BENTLEY and RELATED FAMILIES

Chapter 14: William WOODFORD (c1837-1910)

William Woodford married Warwickshire born Jane Simmons on 18 October 1858. William was a Police officer, serving in Birmingham City Police. The police first became needed in Birmingham in the 1840s due to problems with chartists, and a Bill was passed to permit this. By 1852 there were 327 members of the police force in Birmingham. By 1885 there were 550, one for every 700 citizens. William was injured during riots in the city, subsequently pensioned off and committed to Birmingham Borough Lunatic Asylum at Winson Green. He died in Rubery Mental Hospital in 1910. In 1881 his wife was earning a living as a dressmaker whilst living at number 5 in 6 Court, Avenue Road, Aston near Birmingham.

William and Jane's oldest son, William George was a carter living at home in 1881 when he married Mary Ann Butcher. William George later became a licencee, having fathered seven children by his wife. His son William George followed on in his father's latter trade. William and Mary Ann's youngest son, John, joined the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was part of the British Expeditionary Force that landed in Belgium in October 1914. He was killed on 30 October, during the action that became known as the First Battle of Ypres (see Hancocks chapter 15). The battle was fought during October and November 1914, when the relatively small British Expeditionary Force succeeded in securing the town before the onset of winter, pushing the German forces back to the Passchendaele Ridge. John has no known grave, but is remembered on the Menin Gate memorial.

8 . . . . . . . . . . . William WOODFORD b.c1837 d.1910 m.Jane SIMMONS
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emily/Emerly WOODFORD b.c1857 d.>1871
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .William George WOODFORD b.1861 d.1913 m.Mary Ann BUTCHER
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .William George WOODFORD b.1883 d.1946 m.Edith Gertrude RHODES
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD m.female TURLEY
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD m.
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD m.female BOLTER
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . female WOODFORD
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD m.
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . male WOODFORD m.
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elsie Bailey WOODFORD b.c1886 d.>1901
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gertrude Terry WOODFORD b.c1887 d.>1901
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Leonard WOODFORD b.1888 d.>1901
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John WOODFORD b.c1892 d.1914
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Edith WOODFORD b.c1894 d.>1901
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Horace WOODFORD b.c1896 d.>1901
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Richard WOODFORD
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mary Elizabeth WOODFORD b.c1867 d.>1881