Private Harry Brelsford
462 Royal Army Medical Corps
Drowned on the "Royal Edward" 13th August 1915
Lived at 31 Kime Street
Commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey
Burnley Express 4/9/1915 (P)

Photograph courtesy of Janet Baillie

Aged 22 he was the son of John William Brelsford, of 20 Saxon Street (later of 31 Kyme street) and had a brother named Holmes.
His father served in the RAMC. Harry was employed at Wood St Laundry and was connected with Ebenezer Baptist Church and school. He was married with one child.

The following corrections to the Burnley Express information comes from a relative of Harry's (Janet Baille) :

Harry is not John William’s son. Rather he is the son of John William’s Cousin, one John Brelsford (b Blidworth Nottingham) and Hannah (b Burnley). John William and his wife married in September 1893 and Holmes was born in February 1894.

Holmes and Harry share a common Great Grandfather, William Brelsford 1807-1868 and are therefore Second Cousins.

I had a chance to talk to my mother last evening. She is Holmes’s daughter and John William’s grand daughter. She tells me that on one of her “visitings” back to Burnley as a child she was with her Aunts (Holmes’s sisters) at Towneley Hall, where, in the left hand wing there was some sort of display listing those fallen in the great war. On seeing the name H Brelsford she asked who he was as he clearly was not her father. Her aunts told her that Harry was a cousin who had come to live with them due to (she supposes) some kind of family falling out, tragedy or something to “keep quiet”.

Before talking to my mum I was not aware of anyone else residing at Kyme Street at that time.

I can see that people would well think that the two were brothers Harry being born about 1889, making him 25 at the start of the war and Holmes being born in 1894 and 20 at the start of the war. At this time I cannot check out the Saxon Street address. In 1901 Harry (aged 12)was at Heath Street with his parents and younger sister Mary. I would need to see the 1911 census when it is released to try to verify a move to Saxon Street.