John Widdowson
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
John Widdowson was the son of John and Emily Widdowson (née Sanday). His father John was born in Gunthorpe on 16 January 1849 and his mother Emily Sanday was born in 1850, also in Gunthorpe. They were married on 7 October 1872 at Lowdham St Mary and had eight children, three of whom died before 1911. All the children were born in Gunthorpe and baptised at Lowdham St Mary: Hannah birth registered 1874 (J/F/M) bap. February 1874 d. 18 February 1874; George b. 27 September 1875 bap. 25 December 1876; Annie Elizabeth b. 1877 bap. 1878 d. 1880 (A/M/J); Arthur b. 1881 bap. 1881; Henry b. 1883 bap. 1883; Annie Mary b. August 1885 bap. 1885 d. 1885 (J/A/S); Charles (Charlie) b. 1886 bap. 1887 and John b. 17 June 1889 bap. 24 August 1890. In 1881 John, an agricultural labourer, and Emily were living on Principal Street, Gunthorpe, with their surviving child, George (5). Two daughters, Hannah and Annie Elizabeth, had died in 1874 and 1878 respectively. A third daughter, Annie Mary, died in 1885. By 1891 John was working as a shepherd on a farm and living on Main Street, with his wife and five sons, George a farm boy, Arthur (9), Henry (7) Charlie (4), and John (1). The family was still living on Main Street in 1901 and the five sons were still living at home: George a gardener, Arthur a lace hand, Harry a groom on a farm and Charlie and John who were still at school. By 1911 only four sons were still in the home with their parents: George a farm labourer, Arthur a lace warehouseman, Charlie a ledger clerk (surgical appliances) and John a warehouseman (gentlemen's outfitters). Henry, a journeyman (butcher) had married Althea Swift earlier in 1911 and they were living in Lowdham. John snr. died three years later in 1914. John married Winifred Sybil Goddard (b. 1893) in 1916 (reg. O/N/D Southwell) and they lived at Lowdham. There were no children of the marriage. Winifred married Charles Paling in 1923 and in 1939 they were living in Lowdham. She died in 1982. John's brother, George, served with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in France and was killed in action in 1917. (See 'Extra information') Their mother Emily died in 1937. Her three surviving sons, Arthur, Henry and Charlie, were all married and living in Lowdham in 1939 when the England and Wales Register was compiled and were still residents at the time of their deaths.
1/4th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers. Formerly 31260 General Service Cavalry John Widdowson enlisted at Nottingham. John was was killed in action on 23 March 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France. CWGC - history of Pozieres Memorial (extract): 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 ... The memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery.' (www.cwgc.org)
His older brother Private George Widdowson served with the 6th battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and was killed in action on 22nd August 1917. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium. (See record on this Roll of Honour) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Roll of Honour’, 11 & 12 April 1918: ‘Widdowson. Killed in action, March 23rd, Pte. John Widdowson, Northumberland Fusiliers, aged 28. A noble life laid down. From his sorrowing wife, mother and brothers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchives.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 24 March 1919: ‘Widdowson. In memory ofr Pte J Widdowson (Jack), Northumberland Fusiliers, of Gunthorpe, killed in action, March 23rd. From his loving mother and brothers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchives.co.uk) Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his widow Winifred was his legatee.
