Joseph Quinn was born in Widnes on 25 December 1895. He was the son of Margaret Carney, single woman, and his birth was registered in Prescot District under the name Stephen Joseph Carney.
Margaret married Joe Quinn in the first quarter of 1897 and the couple went on to have seven children. Susannah and John were born in Widnes in 1897 and 1898 respectively. Then the family moved to Thornton where Martha Elizabeth was born in 1900. In the Census taken on 31 March 1901 the Quinn family were recorded at 5 Ormerod Street and Joe was working at United Alkali as a chemical labourer.
Two more children were born in Thornton: Margaret in 1902 and Mary Ann in the first quarter of 1905. It appears that the family then went back to Widnes for a few months. There is an admission record for Joseph at St. Marie's Roman Catholic Primary School, Widnes on 10 July 1905 giving his father's address as 12 Elizabeth Street and showing that he transferred in from a Thornton school and exited on 9 November 1905 when the family left Widnes.
Two more children were born in Thornton before the next Census: Michael in 1908 and Winifred in 1910 but sadly she died in infancy. Joseph's mother died the same quarter which suggests it was a result of complications with the birth. She was aged 34.
The Census taken on 2 April 1911 recorded 13 people living at 27 Heys Street, Thornton. Joseph and his seven surviving children were there. Susannah had married James Holleran in 1895 and they, together with their three children plus a boarder, all shared the five-roomed property. Joe, Joseph and James were chemical labourers at United Alkali.
Tragedy struck the family on 6 May 1915 when John, who had also become a labourer at United Alkali, drowned in the works reservoir whilst bathing during his lunchtime break. He was aged 17.
Three days after his brother's death, Joseph was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He had been called up with the Royal Lancaster Regiment's Territorials when war broke out. Joseph served with the machine gun section for a time and then transferred to the Tank Corps. He was killed in action on 31 July 1917. He was aged 21 and unmarried.
Details of how he met his death were contained in a letter written by the captain of his company: "Gunner J. Quinn has been in the section which I command since the winter of 1916. On July 31st, he and the rest of his crew took their tank into action. They had crossed the first German line, attacked the second, and were leading our infantry towards the third when the car was hit by a large shell. It was the explosion of this which killed poor Quinn and everyone in the car. He was a keen, brave and experienced soldier. It is hard to realise that he has gone, and harder still to tell you how sorry we all are and how much we shall all miss him. Please accept my very deep-felt sympathy for you in your great sorrow." The letter was addressed to Joseph's step-mother at 27 Heys Street, Joe having remarried to Ann Rutlidge, the widow of George Sulley, in March 1916.
Pte Joseph Quinn, 69856, "G" Battalion, Tank Corps, formerly of 2nd/5th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment is commemorated on Panel 56 at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
An industrial accident at United Alkali resulted in the death of Joseph's father on 30 December 1920. Joe and Ann had produced three children but had been living apart since May 1919 when he slipped an fell into the flywheel race of a lime-pit driving engine.
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