Reginald John Atkinson

Reginald with his family. He is the youngest boy.
Reginald with his family. He is the youngest boy.

Key Information

Name:Reginald John Atkinson

DoB: January 3 1898

Regt: Rifleman 243773,  Liverpool

DoD: June 3 1917

Academic Career: CGS 1914 – 1916

Other: son of Thomas Atkinson, Bowness-on-Solway

Biographical Information:

  • Reginald John Atkinson was born at Bowness-on-Solway, a small fishing/farming community, which is twelve miles west of Carlisle. His father Thomas was the local schoolmaster.  Reginald was the youngest of Thomas and Mary’s five children. When Reginald was six months old his brother Thomas died in an outbreak of measles.

    Thomas and Mary had married at Darlington in 1881, Thomas’s family were from County Durham and Mary’s from Manfield, Yorkshire. They moved to the Bowness area when Thomas was appointed headteacher of Anthorn School and later of Bowness School so they moved to the village and lived there for over thirty years. Thomas was a meticulous keeper of school records and even records the death of his son. He shut the school for several days when Reginald died.

    Teaching was part of the Atkinson family’s way of life Reginald became a pupil teacher at Bowness, and an assistant teacher at Burgh by Sands School, and his sisters and brother also taught.