Mark Magnall was born on 14 January 1883 to William Magnall (GM076) and Mary Ann (GM018) in Burnley.

At the time of the 1891 Census he was living with his parents and older siblings at 26 Cobden Street in Burnley. He was about 8 years old and described as a scholar.

The 1901 Census shows Mark to be 18 years old living with his widowed mother, his older brother James (who is shown to be married) and James’ son Ernest at 19 Cobden Street in Burnley. Mark was working as a carter for a confectioner.

Mark married Emma Spencer on 5 January 1904 (RoM Burnley 1904 Q1 8e 388) and they had the following children:

  • Lily (DM018), (born 7 December 1905, died 9 April 1928)
  • Eileen (DM024), (born 14 April 1909)

The 1911 Census shows that Mark (28) was living at 19 Cobden Street with Emma (28), Lily (5), Eileen (1) and his widowed mother Mary Ann (67). Mark was working as a weaver, Emma as a winder, both for a cotton manufacturer. They had been married for 7 years and Emma had given birth to three children, one who had died.

Mark was called up for service on the 28 July 1916 and was enlisted into the Army on the 15 August 1916 in Salop and was assigned to ‘C’ Battery No.2 ATS. The “Descriptive Report on Enrolment” shows him to be 33 years old and 5 foot 4 inches tall. His next of kin was his wife Emma Spencer living at 19 Cobden Street. They had been married on the 5 January 1904 and had two children, Eileen born on the 14 April 1909 and Lily born on the 7 December 1905.

Mark’s Service record is as follows:

  • called up for Service 28th July 1916. His service number seems to have been 157994 at this time
  • posted to ‘C’ Battery No.2 ATS as a gunner on the 29th July 1916
  • posted to the Royal Field Artillery 68th Division on the 7th September 1916 as a gunner
  • posted to A/343rd Bde as a driver on the 5th June 1917
  • on the 16th April 1918 he looks to have been transferred to the E.L Labour …..? with a new regiment number of 535379
  • on the 17th April 1918 he was posted to the Labour Corps.

At the end of August 1918 Mark was granted leave as a special concession in order to visit his wife.On the 28th August he sent a telegraph requesting an extension to his leave as his wife was no better. On the 31st August the doctor sent a message saying that “Mrs Mangnall of 19 Cobden St, Burnley, wife of Pte Mark Mangnall has been ill in bed since August 24th. She is now gradually recovering.” (note the misspelling of the surname!)

Emma died on the 26 December 1918 at home at 19 Cobden Street. She was aged 36 and died of “1. Influenza, 2. Pulmonary Tuberculosis probably miliary tubercle”. Mark was present at her death.

On the 9 January 1920 Mark looks to have been awarded a disability allowance / pension due to bronchitis.

Mark remarried in 1920 to Janet Scott Davis (EM209) (RoM Burnley 1920 Q1 8e 604) and they had a daughter called Joyce (DM059) who was born on 10 April 1921.

The 1939 register shows that Mark and Janet were living at 13 Ashford Street with Joyce. All three were working as cotton weavers. Joyce married Kenneth Heap in 1941.

Mark died on 21 January 1948 aged 65, he had still been living at Ashford Street. He was buried on 24 January in Burnley Cemetery, grave A15615. Janet remarried to Mr Lord and died on 2 April 1975 aged 86.

n.b. some of Mark’s service record has been difficult to decipher so please accept my apologies for any errors!

[Last updated 30 Dec 2023]