Soldier volunteer who was a hero on home front

A HUNDRED years ago almost to the day -- on November 17, 1904 -- the burial took place in Altham Church cemetery of Major William Bear, of the 2nd Volunteer Brigade of the East Lancashire Regiment.

As reported in the Burnley Press, "the funeral was a semi military one, many of the officers and corps of the 2nd VB of the East Lancashire Regiment attending to pay their respects to their old comrade and commander.

"The coffin was covered with a Union Jack on which were placed the helmet, crossed belt and sword of the deceased gentleman".

Volunteer corps were first formed in this country in 1859 during a period of unrest in Europe, to provide a trained force of part-time soldiers to supplement the regular army for home defence in the event of foreign invasion.

In Padiham, recruits were enrolled in the Assembly Room in Moor Lane, now the Masonic Hall, which became the first drill room. In February, 1861, the 84th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers as they were then known, marched through the town for the first time in their new uniforms -- red with black facings.

By 1863 there were 82 members on the roll. One of the first to enrol was William Bear.

William Bear was born in Lowerhouse in 1829, the third in a family of seven. Both his great-grandfather and grandfather had served in the regular army in the previous century.

His father, also William, had been a calico printer, working at the Lowerhouse printworks then owned by the firm of John Dugdale and Brothers.

At some point in the 1840s, William senior moved to Hapton where he went into business as a soap manufacturer. William junior took over the business on his father's death in 1849, later going into partnership with a Mr Shorrocks. In the late 1850s he sold out to try his hand in the cotton industry.

He was in his early 30s when he joined the Volunteers. At that time he was in the process of building Perseverance Mill in Padiham (which used to stand near the bridge at the bottom of Green Lane). When Bear was forced to sell the mill in 1872, a victim of the depression in the cotton trade when so many manufacturers went out of business, the Volunteers moved to a room in what was then Smithygate Mill in Mill Street. This remained its headquarters to the end of the century.

Life as a Volunteer was a mixture of military training and recreation. Each soldier was required to attend the minimum of eight drills in four months, and the Padiham Almanacs published in the 1860s give details of drills in musketry, judging distance, blank cartridge firing, rifle firing practice at Hambledon and joint training sessions with members of other corps attached to the 3rd Administrative Battalion of the Lancashire Volunteer Rifles. The Padiham Volunteers Band was always in great demand on public occasions, from leading the various church and chapel contingents at the annual Whit walks, to providing music at public events.

For example, in 1887, at the celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, the Padiham Company of the 3rd LVR, 72 strong, headed by their band, led the procession under the command of Lieutenant Bear.

At the end of the open air service outside St Leonard's Church, the Volunteers then formed in line and fired a feu de joi -- which would have caused quite a stir in the middle of Padiham especially as they were not supposed to fire within 50 yards of the public highway!

At the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 a fete and gala was held at the Arbories in the afternoon with sports, "whilst the Volunteers under Captain Bear gave exhibitions of skirmishing, military exercises, and finished with a sham fight in the defence of Huntroyde, beset by an imaginary force.

From joining as a private in 1860, William Bear rose through the ranks to Corporal, Colour Sergeant, Lieutenant and finally Captain. He devoted all his time and energy to the Volunteer cause for which he as to receive the Volunteer Decoration (for officers).

He personally presented a silver cup as a prize for the best marksman in the Padiham company and in 1896, when the Padiham Brass Band was disbanded, he bought their instruments for the Volunteers for £150.

Captain Bear retired from military service on November 24, 1898. He was probably one of the longest serving officers in the brigade, having served a total of 38 years, 10 months and 13 days. (The average length of service was about four years!)

As recognition of this he was promoted to the position of Honorary major, with permission to retain his rank and to continue to wear the uniform of the battalion. At a smoking concert held in the Drill Room the following January to celebrate his retirement, he was presented with a gold-mounted ebony walking stick and a silver mounted briar pipe with suitable inscriptions. It is probable that Long Row in Lowerhouse was renamed Bear Street in his honour at about this time.

From his obituary we can gather that in appearance he was a typical military man, smart and erect and had been something of an athlete when young.

"His seemingly bluff but kindly manner endeared him to all who knew him. By his death, Padiham loses a citizen of whom the town may justly feel proud."