William Hudson

William Hudson, known as Bill, was born in a house called The Beeches at Smalley Green, Derbyshire, on 24th June 1915, the seventh and youngest child of John and Mary Ann Hudson. He was baptised at St John the Baptist’s Church, Smalley, on 15th August.

Bill lived at Smalley Green for a few years. Shortly after his maternal grandmother Sarah Cox died in September 1912, his grandfather John Cox returned to Twyford. Bill with his parents and siblings moved into the former home of his grandparents, Field View Cottage, on Kyte’s Lane. This childhood home would become the home of Bill and his own family in later years.

Bill, circa 1921.
Bill sent this photo with a letter to his sister Gertie who was living in London.

Bill attended Smalley Boys’ School, located next to the current Bell Inn.

1925 Smalley Boys’ School photograph
1 Arthur Marriott, 2 Billy Mee, 3 Bruce Marshall, 4 George Morley, 5 Bill Hudson, 6 surname Ratcliffe, 7 Arnold Vallce, 8 Harry Rodgers, 9 Tommy Costello, 10 Reg/Len Stanton, 11 Jack Turner, 12 Wilfred Grainger, 14 Horace Eaton, 15 Ernest Harrison

In August 1929, the family visited Blackpool, where a studio photograph of Bill seated on a motorbike was taken.

Bill Hudson, 24th August 1929

On 10th April 1930, Bill was confirmed at St Mary’s Church, Ilkeston, and was presented with a Prayer Book from the Vicar of Smalley.

‘William Hudson. In memory of his Confirmation at S. Mary’s Church, Ilkeston, April 10th 1930. From Digby J Hawker, Vicar of Smalley’

Bill left school when he was 14 and his first of many jobs was working as a gardener at Stainsby House in Smalley (demolished in 1972 and since replaced with a newer building). He worked for Tom Crooks, the head gardener, and it is thought that he got the job through his father John Hudson. However, Bill soon got fed up with gardening and left, telling his father that he had been sacked. John reportedly went to see Tom, asking why his son had been sacked, and was told that Bill had walked out!

His next job was working for the local council, repairing roads. Bill went to work with his father on the back of a motorbike, which is said to have frightened him.

By 1939, Bill was working as a butcher’s assistant. He trained as a butcher, working for George Stafford at West Hallam.

Sometime before 1940, with money borrowed from their sister Francis, Bill and his brother Arthur bought a Bedford 1934/1935 lorry from Robinson’s Garage at Stanley Common, and they began a small haulage business together. A photo of Arthur with the lorry showing ‘Hudson Bros. Smalley’ painted on the door can be seen here.

Elizabeth Beardsley Bowmer

We don’t know exactly when Bill met his future wife Elizabeth Beardsley Bowmer, but both their fathers were miners at Mapperley Colliery, so likely knew each other. Elizabeth, known as Bessie, was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Bill’s sister Gertrude in December 1934, so it is likely that Bill and Bessie were courting at this time. As a teenager, Bessie is said to have been very shy.

Bessie Beardsley Bowmer
and William Hudson, circa 1934

Born in Smalley Common in December 1916, Bessie was the daughter of William and Mary Annie Bowmer. She was baptised on 11th February 1917 at St John the Baptist’s Church, Smalley.

In 1920, Bessie was living with her parents at Spencer Street, Smalley Common. Her brother Roy was born in June but he died within 18 months from double pneumonia. This may have been why Bessie, who was then 5 years old, would later say that she preferred to have daughters than sons.

Roy Beardsley Bowmer and Elizabeth Beardsley Bowmer c. 1921

At some point the family moved to a house opposite 3 Main Road, Smalley. Bessie attended Smalley Girls’ School, next to St John the Baptist’s Church. The headmistress was Miss Primrose Dix, said to have been a strict disciplinarian, and who was one of Bessie’s teachers. For a brief time, Bessie went to live with her grandmother Sarah Moss at Hayes Cottage, Smalley.

For her 21st birthday, Bessie’s parents bought her a Singer treadle sewing machine, fitted in a polished wooden box which looked like a piece of furniture. Her youngest child recalls that Bessie ‘kept the sewing machine for years, making her own clothes and her children’s clothes as well – coats, dresses, blouses, skirts – so we always looked smart and well dressed’. Sewing and making clothes was a skill which she taught her children.

By 1939, Bessie had moved with her parents to The Bungalow on Bell Lane, Smalley and was working as a tailoress for Smiths of Derby, making army uniforms.

Bessie Beardsley Bowmer

I recall Bessie telling me that she and Bill travelled by motorbike. On one occasion they were riding in a field and crashed into a farm gate. Bessie was riding pillion and received cuts to her face, while Bill appears to have been uninjured. Thankfully the cuts were minor and left no scars.

Bessie’s engagement ring

Bill and Bessie were married on 30th March 1940 at Smalley. Their marriage was witnessed by Bessie’s father and Elizabeth Marriott, her bridesmaid. At this time Bill was working as a stocker.

St John the Baptist’s Church, Smalley, 30th March 1940
Betty Marriott, Harry Foulkes, Bill and Bessie Hudson, William Beardsley Bowmer, Joyce Peacock

After their marriage, Bill and Bessie lived with Bessie’s parents at The Bungalow, Bell Lane. Bill’s experience as a butcher would soon take him to India.

Second World War

Bill never spoke about his time in the war. I remember once for a school project asking him questions about his time during this period, but I recall that he didn’t say very much – no long war stories or tales of adventure, just his usual smile and a few minor anecdotes to send me on my way. There was also a television program in the 1950’s called War in the Air and Bill is said to have never wanted to watch it. He did, however, enjoy taking photographs and made an album which contains some 185 photographs taken during his time during the war, most with hand-written captions. They show places he visited, camps where he was stationed, his friends, and himself.

Bill enlisted on 13th July 1940 and was sent to ‘3R Padgate’, a basic training centre for recruits in Lancashire. At this time he was described as 5ft. 5¾in. tall with black hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. His civil occupation was noted as ‘butcher’s assistant’ and his trade as ‘cook’. After 10 days, he was moved to Signals Wing 5 of the RAF, then two weeks later to the Headquarters Holding Station at West Drayton. Between August 1940 and March 1942, Bill was working as a cook at ‘1 WAAF Depot’ of the Woman’s Auxiliary Air Force.

Bill Hudson, circa 1940

Bill’s rank on enlistment was ‘Aircraftman Second Class’. He was promoted to ‘Aircraftman First Class’ on 1st February 1941 and, within four months, on 1st June, to ‘Leading Aircraftman’. Just over one year later, on 1st July 1942, he was promoted to ‘Temporary Corporal’. He became a ‘Corporal’ in 1945.

The first entry in Bill’s photograph album is of the Dominion Monarch, a 27,155 ton ship. Built between 1937 and 1939, this was a UK passenger and cargo liner, but served as a troop ship from 1940 to 1947. On 20th March 1942, Bill boarded the Dominion Monarch and left for India. The ship is recorded as leaving Liverpool on 22nd March and reaching Bombay on 6th May 1942.

The Dominion Monarch which took Bill to India

Bill was sent to Alipore, South Calcutta, on 14th May 1942 but within six months was moved to the RAF base at Dum Dum, also in Calcutta, where he was stationed for just over two years. Bill was in Calcutta when it was bombed by the Japanese in December 1942 and June 1943.

Back in England, Bessie was working at the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine factory. On 27th July 1942 she would normally have been working on the morning shift, but had been asked to change shifts, which she did. That morning, taking advantage of low cloud cover, a single German aircraft dropped four bombs on the factory, killing 12 people inside the building and 11 people outside.

The first caption in Bill’s album reads ‘Transit. Calcutta’ and we see him in photographs with Jock McBride and Jock Kelly. He included a photograph of ‘Cooks and Naffi Staff’ and is shown as part of the ‘Cook’s Football Team’ in Alipore. Another photograph shows the ‘bunkhouse Behala’ and he is included in a photograph captioned ‘Cookhouse Staff Behala’. There are also photographs taken at Dum Dum, where he is in a photo with Jack Suctliffe and three Indian staff.

In 1942, Bill’s older brother Arthur was also in India, serving in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), driving lorries which moved tanks across the country. However, neither knew that the other was also in India. One day in June, Bill went to a cinema in Calcutta to watch In the Desert. By chance Arthur was also there and one brother happened to turn around and see the other sitting two rows behind him.

Bill and Arthur, Victoria Memorial, Calcutta, June 1942

On 13th July 1943, the third anniversary of his enlistment, Bill was awarded a Good Conduct badge.

The next section in Bill’s photograph album is headed ‘Karachi’, where, at SHQ Mauripur, he arrived on 11th June 1944. Christmas 1944, like 1943, was spent in India and a menu included in his album shows Bill was a permanent member of staff at Number 9 Transit Camp. Since Bill was a cook he would have been involved in preparing this meal.

On 28th February 1945, Bill embarked on his journey home.

The War Medal, The Defence Medal, The Burma Star, and The 1939-1945 Star

Family Life

Bessie lived with her parents at Bell Lane while her husband served in India. After returning home, Bill remained in the RAF for one more year. On 31st March 1945 he was assigned, on a temporary basis, to ‘16 Maintenance Unit’ in Stafford, and then to ‘1 School of Cook’ on 16th August, before being transferred back to the Maintenance Unit on 12th September 1945.

Bessie and Bill’s first child was born in 1946 at The Bungalow, Bell Lane, and under father’s occupation the birth certificate records ‘Corporal No. 1010015 RAF (Butcher)’.

On 29th March 1946, Bill was sent to ‘102 Personnel Dispatch Centre’ in Cardington, Bedfordshire, and was released from active service on 29th June, although he remained in ‘Class G Reserve’ until 30th June 1959. He was granted 92 days leave on release, and was never recalled. In his Service and Release book his wing commander wrote of Bill: ‘A reliable worker with good control of those working under him’.

In 1946, Bill and his family moved to Yew Tree Farm, Smalley. Bill didn’t farm here, but found work driving a grader at the opencast mine of John Laing and Son Limited, at Carrington’s Coppice, Smalley.

Bill is seated in the grader

Bill and Bessie are known to have attended the TT Races on the Isle of Man. There are a few photographs in Bill’s album which are thought to be of the 1947 Isle of Man TT, which due to the war, was the first race festival since 1939.

In 1949 or 1950, Bill and Bessie moved to West View, a semi-detached house at 3 Main Road, Smalley, opposite a house in which Bessie had lived as a child. Living next door was Bill’s older sister Frances. Their second child was born in 1950.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Bill changed jobs again. After the opencast, he worked as a lorry driver for the corn merchant Joe Poyser. He would collect animal food from Spillers at Hull and BCM at Selby, and deliver it to various farms. During school holidays, Bill would take his oldest child with him, who recalls the excitement of these journeys, which included a stop for food at a transport cafe. Other children at school would often ask Bill if they could go with him.

Bill kept all his driving licences from 1953 to 1965

After Joe Poyser died, Bill worked for the new owners of the business, Seals of Swanwick, travelling to customers and taking sales orders. His youngest child recalls helping him count the money he had collected from the farms.

At weekends, Bill helped Arthur Shaw, the butcher of Smalley. Arthur owned Linkwood Farm at Horsley Woodhouse, and in 1958, Bill, Bessie and their two children moved into a house on the farm, paying a modest rent of ten shillings per week, perhaps in lieu of payment for various jobs that Bill did for Arthur.

Bill’s mother Mary Ann died on 3rd January 1963 aged 89. With the house vacant, Bill moved back to his childhood home, Field View Cottage, where he and Bessie would bring up their own family.

Field View Cottage, Smalley

Each morning, Bessie would ensure that the fire was blazing in the grate to warm the house for when her children came down for breakfast. She enjoyed cooking and baking, with the Victoria sandwich cake being her favourite - a treat she would give to her grandchildren in later years. With Bill working, Bessie would also attend the school open days.

By October 1966 Bill found another job, working as a handyman in the aero works division of Rolls Royce at Derby. At some point Bill swapped his car for a Vespa or Lambretta motor scooter, thought to be with someone he worked with at Rolls Royce. The moped was used by Bill’s oldest child for errands in the Smalley area, and to Bell Lane to visit grandparents. He is known to have had a small white van, a Hillman Husky, and in 1967 he was driving a Riley One-Point-Five in green and white.

Bill’s Thomas Russell and Sons wristwatch from circa 1930

Later years

With their children married and living elsewhere, in 1976 Bill and Bessie moved to a modern two bedroom bungalow at 21 Vicarage Close, Smalley. They were never a couple to ‘live in the past’ - their home didn’t contain any antiques or old pictures. Instead it was decorated in a modern style, with a few paintings by their youngest child hung on the walls. I remember Bessie telling us all once that she was out on the small lawn at the back of the house one day when she noticed that the neighbour was doing her housework naked!

I never knew Bill to have a motorbike, but in later years he always drove a relatively new car. He changed cars every two years, believing that after that time they started to go wrong. In 1976 he bought a sporty two-seater Datsun 120Y.

Bessie and Bill Hudson, June 1976

Bill retired from Rolls Royce in June 1980 when he became 65. He was presented with a drawing from his friends which clearly showed his fondness for darts and, of course, his love for watching Derby County Football Team. As a season ticket holder, whenever Derby played at home, Bill would take his grandson to watch ‘the Rams’ at the Baseball Ground.

In the early 1980’s, Bill got a part-time job at Breadsall Priory as handyman. One year he found me a summer job there and I remember how well-liked he was by the staff who he worked with, many of whom were to attend his funeral.

Bill Hudson died at 21 Vicarage Close, Smalley, on 7th March 1990, aged 74. He died doing the thing he enjoyed most – watching football. Bessie went to bed on the evening of 6th March, leaving Bill in his arm-chair watching TV. She found him the next morning sat in the chair with the television still on, thinking at first that Bill had fallen asleep.

The funeral service for Bill Hudson was held at 11:30 a.m. on 14th March at Smalley. The church was full, with people standing at the back, many tearful. At the crematorium afterwards, I was seated with my brother closest to the coffin, and remember the curtains closing around him. He was gone, but left fond memories with the many who knew him. His ashes were placed in the garden of remembrance at St John the Baptist’s Church.

I remember Bill always calling at our house most mornings on his way to or from Heanor where he used to drive to collect his daily newspaper. When I passed my driving test he allowed me to drive him from our house to Heanor to collect his paper. Bill always had new cars, so this was a real treat for me as a 17 year old teenager. I bought my first car in July 1986 and one morning when visiting us Bill asked if I would take him in it to Smalley. I clearly recall him kindly telling me during the journey that I could slow down.

Bill was skilled with woodwork and made several boxes for me as a child. I treasure a small wooden box which he made for me in the 1970’s to store my magic tricks in, and a two-sectioned float and fishing tackle box made for me when I started fishing in the early 1980’s.

Bill Hudson, circa 1970

After her husband’s death, Bessie continued to live at 21 Vicarage Close, where she enjoyed gardening and tending to her flowers. She liked Norman Wisdom and enjoyed watching his films. Although her memory started to fade in later years, I recall showing her some of the photographs from Bill’s album, asking her if she could help me by identifying the people shown. Thankfully she was able to name most of them.

Bessie Hudson died on 16th January 2003, aged 86. Her funeral service was held at 2:45 p.m. on 27th January and her ashes were also placed in the garden of remembrance at St John the Baptist’s Church. She is remembered with Bill here.

Bill and Bessie Hudson were my grandparents.