Help!/Photos

The lady sitting in the front row (arrowed) is Julia Atta Woodrow. I believe this photo was taken at an infirmary or nursing home in the Billinge area (near Wigan). Judging by the entrance it would appear to be quite a substantial and impressive old building and I would like to know where it is and if it is still standing.

Julia was admitted to St Nicholas Infirmary in Great Yarmouth during the war and later evacuated to Lancashire. She died in February 1945 in Billinge (information from her death certificate). Many thanks to The Heritage Workshop in Wigan who have confirmed that Julia was buried in Wigan cemetery . Their assistance made it possible to grant my mother’s (Julia’s daughter) wishes by placing her ashes in Julia’s grave.

Moving across to the ‘Gills’, there is a lot of confusion regarding Sidonia Millington, who married Joseph Gill in 1828 in Dudley.

The birth certificate of my great grandfather John Gill, names his Mother as Sydrinea Gill formerly Millington. On finding details of a marriage between Sidonia Millington and Joseph Gill in Dudley in 1828, which all fitted my other information, I though it likely they were the same ‘Millington’ and there was simply a problem with spelling! Checking the 1851 census images didn’t help much as the name was not clear but could have been Sidonia - or Sidrinea.

Just to confuse the issue, trawling through the GRO for deaths in the (quite wide) possible time range, all I have found is a Siderina Gill who died in Dudley district in 1877.

I have made assumptions to accept Sidonia as my g-g-grandmother, but there is always the possibility that another Millington called Sydrinea married another Joseph Gill, and they also had a son called John............

I have one final word on this subject ........ HELP!

Pictured left is Julia’s son, my uncle, Len Daniel. Len was born in 1903 and joined the Royal Norfolk Regiment 1st Battalion soon after the end of WW1. He was a great athlete, and also played in the battalion hockey, cricket and football teams. During his service he won many trophies both for individual and team events, including best ‘Goal Getter’ for the hockey team in April 1929. He became Sergt. Instructor of Musketry and in 1928 was individual champion at the battalion rifle meeting. Most of his service was overseas including Egypt (Moascar and Cairo) and Singapore.

Tragedy struck later in 1929 when his motorbike was involved in an accident with a car in Singapore. This resulted in the amputation of a leg and brought his sporting career to an abrupt end. Although he recovered and returned to Cairo with the band, he eventually left the army and returned home to England in 1930.

To the right is my grandfather Arthur Benjamin Hawes, who was tragically killed ‘on Active Duty’ in London on October 1st 1917. Only a few months earlier, in July, Julia had given birth to their daughter Gladys Irene. See family group photo on Woodrow page.