Alfred Woods
Alfred Woods was one of three brothers to join the Chorley Pals – the others being James Henry and Stephen. He was born in Chorley in 1891, one of eight children known to be born to parents John and Jane. In 1901 the Wood(s) family were living at 180 Moor Road in Chorley and were still there according to the 1911 Census.
Alfred was a Private when going to Caernarvon with the Pals in February 1915 and married Isabella Hartley at Trinity Methodist Church in Chorley during June that year. He was wounded sometime between 1916 and early 1918, his number then changing to 242657 and being posted to another unit – he was taken Prisoner of War on the 27th May 1918 (the Chorley Pals being laid up in a camp near Meteren with influenza during that week); he was repatriated on Christmas Day 1918.
Before the war he had worked as a Collier at Birkacre Colliery and attended Trinity Wesleyan Church. After the war he lived at 21 Erskine Road in Chorley and his daughter, Irene May, was born in the town in 1919. He worked briefly at Leyland Rubber Works and the family emigrated to Canada in 1921 where Alfred worked in the glass industry.
Alfred died on the 30th December 1939 at Thornhold, Ontario; afterwards, his wife, Bella, returned to Chorley
Other Information: Alfred is listed as ‘Wood’ on his birth entry and on the 1901 Census but ‘Woods’ on the 1911 Census, at enlistment into the Pals in 1914 and his marriage in 1915. Trinity Wesleyan Church on Gillibrand Walks was also referred to as Trinity Methodist.
