John James's Story.
EARLY LIFE
John James Woodhouse was born in Warrington in 1889, the son of Elizabeth and Levi Woodhouse, a railway capstan man. In 1901, twelve-year-old John was living at 41 Ashton Street, Warrington with his parents and brothers Arthur (10), Joseph Stanley (4) and William Frank (1). John was educated at Heathside school and attended St Paul's Church, Warrington.
In the 1911 census John was recorded at 122 Cartwright Street, Warrington, the home of his widowed aunt Elizabeth Jane Hitchin and her two daughters, Doris (88) and Gladys (6), employed as an assistant at the Preston branch of Hulton's, publisher of periodicals.
It is not known how John Woodhouse (born Warrington) met Laura Bracegirdle (born Macclesfield), but they were married at Preston in 1915. Their son, John, was born in Macclesfield in 1916 and Laura lived with her parents at 10 Duke Street, Macclesfield while her husband was serving in the Army.
MILITARY SERVICE
John enlisted in Preston in September 1916 and was drafted out to France in February 1917. He was included on the Macclesfield Absent Voters' List for 1918 at 10 Duke Street.
It is not known when and where Gunner Woodhouse was gassed but he was taken to No 2 Canadian General Hospital at Le Treport, France, where he died on 12 September 1918, just three hours before his wife reached the hospital.
The death of Gunner Woodhouse was reported in the Macclesfield Times on 20 September 1918:
Gunner John James Woodhouse, Royal Field Artillery, died in hospital in France on September 12th from gas poisoning. His wife, who resides at 10 Duke Street, Macclesfield, was notified on Wednesday week that his condition was serious. She immediately went to France and arrived at the hospital at Le Treport about three hours after he had passed away. Gunner Woodhouse was 30 years of age, and enlisting in September 1916, went out to France in February 1917. In civil life he was employed by Messrs Hulton's, of Manchester, in the commercial department at the Preston branch office.
Gunner Woodhouse's death was also reported in the Widnes Examiner on 5 October 1918:
Gunner John James Woodhouse, of the Royal Field Artillery, son of Mr Levi Woodhouse, of 37 Goulden-street, died in France on the 12th of September, after having been gassed a week previously. Gunner Woodhouse, who was 30 years of age, was formerly employed by Messrs Hulton and Son at the Warrington Office of the "Evening Chronicle" but five or six years ago was transferred to Preston, where he managed the branch office of the same firm. He was an "old boy" of Heathside School, and attended St Paul's Church, Warrington....
COMMEMORATION
Gunner John Woodhouse is buried in grave ref VIII. E. 13B. of the Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, France. His widow asked for the inscription “FOR GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIEND” to be added to his headstone.
In Macclesfield, Gunner John Woodhouse is commemorated on the Park Green war memorial, and he is remembered on a family grave in Macclesfield Cemetery, plot A.722.
Elsewhere, he is named on the E Hulton & Co (the Hulton Press) war memorial, now located in the entrance to The Printworks, Manchester.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births, Marriages
Census (England & Wales): 1891, 1901, 1911
WWI Absent Voters Lists (FindMyPast): Macclesfield Parliamentary Division
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Widnes Examiner, 5 Oct 1918: photo
Carl's Cam photo website: E Hulton & Co war memorial information
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.