Richard Waring, known as Dick, was born in Thornton in 1895. He was the youngest of four children of Richard Waring senior and his wife Margaret Roskell who were married on 15 May 1886 at St Peter, Fleetwood. Richard senior was a farm labourer from Carleton. Margaret was born in Everton, Liverpool, the eldest daughter of Thomas Roskell, a master mariner and ship owner.
Margaret and Richard's first child, Mary Ellen, was baptised at Christ Church, Thornton on Christmas Day, 1888. A son, Thomas Roskell (Tom) Waring, was born a month before the Census was taken on 3 April 1891. In it the Waring family were recorded at Old Warren Farm, Sandy Lane, Rossall and Richard was working as farm labourer. A second son, John, was baptised at Christ Church on 28 May 1893 but sadly he lived for just a month and was buried in Christ Churchyard on 19 June. Dick was born next and baptised at the same church on 28 April 1895. There were to be no further additions to the family as Richard Waring senior died the following year, aged 31, and was buried at Christ Church on 16 March.
After Richard's death, Margaret Waring kept the family by sewing and taking in washing. She remarried to William Francis Glover at the Registry Office, Kirkham on Christmas Eve, 1897. They had one child, William John Francis, who was born in Thornton on 21 March 1898 and baptised at Christ Church on the following 26 June. In the Census taken on 30 March 1901, William and Margaret and the three youngest children were living at 6 Bleasdale Terrace, (now 35) Trunnah Road, Thornton. William was a chemical labourer at United Alkali. Mary Ellen, aged 12, was living at The Holmes, Fleetwood Road with Thomas Wright, a gardener, and his wife Alice Bullen. The Census recorded her as their adopted daughter. Thomas and Alice had been neighbours of the Warings in Bleasdale Terrace.
Unfortunately, Margaret and William's marriage was not a happy one and at Fleetwood Petty Sessions, on 7 February 1906, a separation order was made under which William was to pay five shillings a week to his wife who would have custody of the children. Dick attended Church Road Council School, Thornton and by the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Rossall School where he worked as an assistant furnace stoker. His mother and step-brother were living with his uncle, Thomas Roskell, at 29 Heys Street. His sister, Mary Ellen, had married Joseph Barnes in 1909 and they were living at 84 Albert Road, Blackpool. Dick's older brother Tom had joined the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and was stationed at Bhurtpore Barracks in South Tedworth, Hampshire.
Only brief detail of Dick's army service have survived. He enlisted in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment on 18 September 1912 whilst working as a porter and living with Joe and Mary Ellen Barnes at 10 Beech Street, Blackpool. He was sent to France, disembarking at Le Havre on 12 October 1914 for service on the Western Front. Dick died on 16 September 1914 from wounds received in action at Vendresse. He was aged 19 and unmarried. Pte. Richard Waring, 10445, 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment is buried in Row C Grave 1 in Vendresse Churchyard, Aisne, France. His brothers, Tom and William, both served in the army and survived the war.
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