Died
4 May 1941
Born
William: 17 February 1894
Mary: 1896
Sources
Ancestry
CWGC
The Barrovian: Barrow Boys Grammar School Magazine
Barrow News
Place
Walks
Themes
William Allison Hudson and Mary Stobart Hudson
Blitz Victims
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
WILLIAM ALLISON HUDSON
AND HIS WIFE MARY
KILLED BY ENEMY ACTION
4TH MAY 1941
CWGC list of Civilian War Dead has:
William Allison Hudson, B.A., (aged 47) and Mary Stobart McLoughton Hudson (aged 45) died at 26 Hill Road, Hawcoat.
CWGC reports that she was the daughter of Mrs. Binnie, of 28 St. Paul’s Road, Ardmore, Philadelphia, USA. He was a schoolmaster at Barrow Grammar School. (See below)
On 17 May 1941 the News reported:
LATE MR. W.A. HUDSON
21 YEARS BARROW GRAMMAR SCHOOL MASTER
NOBILITY OF SPIRIT WILL BE TREASURED MEMORY.
War could hardly have dealt the Barrow Grammar School a crueller blow than the taking of Mr. William Allison Hudson. He joined the staff of the school in January, 1920, as modern languages master, and having served under every headmaster the school has known, could rightly be regarded as an indispensable part of the place. On the death of Mr. J. H. Childs, the second master, in 1936, Mr. Hudson was entrusted with the senior modern languages post, a promotion which was not only a fitting reward for his sound work over many years, but also a confidence amply justified in the years, unhappily few, which followed. But the school’s record of modern language scholarships to the Universities was due as much to the solid foundation which Mr. Hudson laid in the middle school as to his work with the sixth form. He had the gift of inspiring the boys and bringing out the best that was in them.
By many old boys, however, he will be remembered more for his untiring interest in Association football, of which he was in charge. He had coached the school eleven, and right up to the time of his death could often be seen changed to play with his form. He was also responsible for the school music, and the interest which boys took in music was largely due to his patient endeavour. The musical programme on speech day, together with concerts in the happier pre-war days, were entirely in his hands.
But Mr. Hudson’s work did not end when these things were done. He always gave most generously of his time and energy to all the best things in the life of the school. And while the illness of his wife over many years restricted his social activities in the town, it gave to him a nobility of spirit which will always be a treasured memory in the minds of those whose good fortune it was to work with him.
1939 Register
The 1939 Register has William A. Hudson (DoB 17 Feb. 1894), Assistant Master, sharing 26 Hill Road with Frederick W. Hudson (DoB 9 October 1901), Master watch-clock repairer, and Air Raid Warden; and Hilda Hudson (DoB 27 November 1904), Unpaid Domestic Duties.
1911 Census
William’s origins were in the North-East. In the 1911 Census the Hudson’s were living at 9 Broxbourne Terrace, Sunderland. Father Joseph Hudson (49) is a Watch and Clock repairer; William Allison Hudson (17) is a Bursar at School; brother Joseph Hudson (15), is an Apprentice Watch and Clock repairer; brother Laurence Hudson (12) is at School; brother Frederick Whitfield Hudson (9) has no recorded occupation, nor do mother Mary Elizabeth Hudson (49) or sister Elizabeth (18). The whole family were born in Sunderland.
National Probate Calendar
The National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1941 has William Allison Hudson leaving his Effects of £1995 4s 3d to Joseph Hudson, watchmaker.
1901 Census
In the 1901 Census the Hudson’s were at 44 Cleveland Road, Sunderland, along with Father-in-Law Allison Whitfield (66), Traveller for a Foundry.
The Barrow Boys Grammar School magazine, The Barrovian, had a lengthy eulogy to Mr. Hudson (above).
Mrs Hudson is something of a mystery. The article from the School Magazine implies that she was an invalid of some description. Where was she at the time of the 1939 Register?
The CWGC has Mary Hudson as the daughter of Mrs Binnie in Philadelphia.
Documents on Ancestry have her full name variously as
Mary Stobart McLoughton Hudson (from CWGC)
National Probate Calendar
Mary Brown Stoddart McLauchlan Hudson [from National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1941]. Her Effects of £1002 10s 8d are left to the care of George Southcote Townsend solicitor.
1911 Census
In the 1911 Census a Mary Binnie (15), born Falkirk, is living in the orphanage at Secretary’s Sheltering Homes for Orphan, Fatherless and Destitute Children, Myrtle Street, Liverpool, where she attends school part-time. NB While Ancestry connects this Mary Binnie with Mary Hudson, it is by no means confirmed.
