Peter Hunnisett

Andrew & Kate Woods of Redhill

Andrew Woods, the second son of Samuel and Lydia, was born in Shalford Common on 14 October 1860 and baptised in Shalford on 25 October 1860. He was brought up in Church Road, Farncombe but moved to Redhill in about 1875 when his father went to work for the Barrow Brothers Tannery. In 1881 he was living with his parents in 3 Grange Cottages, Tanyard Lane, Redhill, and was working as a groom.

Kate Elizabeth Chapman, daughter of Joseph and Louisa, was born at Crampmore, Romsey, Hampshire on 4 May 1859. In 1881 she was a milliner living in Latimer Street, Romsey, with her recently widowed mother, Louisa.

Andrew married Kate in St Mathew's church, Redhill on 10 March 1883 by which time he was a tanner and she was a domestic servant, also in Tanyard Lane. Witnesses were Samuel Woods and Bessie Louisa Chapman. Andrew and Kate are thought to have had about thirteen children, three of whom died at birth. Their ten known children were:

In 1891 Andrew and Kate were at Cambridge Terrace, Lower Bridge Road, with Andrew, William, Harry, Bessie and Kate. In about December 1896 they moved to Grove Hill Road, which still exists and used to back on to Tanyard Lane. In 1901 they were at 101 Grove Hill Road and as well as their earlier children they also had Clifford, Marjorie and a 2-week-old baby, which must have been Irene. Also in the house was Kate’s mother, Louisa Chapman. She was a nurse and midwife and lived with them until she died in 1913. Andrew worked on a splitting machine in the tannery, Samuel Barrow & Brother, which was at the bottom of their garden. According to his daughter, Marjorie, he used to fetch a jar of ale from the pub across the road, to drink with his Sunday lunch. This would have been the White Lion in Linkfield Street, reputedly the oldest pub in the district.

In 1911 Andrew and Kate were still at 101 Grove Hill Road with their children; Andrew, Clifford and Irene, and Kate’s mother. Bessie was a servant in Linkfield Road and Evelyn (Marjorie) was staying with her.

Andrew died of gangrene on 18 December 1934 when he was 74. Kate then went to live with her son Clifford’s family (in Twickenham or Hounslow?) until she died in 1940 aged 81.

Of their children:

• Joe, as he was always known, the eldest child of Andrew and Kate, had tuberculosis and went to a special school. He trained as a boot-maker and had his own business in a workshop which his father had built in the back garden. He married Annie Lashmar in Q3 1912 and then moved the business to a shop next to the railway bridge at 1 Hatchlands Road, Redhill. They had a son, Tom, who was said to have been a Major in the army during the Second World War, after which he joined the family business which he continued to run after Joe died. Joe had two houses, one he lived in and one he let. Kelly’s directories from 1942 show him as a boot repairer at 1 Hatchlands Road until 1956 and also at 22 Albert Road North until 1959. Joe was still in Albert Road North in 1961 and his death was registered in Worthing in 1968. His sister Marjorie thought the family might have been ostracised by the rest of the Woods, possibly because they did not like his wife.

• William was an engineer for the East Surrey Traction Company. They sent him to Canada for a while to work on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He built his own car from scratch. He married Nell, who was the daughter of a market gardener near Kenilworth (they used to supply Covent Garden). William, of 2 North Road, South Park Reigate, died on 27 January (1924?), aged 40, following an operation for appendicitis, and was buried in Reigate. Nell continued to live there until she died in 1958. They had three sons; Bill, Reg, and Wilfred. Bill and Reg were both engineers in the merchant navy.

  • Bill married Ishbel from Inverness and they had two children, a boy and a girl. He was First Engineer on the Rangitiki and at the outbreak of World War II he served on the Empire Diplomat. After the war they emigrated to Canada where he died. Ishbel then returned to England. Isobel's death, at the age of 63, may have been registered in Preston in 1968.

  • Reg served on the Rangitiki (New Zealand Shipping Co) during the war and was on the 'Jervis Bay' convoy in 1940. Returning to his ship after leave he was drowned in Avonmouth dock, Bristol, during a night-time air-raid (registered Q1 1941).

  • Wilfred was a conscientious objector during the second world war. He worked as a solicitor in Reigate and never married. He lived at 2 North Road, in South Park, Reigate.

• Harry’s marriage to Nellie Flint was registered in Reigate in Q1 of 1911 and at the census they were living at 8 Ranelagh Road, Redhill. They had 3 children; Clifford (1911), Doris (1913) and Leslie (1916). For a while he was manager of an 'International Store' in London. Then he had his own grocery/greengrocery business for a while before becoming the steward of a Consevative club (in Epson ?). In 1961 he was living at 106 Cokeham Lane, Sompting, near Worthing in Sussex. His death was registered in Worthing in 1966.

  • Clifford married Violet Geeson in 1936 and they had two daughters; Annette (1940) and Maureen (1944). Clifford died in 1993 (reg. Marlborough, Wilts) and Violet in 1999 (reg. Andover, Hants).

  • Doris married Robert Spong in 1936 and they had two daughters; June (1939) and Marion (1944).

  • Leslie married Bertha Chapman in 1934 and they appear to have had 3 children; Edith (1934), Hazel (1935) and Alfred (1937).

• Bessie married Harry Turner Bourne, a Cambridgeshire man who worked in the fruit houses on Sir Jeremiah Colman's estate, in Q2 of 1912. They emigrated to Australia, lived in Melbourne until at least 1919 and had a daughter, Beatrice. During the First World War Harry served in the Australian Army. By 1924 they had moved to Bairnsdale (ca. 180 miles East of Melbourne) where they lived in Wallace Street. In 1932 they were living at 15 Wallace Street, Bairnsdale. The 1936 electoral rolls for Bairnsdale show Harry, a motor mechanic, Bessie and Beatrice, a typist, at 15 Wallace Street. In 1961 Bessie was living in Bell Street, Yarra Glen, which is just outside Melbourne. Later she was at 9 Davis Street, Elsternwick, Melbourne. It is believed that she remarried after Harry died.

  • Beatrice married Harold and they had 3 children; Peter (1940), Mary (1944) and Jill (1949).

• Kit, as Kate was always known, married Len Locke the son of a gardener in Q3 of 1907.

  Len was the son of William Locke of Longparrish in Hampshire. In 1881 William had been living at 5 Cypress Terrace, Redhill with his wife Mary and four children; Alice, Jane, William, and Frederick. In 1891 they also had Percy (1883), Charlotte (1886) and Leonard (1888) by which time they were living at 1 Market Row, Redhill.

  Len worked as a cowman and then as a gardener on Jeremiah Coleman's estate near Reigate. Then they moved to Guildford where he worked in Jackson's, a cycle shop. They lived in Denzil Road and later 48 Cline Road. Len died in 1960 and Kit in 1970. They had two children:

  • Eveline (Eva) was born in Redhill on 16 June 1907. She lived-in as a house help and then while working in a munitions factory during the Second World War she met and, in 1943, married Cyril Porter. They had no children. Cyril died in 1975 and Eva in 1982.

  • Victor was born in Guildford on 9 September 1922. He served in the RAF during the Second World War and married Violet Nimes in 1944. They had a son Brian on 4 May 1949. Victor worked as a litigation clerk for solicitors in London and then worked for Reuters. At Waterlows he was the secretary to the MD and after they were taken over was the deputy to the company secretary for a while. After a short spell working for a firm of printers in south London he joined the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine as a senior administrative assistant where he worked until he retired. They then lived for many years in Rustington, West Sussex. Violet and Victor both died in 2003 (reg. Worthing Feb & July).

• Clifford married Edith Hart-Porter in 1924 and had a son, Thomas (1927). Clifford was an engineer and worked for a bus company (East Surrey Traction Co.?) and may have lived in Hounslow or Twickenham. After his father died his mother lived with them until she died in 1940. Marjorie (see below) believed that a cousin and her husband also lived there. In 1961 Clifford’s address was 27 The Broadway, Stoneleigh, Surrey.

• Marjorie married Ernest Winchester, a fireman, and lived in Wimbledon with their two daughters (see Ernest & Marjorie Winchester).

• Irene married Arthur Hyland, an Australian who had served in the same regiment as Bessie’s husband. She went to Australia after the war, sailing on the RMS Wahehe and they lived in Melbourne and had a daughter, Lily (Lilian?). It is believed that they also lived in Alice Springs at some stage. Arthur was killed in a motor-cycle accident. In 1961 Rene was living with her daughter Lily at 164 Sussex Street, Merlynston, Melbourne. Eventually Irene was also killed in a road accident when she was hit by a car.

  • Lily married Robert and they had two daughters; Valerie (1942) and Sandra (1949).