Measles Claims Death of Sheffield Pal

Eager to Enlist in the Sheffield City Battalion

When war was declared in 1914, Charles Hoyland was eager to join the new Sheffield City Battalion (officially entitled the 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, and also known as the Sheffield Pals). The original impetus for forming this Battalion came from two Sheffield University students, and on 1st September 1914 the University Vice Chancellor, Mr H A L Fisher, announced that enrolment of volunteers would begin the following afternoon at the Town Hall. Recruitment was targeted at university students and professional men such as businessmen, teachers, and clerks.

The men who enrolled at the Town Hall were sent a postcard dated 8th September requesting them to attend for medical inspection and attestation between 2 and 8 pm on Thursday 10th September - the Battalion's official formation day. The Corn Exchange on Sheaf Street (now demolished) was used for this because it was one of the largest buildings in the city.

Charles Hoyland was quick to volunteer for the City Battalion, attending the Corn Exchange on 10th September. He was 21 years old, 5'7" (1.7m) tall, and weighed 9 stone 12 lbs (62.5 kg); he had good eyesight, a fair complexion, grey eyes, and light brown hair. The medical officer passed him as fit for service in the Battalion, and he was duly enlisted as a Private; his relatively low Regimental Number, 411, shows how early he enlisted.

After enlistment, Charles continued to live at home: army accommodation was not available for the Battalion until December 1914. However, training began on 15th September, at Bramall Lane Football Ground and on waste land in Edmund Road and Queens Road. At first, the recruits trained in their own clothes: officers had to pay for their own uniforms to be made by local tailors, and the issue of uniforms to other ranks did not begin until 16th November.

Recruits drilling at Bramall Lane. Image taken from Picture Sheffield (www.picturesheffield.com reference t02583)

Discharged on Medical Grounds

Charles did not remain in the army for long. On 3rd October 1914, after only 24 days' service, he was discharged 'in consequence of his having been found unfit for service'. The cause of discharge was given as: 'Not likely to become an efficient soldier by reason of being generally weakly under para 392 (iii) C King's Regs'. His military character and character awarded in accordance with King's Regulations were both described as very good. Sadly, no details were given regarding his health.

The fact that Charles was discharged on the grounds of poor health so shortly after he had been passed as fit for military service raises the question whether he should have been passed as fit in the first place. There are several possible explanations.

Flawed Medical Examination Process?

Was Charles Hoyland recruited, and then discharged on health grounds after only 24 days, because the medical examination process which formed part of the wider recruitment process was flawed? There are several reasons to think that it may have been.

There may have been some lack of clarity, so early in the war, about the standards which were to be applied when examining potential recruits, and there would certainly have been a lack of experience in applying them. By the end of 7th September, over 1300 men had been enrolled at the Town Hall and, between the start of recruitment at 2pm on 10th September and the close of recruitment on 11th September, over 900 had been enlisted; the remainder were rejected, mostly on medical grounds (mainly failure to comply with the minimum height requirement and chest measurement of 5'6" and 35½" respectively). According to the Sheffield Daily Independent for 12th September 1914, about 40 doctors performed the medicals in the Corn Exchange. The Sheffield Daily Independent for 5th September 1914 states that the doctors were working in relays of six. They would have been under significant time pressure; it seems likely that each doctor saw around 12 applicants an hour, allowing little time for in-depth examination.

Moreover, the doctors who undertook the medical examinations were volunteers; many, if not most, would have been GPs with no prior military experience. Charles was examined by James Lamberton, a young and re"atively inexperienced doctor who had qualified in medicine in Edinburgh only two years earlier, in 1912. Although Charles, at 5'7", met the required height criterion, his chest measurement was recorded as only 34½", yet he was still passed as fit for service - perhaps because of a lack of clarity about the required standards.

Additionally, doctors may have been unwilling to disappoint volunteers who were eager to enlist, but of whose physical fitness they were uncertain. They may have assumed that any health problems would be identified later, while the recruit was undergoing basic training – as indeed happened in Charles's case.

Finally, there may have been a financial motive for passing men who were medically unfit. Examining doctors were paid 2s 6d for the first 16 recruits whom they passed as fit on any given day. So, their payment was normally limited to £2 a day, which was considered a fair maximum for a full day spent medically examining potential recruits, though it could be exceeded in exceptional cases. As the doctors in the Corn Exchange were working in relays, they presumably only had a few hours in which to identify 16 fit men and earn their full £2, and so may have been tempted to pass unfit men in an attempt to reach their target in the time available to them.

Charles's Unfortunate Death

After he was discharged from the army, Charles returned home to work in the family firm. His great-grandfather, Jonathan Hoyland, had established a brush manufacturing business in Sheffield at least as early as 1825. This business had passed from Jonathan to his sons, and then to his grandson, Charles Haywood Hoyland. Charles was the second of five children born to Charles Haywood Hoyland and his wife Louisa Maria and, as their eldest son, he was presumably expected to continue in the business. Certainly, the 1911 census records that, when he was 17, Charles was already "engaged in brush manufacture with his father". When he enlisted, he gave his occupation as "traveller" – presumably in the family firm - and after his discharge he became a director in the company.

Sadly, Charles died aged only 24. He died at the family home, Thornfield on Totley Brook Road, on 11th February 1918 following a short illness. His death was certified by Dr Charles O'Connor Parsons, a physician and surgeon who also lived on Totley Brook Road. It was attributed to measles, which he had suffered for eight days, and broncho-pneumonia, which developed four days before his death.

Measles – A Potentially Fatal Disease

Deaths from measles were relatively common at this time. The number of deaths from measles had decreased well before measles vaccination came in 1968 due to improving social conditions, general health and nutrition. During the 1960's approximately 100 children died in a year. At the time of Charles Hoyland's death, those due to measles was 7,190 per year in England and Wales. However it can also be expressed as approximately 20 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants per year. This was less than in 1911, when there was an epidemic. In the early years of 21st Century England and Wales figures show 0, 1 or 2 deaths per year (0.01/100,000 inhabitants per year), increasing recently to 5 deaths in 2024.

Many readers will not be familiar with how measles presents. It is still quite rare, though it is increasing in incidence with the reduction in uptake of vaccination in 21st Century. The incubation period is 10-14 days. The classical measles presents with a high fever, red slightly raised and blotchy rash, runny nose, conjunctivitis and Koplik's spots inside the cheek. The spots look like grains of salt and precede the rash by two days. Death occurred a few days to 1-2 weeks later from a secondary bronchopneumonia. There was also a later complication in some poorly nourished infants of sub-acute sclerosing pan encephalitis; this was usually fatal in under-nourished or immune-compromised individuals. It is possible that Charles Hoyland had an underlying disease or suppressed immunity leading to his death from measles.

Infants and those with suppressed immunity are more likely to succumb. It was less likely that an adult would contract, or indeed die of the disease. Most children caught measles when they first went to school. Many people aged 60 years and above remember having the disease in childhood. It was worse than the other childhood infectious diseases and children were told not to look at bright sunlight or their eyes would be damaged. Hence the drawing of curtains if measles was affecting anyone in the house. Measles conjunctivitis does not damage the eyes so this was unnecessary. It was however highly contagious so you were kept at home at least for 4 days after the onset of the rash.

Charles died of a complication of measles, namely bronchopneumonia. One hundred years ago antibiotics were yet to be discovered and then first came into use in the 1930s. After their introduction he would have had a good chance of surviving measles and its complications.

Key sources:

• Census data, Charles Hoyland's military records, and data relating to James Lamberton accessed via Ancestry
• Charles Hoyland's death certificate accessed via the General Register Office (gro.gov.uk)
• Newspaper articles accessed via Findmypast
• Other information relating to the Sheffield City Battalion obtained from: Gibson Ralph & Oldfield, Paul. Sheffield City Battalion, the 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment. A history of the Battalion raised by Sheffield in World War One 2010 reprint
• Information regarding the payment of examining doctors obtained from Hansard for 28th November 1916 (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1916-11-28/debates/2e9cad0a-ce72-473d-bcc3-bbb85e68690e/MedicalFees)
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-historic-confirmed-cases-notifications-and-deaths/measles-historic-confirmed-cases-notifications-and-deaths#measles-notifications-and-deaths-in-england-and-wales-1940-to-2025

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