JOHN WOODCOCK
Mayor of Wigan 1832
John Woodcock was born 21st November 1800, into a family group who were developing as prominent and influential members of Wigan society they incorporated an involvement in civic affairs within their business activities, a situation which would continue down the generations for a significant period of the Town’s history.
John was the eldest of seven children born to Thomas and Elizabeth Woodcock.
Thomas his father had moved to Wigan from Newburgh and in 1792 he and business partner Ralph Thickness had founded the Bank of Wigan a successful venture via which they had achieved significant status in the town.
The marriage in 1798 of Thomas’s business partner Ralph Thickness to Thomas’s sister Sarah Woodcock had further consolidated the bank into a family run business.
John was baptised at Wigan All Saints church on 5th March 1801. He would during his childhood and adolescence see his father Thomas serve as Mayor of Wigan for five separate terms, this being during the years of 1802, 1804, 1806, 1808 & 1817.
In August 1828, John’s sister Mary Ann Woodcock married her first cousin Ralph A. Thickness (junior). this being around the time when Ralph (senior) retired from his involvement in the banking business, leaving John’s father Thomas Woodcock in overall control.
John married his first wife Sarah Hodson on 30th November 1829, their wedding took place at St Thomas church, Upholland.
Sara gave birth to five children, they were residing in Pemberton when their first child, a daughter Sarah Elizabeth was born, she was baptised at All Saints, Wigan on 1st September 1831.
John followed in his father’s footsteps, not only by joining his father in the family banking business but also in terms of his involvement in civic affairs.
He was elected to serve as Mayor of Wigan during the year of 1832.
(This being at the time of the passing of the Reform Act, which in turn, led to implementation of the Municipal Corporations act of 1835).
Involvement in the developing and successful family banking business may well have brought some rewards for John in the years immediately following his period in office as Mayor; however events in his personal and family life over the same period must have been particularly traumatic.
A second daughter born to John and Sarah in June of 1833 died when just nine days old.
The couple had a third child, Thomas, he was born in September 1834, whilst the couple were still living in Pemberton.
The family relocated sometime after this and were living at Douglas Bank, where in 1836 a further daughter Frances Ellen and in 1838 a second son Frederick Edward were born to the couple; sadly they had to suffer the bereavement of their youngest daughter in January of 1840, before she had reached four years of age.
Life was marred by further tragedy when his 30 year old wife Sarah died, she was buried at All Saints Wigan, on 22nd May 1841.
The census of 6th June 1841 records John and his three surviving children now living at The Elms on Wigan Lane. This property would remain in family ownership for many years to come.
John married his second wife, Alice Knowles on 1st October 1844 the ceremony taking place at St Pancras Church, Middlesex, the parish register identifies the bride’s father as John Knowles (a Wine Merchant) and the officiating Minister for the ceremony was a Henry Knowles, presumably a relative of the bride?
A further five children would be born during this second marriage, the first in 1847 being a son, Herbert Spencer Woodcock, followed by daughters Adilaide Mary in 1848, Amy Katherine in 1850, Caroline Florence in 1851and another son Arthur Baldwin Woodcock in 1853.
John was by this time the senior partner in the firms banking business following the death of Thomas Woodcock his father in 1850.
The year of 1853 brought further personal tragedies to this family group initially in April of that year by the death of John’s 17 year old niece, Eleanor Thickness who was buried 5 April 1853.
Just months after the above, in September of that year, the cousins, Thomas Woodcock age 19, (John’s son from his first marriage to Sarah), and Ralph Thickness age 20 (John’s nephew, and brother of the recently departed Eleanor) were both drowned in Lake Windermere.
The two young men were in a narrow rowing boat attempting to make a return trip between Waterhead and Bowness the boat was somehow capsized and both young men were drowned. The bodies were later recovered and returned to Wigan for burial, the funeral service was conducted 19th September 1853.
The families made arrangements for a white cross to be erected at the location of the tragedy this took place approximately one year after the incident. Although the original has been replaced over the years, a white cross still marks the site and is now a local feature. This part of the Windermere shoreline being referred to as White Cross Bay.
John Woodcock’s brother in law, Ralph A. Thickness (junior) the father of the late Eleanor, Ralph and uncle to Thomas Woodcock was MP for Wigan at the time of the tragedy, he himself died suddenly in August 1854 about one month before the installation of the original white cross referred to above.
John’s lost his second wife Alice, in October 1857, and whilst John and the family retained the Elms on Wigan Lane as their home, John and five children are in residence at a property named Apley House located on the Isle of Wight at the time of the 1861 census.
John retained his position as senior partner in the family run banking operation although failing health limited the extent of his continued involvement, other family members taking over running the business.
John Woodcock passed away whilst living in Southport on 3rd December 1865, his remains were returned to Wigan for interment in the family vault at Wigan parish Church, the funeral service took place 9th December 1865.
Sources
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Baptisms, Wigan 1801
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Marriages, Upholland, 1829
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – All Events, Wigan 1826 to 1846
Ancestry 1841 Census, – Wigan.
Ancestry London, England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1844 St. Pancras,
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Baptisms, Wigan 1847 to 1853
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Burials, 1853 to 1857
Ancestry 1851 Census, – Wigan.
Ancestry 1861 Census, – Parish of St.Helen, Isle of Wight.
Wigan Observer 8th December 1865
Wigan Observer 15th December 1865
Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks – Burials, 1865
Ancestry England & Wales National Probate Calendar 1866
Wigan Observer 28th October 1982