The war years had taken a great toll on the family, with
the tragic death of his father in 1913, his brother Richard, also a solicitor like his
father, who died it is said from overwork in his early years in 1917, and the death of his
sister Florence, who was a nurse, but sadly, died during the Great
War influenza epidemic, through nursing sick soldiers in 1918.
A little light emerged, however, as Francis managed to get
leave during August of 1918, and on the 19th, he was married at All Saint's Church,
Marylebone, to Dorothy Bebba Burman a nurse, she was daughter of the late Dr Charles
Clark Burman who was the honorary doctor of the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, whom he met
through the regiment. The many visits to the family home at Bamborough, was reflected in
the source of the many flints later to be recovered from the area in the collection.
Francis and Bebba August 1918
After his demobilisation on 13th February 1919,
Francis continued to be a Barrister, getting to know figures such as Sir Edward Marshall
Hall, who defended many well known capital cases. Plus Sir Edward's junior at the time,
Norman Birkett, (later Sir Norman Birkett) became a friend, and visited Buckley in
Yorkshire.
On the death of his father, (a very successful solicitor in
Bank Street, Manchester) in 1913, he was left the family estate, and some
91thousand 571 pounds 19 shillings and 9d, which made him the
modern equivalent of a Millionaire. He was a a well known figure locally
in West Yorkshire as a Justice of the Peace. He was said to be strict, but was also
know to be lenient under the right circumstances. He was a Lay Reader, (his
Father built St Mary's the local church) and was said to give some interesting
sermons. He was known in wider circles as a notable archaeologist. As a
landlord he was very gentle with his tenants, and I doubt if the income from them ever
much exceeded the expenditure that was laid out on the upkeep of the houses. Most of them
were subsequently sold to the occupants over a long period of time.
With his passion for archaeology, he was in the forefront
of research into the Mesolithic period, upon which he published a considerable amount of
new work. He used to walk the turned soil from the newly dug trenches in France
during the war, and sent many early flints home, he was encouraged in this by a friend,
Reginald Smith, who worked for the British Museum, and thankfully this habit of
'Walking The Top' never got him shot.
John Gilks of the Tolson Memorial Museum, wrote in
the Durham Archaeological Journal 9, in 1993:
'From 1920 to 1948, the year before his death, Buckley
built up through dedicated, systematic fieldwork and excavation on the high moors around
Marsden in West Yorkshire, one of the most important collections of Mesolithic flintwork
ever assembled by an individual in Britain. From the outset he gave material to a number
of museums including, importantly the Tolson Memorial Museum in Huddersfield, which now
houses the bulk of his collection, his personal notes, drawing books and letters to
Dr T W Woodhead, the first director of the museum.
This period of intense collecting was
interrupted by regular family holidays at Bamburgh on the Northumberland coast. We know a
great deal about what he found whilst at Bamburgh, as he recorded his discoveries in two
notebooks which are preserved, with others in the Tolson Memorial Museum. The area around
Ross Links to the north of Bamburgh, provides incontrovertible evidence for the
occupation within the sandhills (dunes) between the mid third and the mid second
millennium BC (Earlier Bronze Age) .
It should I hope be apparent from the
foregoing account of Buckley's work that he was, for his time and as an amateur, not only
a careful and observant excavator, but also a meticulous recorder of all he found.
Furthermore he was a man who had no real interest in creating a great private collection
of archaeological artefacts, to be viewed only by learned persons; to him finds had to be
published and, when this was done, deposited in an appropriate museum where they could be
examined by all'.
During his 'Flinting' trips, he took
on the appearance of a tramp. He kept his tools in an old sack slung over his shoulder,
and with an old overcoat and 'Fishing' type hat, he would walk 20-30 miles a day.
Buckley's extraordinary contribution to 'Mesolithic'
archaeology has only been fully recognised in the last 20 years. He did, however,
contribute substantially to a book in 1932 called 'The Mesolithic Age of Britain' by
Graham Clark.
Between the wars, Buckley also set about compiling the
official history of the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, which has become the definitive work
on the Regiment. In 1920 he published a personal account of his war service, entitled 'Q6a
and Other places'. As a novel based in fact, it gives a more human account of the
war, and perhaps a side to the experience that many would not have missed. Buckley
obviously laboured intensively to finish these works, dwelling on the deeds of others, but
neglected in them to enlighten the reader to any degree about himself, something that I am
endeavouring to correct.
As well completing the two regimental histories, he
published works on early glass, said to be his most notable work was a comprehensive book
called 'Old English Glass', he also wrote the entry for glass in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica. His glass collection now resides in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the
Tolson Memorial Museum in Huddersfield . He also had a great interest in early
watches. He was a prolific contributor to a wide range of publications. A list
exists specifying some 500 entries of articles and works of note, ranging from antiques
magazines to more scholarly works.
Some of Buckley's Books were:
Old London Drinking Glasses, Edinburgh: Ballantyne Press, 1913
Buckley, Francis
The Glass Trade in England in the 17th Century" ; 1914
Buckley, Francis
Old London Glasshouses, I. Southwark, London: Stevens & Sons, 1915
Buckley, Francis
Old Nottingham Glasshouses (Reprint From the Transactions of the
Society of Glass Technology, 1926, Vol. 10)
by Buckley, F
The Birmingham Glass Trade, 1740-1833, Sheffield; Society of Glass Technology, 1927.
Buckley, Francis
Q.6.a. and other places. Recollections of 1916, 1917 ,1918,
Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co.Ltd, 1920.
Buckley, Francis
History of Old English Glass, New York : Dingwell-Rock, 1925
Buckley, Francis
War History of the Seventh Northumberland Fusiliers; T.M. Grierson, printer, 1920.
Buckley, Captain F.
During the Second World War, Francis Buckley was again called to arms,
serving as a Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment from 1939 to 1942, with the
Army Legal Division in York. He left the Army at the age of 61 (presumably
retirement), and subsequently joined the Home Guard as an aircraft spotter. (Luckily there were few aircraft to spot in Yorkshire, as Francis by his
own admission had poor eyesight) During this period, Francis,
out of principal, stuck rigidly to his ration entitlement.
A measure may be taken of Francis Buckley, by the way
in which he is remembered, whilst researching for this piece, I was told by a lady who
used to be his neighbour, 'he was an absolute 'gentleman', on one occasion, a neighbour
who worked in the cotton mill, had a delivery of coal arrive at his house during the
day, which had been dumped outside in the street. Francis said " I can't have
him coming home to that after a long day at the Mill", and he promptly
shovelled it all into the coal hole for him. And this for a man who had by
then assumed the role almost of Lord of the Manor.
Bebba and Francis had three children, Maude, George and
John. George and John both served during the Second War, George Buckley as an officer,
but John was killed in a lorry accident in Europe, on the 17th July 1947.
George Buckley served for 19 years in the British Army in
the Royal Engineers and now lives in New Zealand. He landed on Gold beach on D-day and
served throughout the North West Europe campaign, and later in Burma.
He writes:
An extraordinary coincidence occurred
during the D DAY invasion of Europe. I was part of the engineer effort to clear the
beaches of obstacles, landing 5 minutes ahead of the first infantry. On my beach, Gold
Beach, near Le Hamel, it was the 50th NORTHUMBRIAN DIVISION that made the assault.
God had an amazing hand in success there, facing as we were, Polish and Russians
who joined the German Army for sake of food and clothing only. As the invasion began, they
shot their German Officers and surrendered to the 50th Northumbrian Division, who handed
them over to us. They made willing labourers, who cleared all remaining obstacles by sheer
manpower. God never got a mention in dispatches for that miracle!
Maude served as a W.R.N.S. Officer (Signals) during the 2nd
War, stationed mostly on the South Coast, where she met her husband James Pictor, who was
a Lieutenant-Commander R.N.R. Minesweepers. She died in 1991.
Thankfully few people must know how hard it is be to be
preceded by the death of ones offspring, and Francis was deeply affected by John's
loss. Francis caught influenza and bronchial pneumonia, and lost the will to
live. He died on 27th March 1949 at the age of 68.
They are survived by one son and five grandchildren.
(photo: Trinity College)
Captain Bert Odell MC + Bar 149th Brigade Signaller, No 1 Section, 
