Category Archives: Story of Wokingham

Story of Wokingham is a category which stores articles about the general aspects of Wokingham life.

Where They Lived

For me, this is possibly the most fascinating and the saddest part of the research. Once we discovered the stories of the men, we started pinning their addresses to a modern map of Wokingham. Although we suspected that they would … Continue reading

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A story of the unexpected: Wokingham’s Town Hall Memorial.

The War Memorial in Wokingham’s Town Hall provides 217 names of men who fell during the Great War. It is natural to assume the names are made up of all the Fallen who came from around the Wokingham town area. … Continue reading

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It’s 1860 and Wokingham’s new Town Hall opens for business

Wokingham’s Town Hall was completed in 1860; the scale of its structure dominates the surrounding shops and offices. The history books tell us it was opened by Richard Cornwallis Neville, the 4th Lord Baybrooke. It all sounds rather dry, but … Continue reading

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Wokingham 1914

Wokingham news  throughout 1914   Jim Bell transcribes the Wokingham news section from the Reading Mercury throughout the whole of 1914. It is a remarkable insight to a small town assisting the war effort, reporting on its awful consequences, but at … Continue reading

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St Paul’s Church Memorial

Names on St Paul’s Church Memorial: St Paul’s Church was built by John Walter, entirely at his own expense, during the period 1862-1864. It was consecrated by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, on 23rd July 1864. For various reasons … Continue reading

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The local historians who pointed to Wokingham’s Future

Edna Goatley passed away on Wednesday the 3rd April 2013 at the age 86 years. Her funeral takes place at Easthampstead Crematorium on Thursday 18th April at 11am. By Mike Churcher This is not an obituary, the Wokingham Times already … Continue reading

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Another casualty of the Great War: Wokingham’s Mayor.

Our focus on the government of the Great War tends to be at national level, but Jim Bell’s extensive research has enabled us to look into local government from a Wokingham viewpoint. His latest book ‘Memories of the Town Hall’ … Continue reading

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Hills Nicholson family: Four sons lost in two World Wars

The Nicholson family have no Wokingham street or building named after them and have sunk below the consciousness of today’s local community. In the 1800’s however, they lived in what is now the Cantley House Hotel and they invested in … Continue reading

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Philip Tice, a Wokingham WW2 Veteran aged 95.

It’s fascinating to see how a network of contacts can pool information together and come up with some global connections. Wokingham Remembers has published hundreds of family trees on its website, as well as the genealogy site, www.ancestry.co.uk . The … Continue reading

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Wokingham Families: The Purseys, Brants, Rances and Alexanders

Wokingham Families and the Great War. Recalling the 1914-18 war often involves descriptions of military strategy and the bewildering numbers who were killed or maimed on both sides.  What is often lacking in the tomes of history is the impact … Continue reading

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