Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

age 29

John Thomas Wotton

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J. T. Wotton
Service no. 13413
Corporal, East Surrey Regiment, 13th Battalion
Died on 6 March 1917, aged 29
CWGC: “Husband of A. L. Wotton, of 65, Cottage Grove, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at Abbeville Community Cemetery Extension, France

Wotton was born in Herne Bay, Kent, the son of Thomas Wotton, a carriage painter from Birchington, Kent, and Mary Ann (née Mount), from Herne Bay. By 1901 the family had moved to 187 Wirtemberg Street, Clapham and John’s father was working as a railway guard. Two siblings had joined John and the household included two boarders.

In 1911 John Thomas Wotton, then 22, was working as a potman and barman at the Wirtemberg Arms at 165 Wirtemberg Street, Clapham. He lived above the premises with the licensee and three other staff. The street was renamed Stonhouse Street in 1919 — and the pub has likewise been renamed The Stonhouse. His parents had moved to Tennyson Street, Battersea.

 In 1913, aged 24, when Wotton married Annie Lillian Ellis, 26, at St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, he gave his address as 65 Cottage Grove, Stockwell. The couple had two children: Howard John Wotton (born 1914) and Iris Constance Wotton (born 1915). Annie died in 1975, aged 88.

Thomas James Woodley

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T. J. Woodley
Service no. 203597
Private, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, 1st/4th Battalion; formerly 2725, Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars
Born in Deptford; enlisted in London; lived in Clapham
Killed in action on 15 June 1918, aged 29
CWGC: “Husband of Mrs E. Woodley, of 14 Glenelg Road, Acre Lane, Brixton, London.”
Remembered at Boscon British Cemetery, Italy and St Andrew’s Church, Landor Road, London SW9

Brother-in-law to Arthur Worby

Information from the censuses

Printer’s labourer Thomas James Woodley, 23 in 1911, lived at 6 Edithna Street, Stockwell, where his family occupied six rooms. The other members of the household were his widowed mother, Rosa Ann Woodley, 55, from Southwark; siblings Susan Elizabeth Woodley, 28, a blouse hand, Beatrice Amelia Woodley, 27, a dressmaker, George Thomas Woodley, 25, a printer’s labourer, William Woodley, 19, a shop assistant, Henry Woodley, 17, a shop assistant. Two other siblings lived elsewhere, and three had died.

Ethel Maude Woodley
Ethel Maude Woodley

Information from Howard Anderson

Thomas James Woodley was a career soldier, formerly a regular in the Royal Bucks Hussars before being killed whilst serving with the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry during the Battle of Asiago fighting the Austrians. He was the brother-in-law of Arthur Worby, having married Worby’s sister Ethel Maude Worby.

Howard Anderson writes: “There is an added poignancy about the names on the memorial. T. J. Woodley is right next to A. Worby, close in stone and in life, they were brothers-in-law. Thomas married Arthur Worby’s sister Ethel Maude Worby but was killed just 18 months later. Although she married again, it ruined her life. I remember her as a sad old lady.”

Howard Anderson, great-nephew to Arthur
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Henry Charles Wickens

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H. C. Wickens
Service no. 238091
Driver, Royal Field Artillery, “C” Bty., 342nd Bde.
Born in Westminster; enlisted in Lambeth
Died on 22 October 1918, aged 29
CWGC: “Son of Mr and Mrs H. Wickens, of 28 Wyvil Road, London.”
Remembered at Brookwood Military Cemetery, near Pirbright, Woking, Surrey

After volunteering in 1914 and completing his training, Henry Charles Wickens served with ‘C’ battery. He became seriously ill (the details are unknown) and died in the military hospital at Millbank, London in 1918.

In 1911 Henry Charles Wickens, then aged 22, was an assistant in a fish shop. He lived with his parents, Alfred Wickens, 49, who worked for a jam maker and was born in Camberwell, and Harriett Wickens, 47, whose place of birth is unknown. Henry was one of three children (the other two lived elsewhere) and the family occupied three rooms at 123 Wandsworth Road.

In 1913 Henry married Clara Caroline (née Davison), a cap finisher, at St Anne’s, South Lambeth Road. Their child, Henry Charles, was born in 1916, when Henry, then working as a doorman, and Clara lived at 75 Hercules Road, Lambeth. 

In 1920 Clara married Henry F. Glasgow and died in 1927, four months after the birth of their fourth child.

National Roll of the Great War 1914-1918

WICKENS, H.C., Driver, R.F.A.
After volunteering in 1914, and completing his training he served at various stations with his battery engaged on important duties. He was unsuccessful in obtaining his transfer overseas and falling seriously ill, died in hospital at Mill Bank in 1918.
“His memory is cherished with pride.”
27, Wyvil Road, Wandsworth Road, S.W.8.

Information from the censuses

In 1911 Henry Charles Wickens, 22, lived at 123 Wandsworth Road, Stockwell and earned his living as an assistant in a fish shop. He was born in Leicester Square. He lived with his parents, Alfred Wickens, 49, who worked for a jam maker, and was born in Camberwell, and Harriett Wickens, 47, whose birthplace was not known. Henry was one of three surviving children (two had died). The family shared three rooms. In 1901 they family lived at 116 York Road, Lambeth.

George William Wakelin

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G. W. Wakelin
Service no. G/11762
Private, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 10th Battalion
Born in Clerkenwell; enlisted in Chelsea; lived in Stockwell
Killed in action on 27 July 1916, aged 29
CWGC: “Son of George Fordham Wakelin and Alice Ann Wakelin, of Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at London Rifle Brigade Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium

Information from the censuses

George William Wakelin, 24, lived at 40 Sidney Road, Stockwell, where he shared seven rooms with his parents George Wakelin, 70, a rent collector from Hanover Street, London, and Alice Ann Wakelin (née Barnes), 51, from Leckhampton, Gloucestershire, and two siblings: James Wakelin, 22, a commercial clerk for Army & Navy Stores and Catherine Wakelin, 21, a telephone operator.

William George Percy Stanton

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W. G. P. Stanton
Service no. 926496
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, “A” Bty. 290th Bde.
Born in Bethnal Green, east London; enlisted in London
Killed in action on 30 October 1917, aged 19
CWGC: “Son of John and Ellen Stanton, of 37 Lansdowne Road, South Lambeth Road, London.”
Remembered at St Julien Dressing Station Cemetery, Belgium

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Stanton was a 13-year-old schoolboy living with his parents, John and Ellen, in three rooms at 43 Middleton Road, Dalston. John worked as a customs watcher, and Ellen as a tailoress, machining trousers. Their daughter Mary Ellen, 16, was a dressing-gown machinist. John Thomas Charles, 14, was a packing in a clothes warehouse.

Ernest John Milborrow

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E. J. Milborrow
Service no. 93005
Gunner, Royal Field Artillery, 17th Bty. 83rd Bde
Enlisted in Brixton; lived in Stockwell
Died on 11 July 1918 aged 28
CWGC: “Son of Mr and Mrs E. Milborrow, of 83, Hargwyne Street, Stockwell, London.”
Remembered at St Souplet British Cemetery, Nord, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living with his parents and six of his seven siblings in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell.  His father, Ernest Alfred, 43, a silk tie cutter, and his mother, 45, were both born in Lambeth.

Ernest Milborrow’s service history has not survived but those for his brothers William and Arthur Milborrow have. They both joined the Royal Field Artillery, 162nd (Howitzer) Brigade in Camberwell on the same day, 27 March 1916, and were given adjacent Service numbers.

William (L13105), aged 23 and working as a butcher when he enlisted, rose through the ranks and was demobbed in 1920 as a Serjeant. His career included two disciplinary issues. He was reprimanded in October 1915 for insubordinate conduct to an officer and again in July 1918 for absence from parade. His medical history included having his infected teeth removed (November 1915) and inoculations against typhoid. He caught flu in March 1919, just at the start of the pandemic. He was 5 feet 5¾ inches tall.

Arthur Thomas (L13106) described himself as a bank messenger, and was 19 when he enlisted. He was demobbed as a driver in 1919. He was disciplined in February 1917 for being absent from parade, and in March 1918 for going absent from leave for one day. He was hospitalised for two days with diarrhoea and for eight with a sprained foot (“nothing found,” said the doctors). He was 5 feet 3 inches tall.

Information from the censuses

In 1911, Ernest John Milborrow, 20, was an unemployed laundry warehouseman, living in four rooms at 83 Hargwyne Street, Stockwell (where they had been since at least 1901), with his parents and siblings. All nine children (eight of whom are on the census) and the parents were Lambeth-born:
Ernest Alfred Milborrow, 43, a silk tie cutter
Ellen Milborrow, 45
Ernest John Milborrow, 20
Willie (William) Milborrow, 19, a butcher’s roundsman (employed to make rounds or deliveries)
Nellie Elizabeth Milborrow, 14
Arthur Thomas Milborrow, 12, at school and working as a newsboy
Elsie Phoebe Milborrow, 11
Edith Milborrow, 9
Edward Milborrow, 6
George Milborrow, 2