Legh Tolson, a local man from Huddersfield, made a very special gift to the people of the town after the First World War. In 1920, he gave his house and its grounds to be used as a museum and park. This was done in memory of his two nephews, Robert Huntriss Tolson and James Martin Tolson, who both died during the war.

The house became the Tolson Memorial Museum, which opened its doors in 1922.  

Robert Huntriss Tolson 

Robert was a soldier who fought with the 15th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment. On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, he was leading his men over the top of the trenches when he was killed. His family waited anxiously for news, but his body was not found until March 1917. Robert was buried in the Serre Road Cemetery in the Somme area of France. He was just 31 years old. 

James Martin Tolson 

James joined the Royal Artillery in April 1916. In February 1917, he was wounded in Belgium and had to return to England for hospital treatment. Despite his injuries, he went back to France, where he suffered a German poison gas attack. James chose to return to the front again in July 1918. Tragically, only days before the war ended, he was killed in action on 20 October 1918. James was just 20 years old and is buried in Quievy Cemetery in France.