Son of
W.P. 'Bill' Richardson's Great Aunt,
Jane Gilliland
Sidney (or Sydney,
depending on which record you look at) was the
third child and only son of Jane Gilliland and her
husband John Rudkin. He was born in the last quarter of
1895 and his birth was registered in the Auckland
Registration District. The census of 1901
recorded Sidney as aged 5 and living with his family at
Church Hill, Helmington Row, Crook. His Dad was a 47
year old coal miner and his Mam was 37. Sidney had two
older sisters, Hannah (16) and Florence (15).
By the time of the 1911 census the family had moved,
they were living at Belle View, Wheatbottom, Crook.
Sidney's Dad was still working in the pit, his older
sister Hannah had married and left home but his other
sister Florence lived with the family. Sidney was
15 in 1911 and was working for his living as an errand
boy for a chemists. Sidney served in
WW1. His service record has survived, though its damaged
and faded. He had his medical examination at Sunderland
and that record shows that he was 20 years and 7 months
old, worked as a 'druggist', was five feet 3 inches
tall, weighed one hundred and fifteen pounds and had a
chest measurement of thirtyfour and a half inches. His
physical development was recorded as 'good' and he was
declared fit for general service. He
enlisted on 19th April 1916, as a Private in The Durham
Light Infantry and was given the service number 31790.
He gave his next of kin as his father: John Rudkin, 6
Belle Vue, Wheatbottom, Crook. By July 1916 he was
in France. His record says that on 31st March 1918 he
suffered a shrapnel wound and was in hospital for
fifteen days. In June 1918 he was acting unpaid Lance
Corporal and was promoted to Corporal in August 1918.
Sidney died on 26th August 1918 from wounds received in
battle. He was awarded the Victory and British Medals. Sidney has been
commemorated in various places. His name, along with
those of other young men who died, was inscribed
on the war memorial at Helmington Row, on a Rood Plaque
in St Catherine's Church in Crook and his family had a
stained glass window inscribed to his memory in the
Dawson St. United Reformed Methodist Church in Crook.
The inscription on the window reads:
In loving memory of Corporal Sidney Rudkin, 15th
D.L.I.
who died on 26th August 1918 from wounds received in
action on the 24th.
Erected by his loving Father, Mother and Sisters.
When Sidney's father died in 1925, there was a headstone
erected on his grave and a memorial for Sidney was
added. That reads: Also Sidney, their
beloved son, who died in France August/26/1918
aged 22 years |
