12 September 2023

A Blencowe daughter who moved to Saskatchewan, Canada. Both her sons served WW! and one of them tragically lost his life while serving.

Mary Louise Blencowe was born in 1854 in Brackley, Northampton, where her father William Blencowe owned a large brewery business. She later moved to London and married Barrister Eldred John Brooksmith in 1887. Eldred John Brooksmith and his father, John Brooksmith, were both gifted in mathematics and law. They were also previously teachers and their books on maths are still sold today. The Royal Military Academy used the Brooksmith book for artillery calculations for many years.

Mary Louise and Eldred had two sons, John Douglas and Eldred Stuart Brooksmith. Both served in WW1, but their stories were quite different.

Eldred Stuart became a naval cadet as soon as he was old enough in 1904 and was a veteran naval officer by the time WW1 came around. He led the gunnery sections of British fighting ships throughout the war in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean. In 1917, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery in the Indian Ocean.

John Douglas emigrated with his family to Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1907 and became an accountant. In 1914, he enlisted as a private in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and embarked for the old country in 1915. He soon got a commission in the British Army and joined the Royal Artillery. He went to France in 1916 and spent the next two years in battles in France and Belgium.

In the spring of 1918, the German Army made one last desperate attempt to turn the war and advanced rapidly in attack across the western front. John Douglas Brooksmith and his artillery unit were overrun, and he himself was reported missing until later it was established he had been killed on the 21st of March 1918.

Mary Louise received this news of her son’s death in Arcola, Saskatchewan, and also a letter from the King offering condolences. After the war, Mary Louise and Eldred John Brooksmith helped the town of Arcola build a war memorial, and their son was added to those lost from the small Saskatchewan community.

The honours award of both sons