1916-1917, John L'Anson Cartwright, Mayor of Wigan

John L’Anson Cartwright

Mayor of Wigan November 1916 to 1917

Born: Ellesmere, Shropshire 1862

Died: Wigan 31 January 1922

Parents: John Cartwright and Elizabeth Powell

Spouses: Sarah Jane Benefer - Married 25 October 1884, St. Mary, Battersea, Surrey

Elizabeth Russell - Married 5 May 1897, St. Michael & All Angels, Swinley

Children: Bessie, Elsie, John, James, William

Elected to Wigan Council in 1911

Appointed Justice of the Peace in 1916

Elected Mayor in November 1916

Councillor John I’Anson Cartwright was born in Ellesmere, Shropshire in 1862. His father was John Cartwright, a builder and contractor and his mother was Elizabeth Powell. He had an older brother James and a younger sister Evelyn. Due to his birth in Shropshire, it has been very difficult to discover anything about his early life.

Cllr Cartwright was appointed to the Post Office in Liverpool in September 1882 and later transferred to the East Central London office in June 1884. He returned to Liverpool, then on to Wigan, his home for the next 30 years. He spent his whole career with the Post Office and was very well thought of by all his colleagues throughout the country. He acted as organising secretary of the Postal Clerks’ Association and was chair of the Executive of the Post Office Insurance Society which distributed over £ 750,000 in benefits to its members during his chairmanship. Cllr Cartwright was so well respected that on his retirement from the postal service in December 1921, he was presented with an illuminated address by his colleagues which contained the universal esteem and regard in which he was held.

Whilst working at the East London Post Office, Cllr Cartwright married Sarah Jane Benefer on 25 October 1884 at St. Mary’s Church in Battersea. There were four children - Bessie born 23.8.1885, Elsie born 23.12.1886, John born 7.12.1888, James born 27.11.1890 but died a few days later on 3.12.1890 and William born 22.8.1892. Sarah Jane Benefer died in 1894. Cllr Cartwright married Elizabeth Russell at St. Michael & All Angels, Swinley on 5 May 1897. The 1911 census shows the family home as being 7 Holme Terrace, Wigan.

Cllr Cartwright attended St. Michael & All Angels Church, Swinley where he was a sidesman, lay representative on the Diocesan Conference and a lay reader, helping in that capacity in different churches and mission rooms in the Wigan area.

Cllr Cartwright completed 29 years service with the territorial forces and acted as Quarter-Master Sergeant with the 5^th Manchester Regiment. At the outbreak of the First World War, he was called from the Post Office to undertake duties with the Wigan Territorial Force. He was engaged at the Wigan Drill Hall and later transferred to Southport, nearly 4000 men passed through his hands, the greatest testimony to the excellence of his military service. He had the arduous duty of preparing men for the Front Line.

Cllr Cartwright was elected as an Independent Councillor for the Swinley Ward in 1911 and served for 11 years on the Council until his death in 1922. Alderman Ashton proposed Cllr Cartwright as a fit and proper person to be elected Mayor. The proposal was seconded by Alderman Benson. Alderman Cheetham on behalf of the Labour Representatives on the Council supported the proposals and said that it was the first time in the history of the Council that a direct wage earner was elected to the position of Mayor.

Cllr Cartwright served on various committees;

1. Chair of the War Pensions Committee
2. Vice Chair of the Health and Maternity and Child Welfare Committee
3. Chair of the Hospitals Sub Committee
4. Chair of the Food Control Committee
5. Council’s Representative of the East Lancashire Territorial Forces Association.

In November 1916 Cllr Cartwright paid his first state visit to Wigan Parish Church. The procession to the church was headed by the band of the 5^th Manchester Regiment, the regiment Cllr Cartwright had been closely associated with. For the convenience of residents, special cars were run from the Boar’s Head and Lamberhead Green in connection with the event and a portion of the church was reserved for wounded soldiers from local hospitals.

Cllr Cartwright was Mayor during the First World War, a difficult time. He often attended Council Meetings in his regimental uniform. As Chair of the Food Control he spent a considerable amount of time getting food of every description necessary for the benefit of the people of Wigan into the town. It was said that his efforts to bring about a regular and increasing supply of food to the town probably never met with the full recognition it deserved. Another of his great works for the town was the creation of a fund for extensions and improvements at the Wigan Infirmary.

Cllr Cartwright’s 2 sons served in the Postal Section of the Royal Engineers and Royal Navy Air Service during the war. One son followed him into the Postal Service.

Cllr Cartwright died on 31 January 1922 at his home address 7 Holme Terrace. It was felt by many that his devotion to civic and public duty led to his declining health and ultimately his death aged 59. His funeral took place on 3 February 1922. As a token of respect and esteem in which he was held, all the blinds of the houses in the neighbourhood of the family residence were drawn and along the route to St. Michael’s Church. Six members of the outdoor staff at the Wigan Post Office acted as bearers and an escort party was provided by the 5^th Battalion Manchester Regiment, representing the two services with which Cllr Cartwright had been closely associated with during his life. After the service, the funeral party proceeded by road in four cars to Frankton Parish Church, Shropshire were his burial took place. A posse of Police escorted the hearse to the Wigan Borough Boundary and as the cortege passed the Wigan Post Office the windows of the department were draped. Cllr Cartwright’s father was the builder of Frankton Church and his tombstone in the churchyard recorded this fact.

Probate records show that Cllr Cartwright left effects to the value of £1493 18s 2d. His wife Elizabeth died in 1926. Her funeral took place at St. Michael’s Church, Wigan and she was buried at Tong Cemetery, Shifnal in Shropshire.

SOURCES

Ancestry.com

Online Parish Clerks Project for the County of Lancashire

Wigan Observer 17.4.1916 p4b

Wigan Observer 11.11.1916 p5def

Wigan Observer 14.11.1916 p3e

Wigan Observer 30.12.1916 p8d

Wigan Observer 3.12.1921 p12d

Wigan Observer 4.2.1922 p6g

Wigan Observer 4.2.1922 p7f

Wigan Observer 11.2.1922 p10e

Wigan Observer 17.8.1926 p3e

Wigan Observer 19.8.1926 p2c

Council Minutes January 1922

Biography researched and written by Christine Carthy.