Albert WINSON

ALBERT WINSON and the WELLS family

(SEE ALSO WELLS family)

 

The Winson family were former residents of Leigh Post Office Cottage.  Albert Winson was the Sub-Postmaster there in 1939 and was still resident there when he died on 7 December 1954, aged 64 years.   The 1939 Register (at Findmypast website) gives the following information for Leigh:

1939 REGISTER gives:

Post Office Stores

Albert Winson  b. 1890

Ronald A Winson b. 1921

Stanley A Winson b. 1923

Margaret L Winson b. 1925  (crossed through Wells)   b. 24 Oct 1925 (greater Wandsworth)

Elsie I. Winson b. 1928

Helen Sullivan   b.1925  (crossed through Lawrence)

 

Albert  was born on 22 July 1890 at Southwark.   In 1911 he was living at 21 Darwin Street, Southwark, with his parents William George Winson and Elizabeth Susan and siblings, William George, Ernest and Ada.  There are other siblings listed in other censuses.   In 1916 Albert Winson married Louisa Cogan (b1893) at St George the Martyr, Southwark.  Their son, Ronald, was baptised there in 1921 (he is buried in St John the Evangelist Churchyard in Hildenborough.  He died 14 May 1999.)   On the birth certificate, Albert’s occupation is ‘clerk’.   Margaret Winson was born in 1925  at Lewisham.   There were two other children noted in other records, Stanley b. 1923 and Elsie b. 1928.

Albert served as a Private in the First World War with the Durham Light Infantry.  His brother, Ernest Arthur Winson, born 1888 Bermondsey, died 13 December 1916 in France, having served as a Private with the King’s Own Regiment (Lancaster’s).

There are a few memories of  the Winson family recorded in “We Had Everything . . .” by Chris Rowley which  says that Mr Winson ran the Post Office on the Green by the Forge.   There are photos showing the shop on this website.  Memories of June Chadwick (later Mrs June Smith) recalls working at the Post Office which had moved to the Green by then and it was “owned by Mr Winson and just had the Post Office and a few sweets and things.  Mr Winsons’s daughter, Margaret, got married to Bill Wells and Mr Winson passed the business on to them.  They wanted to make it into a proper grocers but because it was just after the War you had to have a permit for that and to get the permit you had to get a petition signed by a certain number of people, saying that you’d use your ration book in the new shop.  Anyway, they got permission and they expanded – they built more on the back and Bill and Margaret lived there”.   The Stratton Brown’s when they arrived in Leigh in 1933 recall that Mr Wells (Bill) ran the post office store on the Green and that the other Mr Wells (Stanley) was the butcher.

To confuse, the wives of both Bill Wells and Stanley Wells were called Margaret.

Margaret Winson married Edward W Wells (Bill) in 1948.   A Wedding Notice in the Courier of 2 April 1948 reports that a “wedding took place at St Mary’s Church Leigh on Saturday of Miss Margaret Winson, daughter of Mr A Winson of The Stores, Leigh and Mr Edward W Wells, son of Mr and the late Mrs C Wells of 16 Essalla Road Ashford.   The bride wore a white gown and carried red roses.  Her attendances Miss E Winson and Miss M Ferguson wore peach coloured dresses and carried daffodils.  Mr L Easton was best man.”

This gives us a link to the Wells family:  the 1921 census shows  them living at 45 High Street, Ashford:

 

Charles Wells head 1879 41 b. Paddington London    Pork Butcher

Ada Wells   1881 39  b. Ramsgate Kent

Stanley Wells  1908  13  b. Ashford

Irene Wells   1911 9   b. Ashford

Gladys Wells   1914   7    b. Ashford

Arthur Wells  1917  4    b. Ashford

Edward Wells   1919 1    b. Ashford

 

The 1939 Register for Stanley Wells (b 1908) shows that he was married to Margaret (b 1908) and lived at The Square, was a butcher’s assistant.  Their marriage is recorded on 12 January 1934 in The Kentish Express: “The wedding took place at St Martin’s Aldington on December 26 of Mr Stanley Wells, eldest son of Mr C Wells and the late Mrs Wells, of Ashford and Miss Margaret Spenceley, daughter of the late Mr Spenceley and Mrs Spencely, of Aldington.   The bride, who was given away by her brother, Mr Horace Spenceley, wore a gown of apricot georgette.  The bridesmaids, the Misses Irene and Gladys Wells, were dressed in pale green crepe silk, with green velvet caps trimmed with silver leaves.  The bridegroom’s brother was best man.  A reception was held at Howarth’s Aldington.”

 

Joyce Field (January 2025)