Arthur Wood
1911 - ironmonger's errand boy
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Arthur was the son of Samuel John and Catherine Wood (née Barnes).
His parents were married at Ruddington St Peter on 25 February 1877 and according to the information provided on the 1911 Census had 14 children, nine of whom were still living in 1911.
Thirteen children have been traced through the census, registrations of birth (Wood/Barnes) and baptismal records. All the children were born in Radford: James Richard b. 1877 bap. Ruddington St Peter August 1877; John b. September 1878 bap. Radford St Peter August 1879, res. Orchard Square; William b. 1880 bap. St Peter January 1882, res. Orchard Square; Fred b. 1881 bap. St Peter January 1882, res. 83 Denman Street, probably died 1883 JFM; George birth registered 1883 JFM probably died 1890 AMJ; Ruth b 1884; Alice (known as Annie) b. 1887; Mabel birth registered 1890 JFM; Gertrude b. 1891; Henry birth registered 1893 JFM probably died 1895; Florrie (Florence) b. 1894; Arthur b. 1896 and Catherine birth registered 1898 JFM.
The eldest child, James Richard, appears to have lived with relatives from early childhood. In 1881 he was living with a relative, Ruth Barnes (15), in lodgings in Radford, then by 1891 he and Ruth were living with an aunt and uncle, also in Radford. James married Catherine Elizabeth Bamford at Hyson Green St Paul in June 1900 and they were living with his parents-in-law in 1901. However, by 1911 the couple and their two sons, Ernest and Grenville James, had moved to Stanley Road, Hyson Green.
Samuel, a coal dealer, his wife and their children John, William, Ruth, Annie, Mabel and Gertrude, were living at 77 Dennison Street, Radford, in 1891. Four more children, Henry (died young), Florence, Arthur and Catherine, were born between 1893 and 1898.
The family had moved to 14 Trafalgar Street by 1901; Samuel was still working as a coal merchant on his own account. In the home on the night of the census were nine of their children: John, an overlooker, William, a coal carter, Ruth who was in work, Annie a lace frame clipper, Mabel, Gertrude and Florence, who were school age, and Arthur and Catherine. John and Annie have not yet been traced after this date.
By 1911 Samuel was working as a wood chopper (own account) and he and Catherine had moved to 54 Eland Street, Basford. Five of their children were still living at home: Mabel and Gertrude who were sewing machinists (pinafores), Florence who worked in a hosiery factory, Arthur an ironmonger's errand boy, and Catherine who was still at school. James was married, as was his brother William who had married Clara Richardson in 1903. William, a coal carter, Clara and their two daughters were living on Cambridge Street, Radford. Ruth, the eldest daughter, was probably married (Harold Jarvis, m. 1909) and also living in Radford.
By 1921 Catherine Wood and her unmarried daughters Gertrude, Florence and Catherine, were living on Randle Street, Hyson Green. Catherine was head of household. Her husband, Samuel John, was a patient ('certified under the Lunacy Act') in the Nottingham Workhouse and Infirmary, Hucknall Road. Samuel died later that year (reg. OND) aged 68. His widow died in 1924 (AMJ). Her daughters, Gertrude, Florence and Catherine, have not yet been traced after 1921.
Arthur married Harriett Walker (b. April 1894) in 1915 (AMJ Nottingham) and their daughter, Gertrude May, was born on 14 September 1918, six months after his death. The later CWGC record gives Harriett's address as 8 Shipstone Terrace, Shipstone Street, New Basford, Nottingham.
Harriett married Frank Corrall (b. 1886), a Levers lace maker, in 1920. Frank, who had married Ada Kirby in 1914, was a widower with one child, Ada (b. 1915). Frank and Harriet with their daughters Ada Corrall and Gertrude Wood were living at 8 Shipstone Terrace in 1921. They were still at the same address in 1939 with their daughter Eunice (b. 1933); the records of two other members of the household remain closed. Frank Corrall died in 1959 and Harriett in July 1979.
Arthur's daughter, Gertrude May, married Thomas William Swinburne (b. 1917) in December 1935 and in 1939 they were living on Tenbury Crescent, Aspley Estate, with their two sons. Her husband attested in the TA on 2 October 1939 (see 'Extra information'). The couple may have separated during the war. Gertrude died in 1997 (reg. Spilsby Lincolnshire).
Arthur Wood enlisted in Nottingham (residence New Basford) and served with the 2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment (previously served 1/7th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, 4640 Private).
There is a record that while serving with the 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment (attached Royal Engineers), Arthur was admitted to Derbyshire Royal Infirmary on 16 August 1917 suffering from a wound to his left foot. No date of his return to the Western Front has yet been traced, but his daughter was born in September 1918 so it is to be presumed he was either in the UK until at least late January 1918 or had been granted furlough from the Front around that time.
Arthur was serving with IX Platoon, 'C' Company, of the 1st Battalion when he was reported missing in action on 21 March 1918, the first day of the German Spring offensive. Unsuccessful enquiries were made through the British Red Cross & Order of St John on 2 August and 20 November 1918 and also to the German authorities in November 1918 through the Prisoner of War International Committee of the Red Cross and Arthur's death was later accepted by the military authorities to have occurred on 21 March 1918.
Arthur has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France (Panel 23 and 24).
He qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
CWGC History of the Pozieres Memorial (extract): The village of Pozieres is 6km from the town of Albert. The Memorial 'relates to the period of crisis in March and April 1918 when the Allied Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields, and the months that followed before the Advance to Victory, which began on 8 August 1918. The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.' (www.cwgc.org)
Harriett Wood's half-brother, Arthur Barber, served with the South Staffordshire Regiment (42627 Private) and was killed in action on 29 September 1918. He left a widow and four children. Their youngest child, William, served with the Royal Engineers in the Second World War and was killed at his place of duty on 31 October 1942 in an air raid on Canterbury, Kent. (See records on this Roll of Honour)
Arthur's daughter, Gertrude May, married Thomas William Swinburne who served in the Second World War. TA Attestation 2 October 1939: 2188833 Sapper Royal Engineeers.
Home 2 October 1939-14 October 1939, 13d. BEF 15 October 1939-18 June 1940, 247d. Home 19 June 1940-20 August 1944, 4y 63. 21st A Gp NW E List 21 August 1944-22 July 1946, 1y 336d. Home 23 July 1946-18 October 1946, 88d. Discharged from Reserve Liability 30 June 1959. Full army service record available on-line.
CWGC Additional information: Son of Samuel John and Catherine Wood; husband of Harriett Corrall (formerly Wood), of 8, Shipstone Terrace, Shipstone St., New Basford, Nottingham.
Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his widow Harriett was his sole legatee. Register notes that Arthur's death on 21 March 1918 had been 'officially accepted'.
WW1 Pension Ledgers: Named dependents Harriett Wood (b. 26 Apl 1894) and one child.
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 21 March 1919: ‘Wood. In loving memory of my dear husband, Pte. Arthur Wood, 2nd Lincolns, reported missing, March 21st, 1918, afterwards reported killed on that date. Memory lingers around the grave of a loved one far away. From loving wife and baby.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 21 March 1919: Wood. In loving memory of our dear son and brother, Pte. Arthur Wood, 2nd Lincolns, who fell in action March 21st, 1918. Some see a smiling face, they think the wound is healed, but little do they know, the pain within our hearts concealed. From loving mother, father, and sisters, Gerty, Florrie and Kate.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 7 July 1979: ‘Corrall. Harriet. Mother of Gertie [Gertrude May] and Eunice, July 5th, Basford Hospital aged 85. Cremation Wilford Hil Wednesday July 11th 2.10pm. Floral tributes to Clowers, Derby Road.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Boston Target, Horncastle Target and Sleaford Target, 12 March 1997: ‘Mrs GM Swinburne. Mrs Gertrude May Swinburne, of Parkside Drive, Chapel St Leonards, has died at Skegness Hospital at the age of 78. Her funeral is to be held at the Salvation Army Citadel, Skegness, followed by burial at St Mary’s Cemetery, Winthorpe. Arrangements by Skegness and District Funeral Service, Roman Bank, Skegness.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Additional research/record updated, RF (Dec. 2025)
Photo of Arthur Wood
Commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France (www.cwgc.org)