Names on war memorials are often incomplete or incorrect for a whole variety of reasons, usually connected with the way the names of the casualties were collected and subsequently collated. But in the case of the soldier named William Woods on Thornton Cleveleys War Memorial, the story is somewhat more complicated than that. The same soldier is named as William Wood on the Thornton Church Road School Memorial and as William Wood Johnson on both the ICI Fleetwood Works Memorial and the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium. So, who was he?
His birth certificate shows that he was called Thomas William Wood and born on 8 August 1897 at 10 Pleasant Grove, Thornton. The birth was registered by his mother, Mary Jane Wood, formerly Purslow, in Fylde District on 30 September. His father was recorded as Thomas Wood, an engine hand at a chemical works.
The name Johnson is derived from William's paternal grandmother. William's father was born in Runcorn, Cheshire on 12 March 1873, the first of fourteen children of William Woods and Sarah Johnson. His birth certificate shows that he was named Thomas Johnson Woods and it is implied that his parents were married whereas their marriage was not until shortly before the birth of their second child. Grandfather William Woods was also an engine driver at a chemical works.
Mary Jane Purslow was born in 1876 in Weston by Runcorn, Cheshire. She married Thomas on 29 April 1894 at the Parish Church, Runcorn. For reasons that are unknown, the marriage register records the bridegroom's name as Thomas Wood Johnson and gives no father's name. After their marriage Thomas and Mary came to live in Thornton where their first child, Jessie, was born on 11 August 1895. After William's birth, another son, Ernest, was born on 9 June 1899.
When the Census was taken on 31 March 1901, the Wood Johnson family were recorded at Mill Terrace (now 73-89), Fleetwood Road. Living with them were Mary's widowed mother and younger brother, Isaac. Both men worked at United Alkali, Isaac as a chemical labourer and Thomas as a stationery engine driver. More children followed in the next few years: George Wesley (born 9 August 1904), Edith (born 24 February 1906), Gladys Purslow (born 16 May 1908) and Arthur (born 4 January 1911). Another son, Harold, was born in 1906 but sadly he died in the same year.
When the next Census was taken on 2 April 1911, Thomas, Mary and their seven children were recorded over the road in Croasdale Terrace (now 64 Fleetwood Road North). Thomas was still in the same employment. William, aged 13, was a scholar at Church Road Council School. Completed and signed by Thomas, the census form gave the family surname as Wood although the births of the five youngest children had been registered under the surname Johnson. A fourth daughter, named Mary but known as Molly, was born in Thornton in 1914. Members of the family would later adopt the double-barrelled surname Wood Johnson, sometimes hyphenated.
After leaving school, William went to work at United Alkali but we do not know in what capacity. His military service record has been destroyed but from the brief details that survive we know that he joined the Royal Flying Corps as a Private soldier, number 14177, and served in France and Flanders until 25 August 1917 when he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment. He was reported as missing or wounded on 11 April 1918 and was subsequently assumed to have been killed in action at Armentières between 11th and 13th April. William was aged 20 and unmarried. Pte. Thomas William Wood, G/63853, 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers is remembered on Panel 3, Ploegsteert Memorial, Hainaut, Belgium.
After the War, the Wood Johnson family became well known in the local area, mainly because of their sporting prowess and overseas adventures. William's brothers and sister Edith were keen on rock climbing, especially in the Lake District. George emigrated to Darjeeling in 1929 as a tea planter but with the intention of attempting some of the climbs in the Himalayas. He became an integral part of an international team which attempted to ascend Kangchengjunga the following year. George was invited to join the British expedition to Everest in 1933 under Hugh Ruttledge when again he did excellent work, particularly in regard to transport and logistics. Mary Jane died in 1927 aged 50. After living in Thornton for over forty years, latterly at 17 Sandringham Avenue, Thomas left in March 1938 to live in South Lakelands. He died in Cark in Cartmel in 1941 aged 68.
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