Clifford James Wilson (1913 - 2004)

Born 13 Mar 1913 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Peggy Ada (Neath) Wilson — married 14 Jan 1939 in St Michael's Church, Stoke, Coventry

Died 10 Sep 2004 at age 91 in Coventry, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Chris Orme [send private message] and Andy Worrall [send private message]

Biography

Clifford James Wilson was born on 13 March 1913, the son of Clifford Augustus Wilson, known as Gus and Edna Louise Wilson (Freeman), known as Lou.^[1][2] His mother was one of ten children and his father the oldest of ten children. He was born at his aunt's house in Stratford Road, Birmingham while his parents waited for their house in Oldfield Road.

Clifford was also known as Peter from the story of Peter Pan by J M Barrie which was very popular when he was a child. His sister was nicknamed Wendy for the same reason and has never been known by her proper name!

A keen cyclist in his youth, he used to regularly cycle over to Coventry to see his cousins who lived in Marlborough Road, Stoke, Coventry.

He set up a photographic business with a friend but it didn't work out. He then left home aged 17 and worked in Yeovil calibrating electricity meters telling many stories of the ways people used to cheat the electricity meter by putting in discs of metal or even making coins out of ice!

In the 1930s he became an insurance agent for the Prudential and whilst working in Coventry met Peggy Ada Neath who lived at the Post Office in Coventry Street, Coventry which was run by Peggy's mother. They married on 14 January 1939 in St Michael's Church, Stoke, Coventry.^[3]

When Clifford was called up during the Second World War their house in Burns Road was let out and Peggy went to stay with her sister, Connie and family at Wordsworth Road, Coventry.

He was stationed in Aldershot, Bury, Glasgow and West Africa where he was an electrical engineer with REME. In the army anyone called Wilson is nicknamed Tug which is how he was known throughout the war.

In civilian life he worked as a Reprographics Manager for Chamberlain and Hookham in Birmingham, British Thomson Houston in Ford Street, Coventry which later became AEI. This was taken over by GEC and became GEC-AEI then just GEC. It was then bought out by Rotax and finally became Lucas Aerospace. Clifford had worked for six companies without leaving the site!

Clifford was interested in anything and everything and could hold conversations on most topics. He taught maths privately for many years and mathematical problems fascinated him. He could speak French and German well and knew quite a bit of Spanish, Italian, Russian and Latin. He was also a pretty good pianist who adored Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Chopin.

Aged 70 he was given a computer and spent hours learning how to program it along with his friend from work, Ron Aust. It was during one of these sessions they discovered that Clifford's son-in-law and Ron's nephew were partners in Kensington Garage, Earlsdon, Coventry! (Ken Warburton/Mick Wright)

Peggy died in 1977, not long after an old army friend, Jack Churm. When he invited Jack's widow to visit to get over an illness they hit it off so well that they became engaged - an engagement which lasted for over 25 years! Anne lived in Halifax.

Clifford passed away at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry on 10 September 2004.^[2] He was buried in Lentons Lane Cemetery, Coventry.

He was 5' 10" tall, had brown hair and hazel eyes.

Compiled by Chris Orme with information kindly provided by Clifford's daughter, Wilson-11240.

Ancestry and the Name Clifford

Is the Wilson family decended from the de Cliffords of Skipton Castle? Read the stories and add your comments.

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FPL-YFZ : 1 October 2014), Clifford J Wilson, 1913, mother's maiden name Freeman; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Aston, Warwickshire, England, vol.6d, p.728, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.,
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZV-JX2D : 4 September 2014), Clifford James Wilson, Sep 2004, born 13 Mar 1913; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death Registration, Coventry, Warwickshire, England Jul-Sep 2004, vol. 063/1, p. B70A, General Register Office, Southport, England.
3. ↑ England and Wales Marriage index, Jan-Mar 1939, Coventry, Vol.6d, p.982; Clifford J Wilson and Peggy A Neath, accessed at http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=mJ6nlUm6245clPpPOGueiA&scan=1

See also:

• Worrall family tree, tree number 7503915-2 on MyHeritage.com. at http://www.myheritage.com/site-family-tree-138499331/worrallwithy, managed by Andy Worrall.

WikiTree profile Wilson-11119 created on 16 Dec, 2012 by Chris Orme.