Wigan Album

My paternal grandfather in sat second left from the gent with the wreath, William (or Willum) Miller. I have an enlargement of his image, It hung in my grandmothers front room for over 50 years. He survived the war only to be struck by a tram near the King William pub in Platt Bridge... and later died due to his injuries.

I forgot to add... Willum Miller died on 15 September 1940, so these gents are probably veterans of the 1st World War. Thus the photograph cannot be later than 1940.

1920's. The large caps give the date away (the two gentlemen on the left)

I am intrigued by this photo. The man at the end of the second row, standing and holding a hat, could, and it it only a guess, be my paternal grandfather John Stevenson. He lived in Rose Avenue Abram and died about 1955.He worked during ww2 as a driver for LUT buses.

This is a lovely photo, Maxine. Peter and I went to Culcheth last November as Culcheth British Legion asked for 1940s re-enactors to join their remembrance day parade. There were about a dozen of us and we were the "living history" section of the parade. A couple in front of us in the march had their little girl dressed as an evacuee, carrying a child's attache case and clutching a teddy-bear, and she caused a few hankies to be lifted to eyes along the route. I love the photo of your Mum and Dad, too.....not long past the 40's, so just up my street. I am attempting to put some pages from 1970s Church Magazines on the Abram site.....one mentions a Christopher Greenwood.....but I am not too clever with computer technology.However, I'll have a go!

No luck, Maxine I have managed to scan them into My Documents but I can't print then so that people can actually read the words. If you could let me have your email address, I could send you the pages via email; I have also asked the person who owns the magazines, (from the 1970s), if you could borrow them and he has agreed. Perhaps then you could show them on the Abram Facebook in a size that people can read. Just let me know if you would like to see them; I think there are probably a lot of people you remember in them.

Hi Irene, thanks for you lovely comments, Christopher Greenwood was my dad's uncle - his daughter (Mollie) and son (Arthur) are still alive and living in Abram. I would have loved to see your parade, it sounds wonderful, how do I find out about such events? Fashions of yesteryear were much more stylish than the slouchiness of today, I mean look at this photo, how smart they all look ....wonderful!

Dennis, could I ask a really big favour? If you get the chance could you scan and email me your copy of the photo? One of the crease lines runs right down the face of my husbands relation and it would be great to have it without this ...... Thanks! Maxine.

I know Molly Greenwood but haven't seen her for many years. We get our info re the 1940s events from "Rod's 1940s" which you just type into Google, and Best of British magazine. Rod's calendar gives you all the events month by month. They are mostly dances at this time of year, which we don't attend, but the outdoor events go usually from April to October. There is a really good weekend in Lytham, usually Aug/Sept and the final one for us is Pickering in October, so the Culcheth Remembrance Day was an added bonus, and we are invited back next year. There are events all year round and it is a lovely atmosphere, with most people in forties dress. Please let me know if you would like to see the 1970s Parish Magazines. You may be able to see them via the church, I don't know, but if not you are welcome to borrow.

Nice photo Maxine. It would be nice to get a better photo of John (or William John) as there is a look of Eric Williams to him. If you do maybe you could pass it on to me? My brother remembers John Williams (not William John) as having one-arm.

I think this photo may have been taken on the bowling green behind Platt Bridge British Legion which was then situated on Templeton Rd. I remember your family Dennis particularly your late Aunt Esther who was in my class at Holy Family School.

Thanks Irene, I will borrow them off you if that's ok, although I doubt I could do any better than you in the scanning stakes, but I'll give it a go. Perhaps on Tues or Thurs next week I could collect them (am) and then return them the following morning.
Eric of course I'll let you have a copy if I manage to get one. I thought I had it sorted, as spoke to Mick's sister this morning and she remembers the great grandad but says she is sure he had two arms, but she was only a small child, so not 100%. What year would your brother remember him from? Another thing is that although they were Christened "William John" as Mick's dad and Grandad were, sometimes they were just known as "John" .So both Grandad and Great Grandad could both actually be John Williams !!

Hi Maxine... no problem. I will get my secretary (the wife) to dig it out of the archive (the plastic bag it is kept in) and take it to work to scan later today.

Certainly, Maxine. Don't worry about the scanning, I would just like you to enjoy them for yourself, but if you CAN manage to put a few pages on the Abram Facebook for others to see, so much the better. I am usually in in the mornings except for taking our Ben for his walk, so just say a day and a time and I work Ben's walk around it.

I've found an "Enlistment Document" (on Ancestry.co.uk) which realtes to William John Williams 1891 - 1947. I'm assuming then that the man in this photo is the same man. Therefore Grandad rather than Great Grandad was the "one armed" man, so the mystery is solved I think !! I'll post it as a photo.