William Bird
Chairman of Aspull Urban District 1915/16 & 1916/17
Elected 21/04/1915, re-elected 19/04/1916
b 1858 in Wigan
Parents: Peter and Elizabeth Bird, Collier
m 1882 at St David Haigh to Ann daughter of Thomas Williams, Underlooker of Aspull. Died 1905 at Aspull.
children: Four sons (two died in infancy and one aged 16) and four daughters (one died aged 4 years).
d 1938 at Hoole, near Preston
William Bird was born in Wigan in 1858, son of Peter Bird, a collier, and Elizabeth. In 1861 the family were living in Wallace Lane, Whelley and had moved to New Springs by 1871.
William began work at Crawford No. 1 pit in Aspull, first as a drawer then later a collier. As a young man he was a keen cricketer playing for Haigh Cricket Club. He left work in the mines and in the late 1880s became caretaker of Holly Nook Conservative Club in Aspull, a position that he held for around six years until he became the manager of the Running Horses, Bolton Road, Aspull, where he was the licensee for over twenty years.
He served as a member of Aspull Urban District Council for eighteen years, holding the office of chairman for the years 1915/16 & 1916/17.
Around 1918 William left Aspull to become the licensee of the Ram’s Head Hotel, Longton near Preston, which he ran until around 1930 when he took over the Rose and Crown Hotel, Hoole, Preston.
Ann Bird died in 1905 at Aspull, William died in January 1938 at the Rose and Crown in Hoole, which was then being run by his daughter and son-in-law. Both were buried in St David’s Churchyard at Haigh.
By Peter Walker
Sources:
Aspull Urban District Council Minutes
Wigan Observer 5 February 1938 p11e
Ancestry.com
Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
FindyMyPast.co.uk (subscription required)