Brook Street - Tom H. Cope, aged 18 years, born Skipton, son of Sam and Mary A.G. Cope.
Tom Harry Cope was married to Mary Ellen Metcalfe in 1911. Mary was the sister of Gunner Robert George Metcalfe (83038) (q.v.). Mary married Thomas Green in 1928.
1911 Skipton, Yorkshire Census: 12, Gargrave Road - Tom Harry Cope, aged 28 years, born Skipton, husband of Mary Ellen Cope.
British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Pte Tom H. Cope, 39170, York. R. Dead.
British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Pte Tom H. Cope, 39170, 7/York. R.; 6/York. R.; 2/York. R. Dead.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Tom Harry Cope, 39170, 2nd Bn Yorks. Date and Place of Death: 6.11.18. France. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Widow - Mary E. £20 15s. 5d. and £0 3s. 10d.
Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Pte Tom Harry Cope, 39170, 2/Bn Yorks Rgt. Date and Place of Death: 6.11.18. France. K. in A. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Widow - Mary E. and children. £0 3s.10d. and £20 15s. 5d.
UK, WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923: card(s) exist for Tom. Name(s) on card(s): Widow Mary Ellen, born 4.4.89. Date of Marriage: 7.2.11. Address: 17, Palmer Street, South Moor, Co. Durham. Children: Kathleen May Cope, born 17.2.12. Thomas Metcalfe Cope, born 2.1.14. Harry Cope, born 23.10.18.
A short biography of Tom is included in: ‘A Grammar School at War – The Story of Ermysted’s Grammar School during the Great War’ by Steven Howarth (2007).
Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry
View Entry in CPGW BookEntry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:
COPE. T.H., aged 35, son of Mr. S. Cope, 19, Brook Street, Skipton, killed in action Nov. 6, 1918.
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Private Tom Harry COPE
Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment)
Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 11th (Northern) Division
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View Craven Herald Articles
View Craven Herald Articles
22 November 1918
FORMER SKIPTON TRADESMAN KILLED
We regret to hear of the death in action on the Western Front of Private T. H. Cope, second son of Mr. S. Cope of 19 Brook Street, Skipton, and who was formerly in business as a boot and clog maker in Brook Street and Gargrave Road, Skipton. The sad event took place on November 6th – five days before the armistice was signed; and great sympathy is felt for the bereaved wife and three children and the parents. Private Cope, who was 35 years of age, served an apprenticeship with Messrs. Freeman, Hardy and Willis at Skipton, and was later in business on his own account. For a period before joining up, however, he was manager for the Public Benefit Boot Co. at Stanley, Durham, where his wife resides. He had been out in France about two years. We will give a photograph next week.
07 November 1919
COPE - In loving memory of our dear son and brother, T. H. Cope, killed in action Nov. 6th, 1918
Tis sweet to know we’ll meet again
Where partings are no more,
And that the one we loved so sweet
Has only gone before.
From Father, Mother, Brother and Sisters.
COPE - In loving memory of my dear husband, Pte. T. H. Cope, killed in action Nov 6th, 1918.
“Missed most by those who loved him best.”
We often think of you, dear Dad,
And think of how you died;
And in our lonely hours of thinking
How we wish that you were nigh.
Some may think that we forget you
When they sometimes see us smile,
But they little know the sorrow
That the smile hides all the while.
From his loving Wife and little one[s], Thorlby, Skipton.
05 November 1920
COPE – In loving memory of my dear husband, Harry Cope, who made the supreme sacrifice November 6th, 1918.
Forget him no, we never will,
We loved him then, we love him still.
From his loving Wife and Children.
12 November 1920
COPE – In ever loving memory of our dear son, Tom Harry Cope, killed in action on November 6th, 1918.
From Father and Mother, Brother and Sisters.
04 November 1921
COPE – In loving memory of our dear son, Tom Harry Cope, killed in action, Nov. 6th, 1918.
A day of remembrance sad to recall;
Loved by us and respected by all.
From Mother, Father, Brothers and Sisters, 19 Brook Street, Skipton.
COPE – In loving memory of my dear husband, Pte. T. H. Cope, killed in action, Nov. 6th, 1918.
“Missed by those who loved him best.”
From his loving Wife and Children, Thorlby.
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
View West Yorkshire Pioneer Articles
22 November 1918
Skipton Soldier Killed
Private T.H. Cope, second son of Mr. S. Cope, 19, Brook Street, Skjpton, was killed in action on November 6th. Pte. Cope, who was 35 years of age, had been out in France about two years, and leaves a wife and three children living at Stanley, Durham. He was apprenticed with Messrs. Freeman, Hardy and Willis, at Skipton, after starting business as a boot maker on his own account in Brook Street and Gargrave Road. For a period before enlisting he was manager for the Public Benefit Co. at Stanley.
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