210793 Pte. Richard Spencer Howard British Army 10th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment from:Harehills, Leeds (d.7th June 1917) Richard Spencer Howard was, at the time of the 1911 Census, a musician working in the Music Halls in Leeds. He was also a violin maker. We know this because we own a fiddle that is labelled with his name and the words 'Violin No 6'. This fiddle was, in fact, never completed and was bought by a violin maker in Oxfordshire as a bag of bits and finished only a few years ago.
Richard Howard served in 10th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment and he died on June 7th 1917, presumably when the Battalion was advancing on Messines Ridge. The Battalion War Diary describes the action in detail.
He is buried, together with 6 other men from his Battalion, in Woods Cemetery, but a couple of miles from the place of his death.
He left a wife, Martha, and a daughter, Rose. Presumably he left five other violins but I cannot trace them. Violin No 6 is played regularly in public and maybe, one day, it will be played for him in Belgium.
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