TRYING TO FIND INFO ON WILLIAM A WOOD FROM LONDON
I knew who we called Billie, as far as I know he never married. He lived in London, I was told ANNIE WOOD WAS A RELATIVE. i HAVE HIS TRANSPORT PASS WITH HIS NAME AND PHOTO ON. HE WAS A BANK RUNNER , I KNOW HE DIED FROM 1984 TO 1995 . I knew him, but never knew how old he was. He was very close to my late family.
can anybody help please.
Best Answers
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Who ever you are, thank you, I think WILLIAM ALEXANDER COULD BE THE ONE. SOUTHWARK WAS MY FAMILY'S AREA. MANY THANKS.
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If you are running with William Alexander then it could be worth getting hold of a copy of his will. Per the National Probate Calendar
To order a copy, you need to go to
Regards
Graham Buckell
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Answers
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The words needle and haystack come to mind!
I searched the death records sticking to William A Wood dying in the London area between 1984 and 1995 and came up with five as follows:
Pursuing even one of these to try to find a living relative would be a major exercise.
Regards
Graham Buckell
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Graham thank you so much, this is the right person, as my Mum and her family were left money by Wiiliam. If by any chance you can tell me who his parents were , I would be so grateful. I am trying but not having much luck. Thank you again, I Have been trying for over 2 years, as all my relatives have passed.
I was told my Grandmother ANNIE WOOD was a relative of his, William spent a lot of time with her and my family. Annie married my Grandfather (my mums Dad)
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You can order a copy of William's birth certificate to find out his parents. This is almost certainly the right one although, once you have the certificate, you can check against the birth date.
To obtain a copy, go to
You will need to register but there is no cost to do so - only for the certificate itself..
Tried to find siblings using the Wood/Langham combination. No luck back to 1900 except for a family in Sharlow, Derbyshire (a long way from London) who had children there before and after William (including another William) and so is unlikely to be connected.
What more do you know about Annie Wood? When or where she was born? Her parents? Is Wood her maiden or married name?
I believe that I have stumbled across the marriage of his parents.
A William Alexander Wood married Bridget Ellen Heath on 5 Oct 1920 at St George the Martyr, Queen Square, Camden, England. Interestingly Bridget was a widow and her father was Mark Langham! Per electoral rolls, the couple lived in Southwark in the 1920s and 1930s.
You could also try the 1921 census although you will need to pay to see transcriptions or images.
Regards
Graham
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Bless your heart, Thank you so much.
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As always, excellent "detective" work by Graham. I had been working on this at the same time and figured William's father must have married a widow, as there was no trace of a Wood / Langham marriage, nor any other children (except the ones born in Shardlow) born to Wood / Langham parents.
As shown by Graham, William Alexander junior was born in the Holborn area. The only other record I found was from the Find My Past index of the 1939 National Register:
Although the middle names are shown here as first names, this does appear to relate to father and son - the only two members of the Wood family at this address, however.
As I write (and look back at Graham's comments again) I have now found the death registration of Bridget Ellen Wood, aged 43, at Camberwell Reg. Dist. in March1933 Quarter. This confirms Graham's evidence that William Alexander Wood's parents were William Alexander Wood (senior) and Bridget Ellen Langham.
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Thank you so much. So now trying to find out how my GRANDMOTHER ANNIE NEWNHAM NEE WOOD WAS RELATED TO WILLIAM, I WAS TOLD WILLIAMS MUM DIED QUITE YOUNG AND HE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH ANNIE AND OF COURSE MY MUM. ANNIE WAS BORN IN 1886 IN LONDON.
ALL MY RELATIVES THAT COULD HAVE HELPED ME ARE DEAD. I AM NOW 70, WHY DID I NOT START THIS WHEN RELATIVES WERE ALIVE, THEY COULD TELL ME THE ANSWERS. i KNEW wILLIAM , WE CALLED HIM BILLY.BUT NEVER KNEW HOW OLD HE WAS, DID HE HAVE ANY BROTHERS OR SISTERS????. once again thank you, If this is the last thing I do, I want to find out. How I am related to WILLIAM.
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A bit more progress!
Thanks to Paul's detective work in the 1939 register, I have found what looks like the birth record for William's dad.
Intriguingly the maiden name of the mother is Langham again! Chances are that she was related to Bridget Ellen Langham rather than being a coincidence.
Looking for more Wood/Langham births in London from the mid 1870s to the 1900, I have found
The first looks like your Annie. The registration in the first quarter of 1887 is consistent with a birth in 1886 if it was late in that year.
Where I am drawing a blank is in finding the family on the censuses from 1891 onwards.
I also looked for a marriage between William and a Langham in the late 1870s. I did find a marriage of Alexander William Wood in 1879
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration District: Bethnal Green
Volume: 1c
Page: 381
One of the possible spouses was Ellen Langham.
I also looked for a marriage of Ann(ie) Wood to a Newnham. All I was able to find was
Name: Annie Wood
Gender: Female
Marriage Age: 20
Record Type: Marriage
Birth Date: abt 1888
Marriage Date: 14 Jun 1908
Marriage Place: Christ Church, Southwark, Southwark, England
Father: Thomas Wood
Spouse: James Henry Newnham
Fits quite nicely except obviously this does not have William as the father.
Unless Paul is more successful than I, and he does like a challenge, I think the next steps are to obtain some birth certificates at least of the two Williams.
Regards
Graham
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Hi Graham
I have duplicated much of your research (last last night - I was intending to post details today), but that has not been a waste of time, because I can confirm most of your findings.
Where I am not sure is with the identity of Annie Wood. If her birth was definitely in 1886, and her father was Thomas Wood (as shown in the marriage record you record above), then I believe that she was probably the Annie Wood whose birth was registered at St Saviour, Southwark in Mar 1886 Qtr. The mother's maiden name is VANNS, but the only "relevant" Wood / Vanns marriage I have found did not take place until 1887 and this was of a JOHN Wood and Catherine Vanns (at St Saviour) - three more children being born to Wood/Vanns parents between 1891 and 1898. Incidentally, the 1939 N.R. shows James H Newnham and Annie (born 1886) at Elephant & Castle, Southwark.
Two things would be helpful (as I don't have access to Find My Past - except the index):
(1) If you could check Annie Newnham's birth date from the 1939 N.R.
(2) If you could check the 1901 census record (below) to see the names of other members of the household, to see if that gives any clues (names of Annie's parents, especially).
I am currently writing other findings in "Word" so I can record here later. Hopefully this will not prove to be too overwhelming!
Here's the 1886 birth at St Saviour - depending on her birth date, it could be the Annie Emily Wood who is relevant. (I could find no other Wood/Phillips births at St Saviour for the period and, again, no marriage to match.
Oh, and here's the screenshot of the 1939 National Register entry:
Update - I just found the 1911 census record for Annie (Wood) Newnham - see https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWPJ-468
As you will see, it again indicates Annie was born at Southwark, rather than in the Bloomsbury area. It also shows her to have been born late 1885 / early 1886. The two children here Winifred (Annie) and James (Thomas) Newnham are found in the GRO index, with mother confirmed as WOOD.
Also just found (see FMP screenshot above) is what appears to be the 1901 census record for Annie Wood, shown as "Niece" in the household of Frederick & Amelia Curson - but Frederick William Curson married Amelia PHILLIPS (in 1883), so is this coincidence, or a clue that "our Annie" might have been the Annie Emily Wood birth at St Saviour 1886, mother PHILLIPS? Or, is just the wrong census record for Annie (later) Newnham Wood? (Link vanished during update of this post and can't get back to it!)
Finally, I just found the ID for Annie Woods at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KL51-Z89. Needs some adjustments.
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As you can see, I'm trying to work with Graham in an effort to solve the identity of your Annie Wood Newnham. However, finding her actual relationship to William ("Billy") might be somewhat more difficult. At first sight, it looked as if ANN Wood (born around 1886) was his father's sister, but she was born at St Giles, Bloomsbury in 1887, whereas I think "your Annie" might have been born at St Saviour, Southwark in 1886.
I will come back to you later!
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THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU HAVE BEEN SO HELPFUL. I AM NOW 69 , I REMEMBER GOING TO HAYLES STREET. MY MUM NEVER SPOKE ABOUT THE FAMILY. AS I SAID I KNEW WILLIAM, HAD BEEN TO HIS FLAT AS A 10 YR OLD.HE WAS VERY CLOSE TO MY MUM, INFACT HE LEFT HIS MONEY TO MY MUM AND HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IF I CAN JUST FIND HIS RELATION TO ANNIE, I WILL BE AT PEACE.
I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOUR HELP. ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO YOU.
ON EVERYTHING i ave she ANNIE has put her birth 6th DECEMBER 1886 AT SOUTHWARK. on one thing it looks like 1888.
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The plot thickens!
Paul
You have the correct record for the Newnhams in 1939.
Birth dates are
James H 15 Mar 1886
Annie 6 Dec 1886
Winifred 18 Feb 1909
So the marriage record I found must be correct with Thomas Wood as her father.
I have also found Jacquelyn's tree on Ancestry where she has picked up that marriage.
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/166108264/person/162286237685/facts
The birth date knocks out the two birth entries you have found. The one Jacquelyn has identified is
No mother's maiden name. Is this simply an omission given that Annie was not the first child.
She has also identified a different 1901 census record with parents Thomas and Ellen.
Tried looking for the GRO births of her siblings to try and find Ellen's maiden name with no conclusive results.
Also looked for a marriage between Thomas Wood and Ellen around 1879 (from the 1911 census) without success.
Will be worth ordering the birth certificate of Annie.
It looks like the link with William Alexander is at least one more generation back.
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Graham
I have found two marriages at FreeBMD for a Thomas Wood, at St Saviour, Southwark:
(1) 1881 to Ellen Dwyer (2) 1884 to Catherine Taylor, but no record of a birth to an Annie to either couple.
The birthdate of 6 Dec 1886 provided by Jacquelyn agrees with your finding the same date in the 1939 N.R.
The Dec 1886 Quarter birth you show above is all I could find, too, that would match this birthdate. Obviously, this appears to make this to be an illegitimate birth, but there just might have been a slip with the registrar not recording the mother's surname.
You don't comment on your thoughts regarding the 1901 census - either the record I reference above, or the one that Jacquelyn appears to have found (with parents Thomas & Ellen - did that include an Annie, too?)
I will provide a summary of my thoughts to Jacquelyn a little later - although my notes are largely in line with what you have found / commented upon.
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i HAVE JUST SENT OFF FOR BIRTH CERTIFICATES FOR ANNIE WOOD AND WILLIAM ALEXANDER WOOD, THEY WILL TAKE 3 WEEKS. I DELETED WHAT I HAD FOR SIBLINGS FOR ANNIE WOOD ON MY PRITCHARD FAMILY TREE. TO MAKE SURE I HAVE THE RIGHT FAMILY.
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Lots of examining of records from different websites, but unfortunately still no firm ideas about the relationship between William and Annie. I would agree with Graham that ordering the birth certificate of the Annie Wood whose birth was registered in the December quarter of 1886 would be a useful next step - even though this could prove not to be for the Annie in question. Some of my earlier theories have been discarded since you provided the 6 December birthdate, as I had been working on the idea that she was born earlier in 1886.
The page at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QHTW-MT2?treeref=KL51-Z87 shows the 1891 census record of an Annie Wood, aged 4, in the household of Charlotte Wood, a widow. As Charlotte is also shown as a widow in the 1881 census, I wonder is she just might have previously been married to a Thomas Wood, then had the two younger children shown (Annie and John, 6) illegitimately. I would not be surprised if it is found the name of "Charlotte Wood" appears as Annie's mother on the December 1886 Quarter birth certificate Graham and I have mentioned, above. (The image above shows the reference number, for ordering.)
One other point, for now, is that you might wish to look again at the records for Annie Wood you have been adding details to. (See KL51-Z89) Unfortunately, it currently appears that Annie M Wood is her own mother! I have found the birth of Annie Elizabeth May Newnham (mother WOOD) on the GRO website. You might wish to change the name of the daughter (of James Newnham) to this and amend the details of his wife to read "Annie Wood" and give her a birth of 6 December 1886, at Southwark. As you will see, her Family Tree page is a bit messy at the moment, with a number of "red flags" that need to be addressed!
I will return here if you have any further queries, or need any help with the Family Tree problems. I'm sure Graham could provide help / advice on this, too. Unfortunately, without being able to see original documents, I'm just not seeing the connection between Annie Wood Newnham and William (Billy) Wood.
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I have taken the liberty of tidying-up the pages for James and Annie, so those warning flags now no longer appear. Paul.
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Paul and Gramham you are the best. I admit do not fully understand, but I am trying. You both have given me help, I have been trying for 2 yrs to find infor on WILLIAM (Billy). Have sent for 2 birth certificates for William and Annie. I do hope this will answer a lot of question. As I said before I am eternally grateful for you help.
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