Ruth Mary Maslen

Who Was Ruth Mary Maslen?

In the Lady Chapel at All Saints, Basingstoke, there isan inscription carved into the reredos (the wooden screen behind the Lady Chapel altar). The inscription reads:
"In Memoriam Ruth Mary Maslen Died At La Rochelle France Sept 4 1935 Aged 16½ Years R.I.P." 

James and Gladys' first son  Peter Innes Maslen  was born on 21st February 1916 at the Red Lion Hotel  and the birth notice in the Hampshire Chronicle reports this birth occurred "prematurely". Their second son, John Powers Maslen, followed in 1917, and daughter Ruth was born two years later.

At the time of his marriage, James' occupation was recorded as "Clerk". In April 1916 the Hampshire Chronicle reported that "...Mr. J. Maslen, of Fairfields Road, has been appointed..." to "...the position of income tax collector for the parishes of Basingstoke, Eastrop, Cliddesden, Worting, Wootton St. Lawrence, and Steventon." On daughter Ruth's Baptism entry in 1919, James' "Quality, Trade or Profession" is written 'Private in XVth London Regiment'. Records indicate that Ruth's father, James Maslen, was on active duty with the  15th (County of London) Battalion, also known as the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles, between at least August 1917 to August 1918. From regimental history, this period would correspond to the Regiment's participation in the Macedonia and Palestine campaigns in the latter part of WW1. That James' occupation on Ruth's baptism certificate in 1919 is shown as his Aemy position suggests that he was nor "de-mobbed" until after that time.

The 1921 Census foe 3 Fairfields Road in Basingstoke, only lists its occupants as Gladys, her two sons - Peter Innes and John Powers - and daughter, Ruth, as well as a servant, Edith Kate Nash. James Maslen is absent from the address on the Census' however, he is listed there on the Borough Electoral Registers for that and subsequent years - could he be posted elsewhere with the military?

The Maslen family connections with All Saints Church are shown by ab extract from the Basingstoke Parish Magazine that John Pearce's research into the history if All Saints' for its centenary in 2017:

"September 1933 saw an explanation of the objects of the GSS [Guild of Servers of the Sanctuary]  in the Parish Magazine and the Guild Office was later sung in All Saints that month and again in February 1934. One of the All Saints’ servers, Bro. P I Maslen was the local Secretary."

James Maslen died in Q2 of 1934, aged 47. No information relating to the circumstances of Ruth Maslen's death the following tear have so far been discovered. With her demise in France, there appears to be no relevant UK records.

John Pearce's research also found the following: "At the November [1935] PCC meeting, Rev Harold Smith (Priest-in-charge of All Saints) reported that Mrs. Maslen had asked to be allowed to place a memorial to her daughter, Miss Ruth Maslen in All Saints church. It was proposed that this memorial should take the form of a reredos behind the Altar in the Lady Chapel. The design had been submitted to the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC), who had given it their approval. He asked the Council for their approval of an application to the Chancellor for the necessary faculty. This was carried mm. con. The faculty was subsequently granted."

As a result, the reredos was subsequently installed. The six shields on the reredos panel are intended to illustrate the biblical genealogy that Christ was born of the House of David and that Ruth the Moabitess was the grandmother of Jesse, the father of David, and therefore the ancestress of Our Lord. From the left the shields are: Ruth (the gleaner); Jesse; David; St Anne (the mother of Our lady); Our Lady (Fleur de Lys); Our Lord (Chi-Ro). The two remaining shields at the extremities of the reredos represent: the County of Hampshire (Rose and Crown) and the Borough of Basingstoke (St Michael). These latter two elements were also components of the vadge of Basingstoke High School for Girls which Ruth attended.

By 1939, the widowed Gladys Maslen and her son Peter had moved to St Albans.

But while information has been found about the Maslen family, the events surrounding the death of Ruth Mary Maslen have not been uncovered. So who was Ruth Mary Maslen?