52nd (Graduated) Battalion, Manchester Regiment
Arthur William Lovesey was born at Gorton, Manchester on 12 February 1889. He was the son of William Abel Snowsell Lovesey and his wife Elizabeth (née Lewis), whom he had married in 1884 in Cheshire.
Mr Lovesey senior had been born in Cheltenham in 1856 and died in Gloucester in 1934: he was employed as a Guard with the Midland Railway Company.
The couple had two sons, Arthur William was the elder and his brother, Charles Lewis, was born in Crumpsall, Manchester on 19 September 1891.
Although the family had close links with the north-west of England, there does appear to be a
close connection with Gloucestershire. Mr Lovesey senior was born and subsequently died in the
county and the second son married Elizabeth G Sterrey in Gloucester in 1916 and died in the city in 1970.
This connection probably accounts for the fact that Serjeant Lovesey’s last resting place is in
Gloucester.
Both of the Lovesey boys were employed in clerical jobs. The 1911 Census records that Arthur was a clerk with a firm of Chartered Accountants. At that time he was living in the family home at 68 Bold Street, Blackburn, Lancashire.
No Service Record or Pension Record (if applicable) has survived and neither does he appear to have a Medal Index Card. The absence of the latter would indicate that he did not see active service overseas.
According to the CWGC Register at the time of death Serjeant Lovesey was serving with the 52nd (Graduation) Battalion, Manchester Regiment.
Graduation Battalions were formed in May 1917 from what had been the Training Reserve and ran
alongside Young Soldier Battalions and unlike their predecessor were aligned to specific regiments.
They were responsible for basic training and the supply of reinforcements to the front line units.
Given Arthur Lovesey’s age and rank we may speculate that he had some history of service with
possibly the Territorial Army or something similar that qualified him to be a training serjeant but In the absence of a Service Record it is impossible to say.
However, a recently released Pension Record Card indicated previous service with the South
Lancashire Regiment, with service number 27876.
Arthur Lovesey had married Elizabeth Shaw at Blackburn (St John) Church on 2 February 1916 and
they had one child, Arthur Guy, born in Blackburn on 23 November 1916.
In the winter of 1917 the 52nd (Graduated) Battalion had been posted to Yarmouth in Norfolk and it was whilst serving there that Arthur Lovesey was admitted to the Military Hospital, Royal Garrison Artillery Barracks, Yarmouth, where he died on 12 March 1918, aged 29.
He was buried in Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave.
Researched by Graham Adams 5 June 2013 (Revised 30 July 2021)