1946-1947, Thomas Battersby, Mayor of Leigh

1946-1947, Thomas Battersby, Mayor of Leigh

Thomas Battersby was the Co-op shop boy whose dedication to public service was recognised when he was awarded the MBE.

When he died suddenly at the age of 68, Thomas Battersby had completed almost four decades of service to Leigh Borough Council and more than 50 years service in the butchering trade – a period during which many charities and needy causes benefitted from his efforts.

Connected to the butchering trade all his working life, the young Tom started as a shop boy with Leigh Co-operative Friendly Society and rose to become shop manager and a respected figure at home and abroad in the meat industry. He was a national organiser for the meat trade section of USDAW, the shopworkers’ union, for almost 20 years, during which time he travelled many thousands of miles. In 1968 he became the first butchering employee to be appointed president of the Institute of Meat, of which he had been a board member for many years. He also served on the International Union of Food and Allied Workers.

He retired in 1966 but retained an interest in the trade and it was in the act of presenting an award to another long-serving employee of the meat industry that that he suffered his fatal collapse at Earlestown Conservative Club in September 1971.

Thomas Battersby became a member of Leigh Borough Council in 1932 when he won a by-election in St Paul’s Ward. He became a Borough magistrate in 1943 and a County magistrate in 1946, becoming chairman of both benches.

When he was made an alderman in 1952 he had been chairman of the library committee and the housing committee and was a member of the amenities, finance and planning committees.

His interest in education saw him rise to chairmanship of the Leigh Divisional Education Executive. He was chairman of governors at Leigh Technical College and a governor at the town’s two grammar schools, Westleigh County Secondary School and Atherton and Tyldesley Adult Education Centre. He was manager of Leigh Newton West Park Primary School, Westleigh Methodist School, Leigh Hope Carr Nursery School and Atherton Greenhall and Two Porches special schools.

He also actively devoted himself to local hospitals, in particular Atherleigh Hospital, which was near his home in Furnival Street and to which he was connected for 39 years. He was an original member of Wigan and Leigh Hospital Management Committee in 1948 and served on the committee for 21 years.

Among the many causes he helped over the years were Westleigh OAPs and the Old People’s Welfare and he was chairman of Wigan, Leigh and District Society for the Blind.

Thomas Battersby’s public service was recognised in 1957 when he was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

A staunch Methodist, he was a lay preacher for many years and was connected to Brunswick, Westleigh and Kingsleigh Methodist churches and preached in Methodist churches all over Lancashire.

Buried at Leigh Cemetery following a funeral service at Westleigh Methodist Church, he left a wife, Ellen, and a married son, Tom.

Written by Gordon Sharrock

References

Biographical cuttings – Thomas Battersby, available at Leigh Local Studies.