Sophie Willan (1987-)                                                 British actress, narrator, writer and comedian.

Born 28 Nov 1987 in Bolton.                                              She wrote and starred in Alma’s Not Normal (BBC Two).

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Frank Willett (1925-2006)     

Archaeologist and Academic                                              Born 18 August 1925 Bolton                                              Died 15 June 2006 Glasgow, Scotland.                             Educated Bolton Municipal Secondary School; University College, Oxford.                                                               Pioneering scholar and authority on African art and antiquities. First Director of the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow 1976.                                                                             Awarded CBE in 1985.

 

Bob Williamson (1948-2016)                                             Comedian                                                                        Born 25 July 1948 Bolton                                                  Died 19 June 2016                                                          He appeared in Coronation Street in May 1978 as folk singer Neil Collier at a Lancashire Night held in the Rovers Return Inn. 

 

George Henry Wilson                                                       Politician                                                                          Born 30 April 1900 Tonge Moor, Bolton                                Died August 1984                                                            Educated Wesleyan Day School, Farnworth                            Mayor of Farnworth 1951 (Liberal).                                     The only Liberal to serve as Mayor of Farnworth. He was a painter and decorator in a family business that could be traced back to 1741. He succeeded his father as head of the business in 1926.

 

Lt Col Robert "Tug" Wilson (1911-2002)                                Soldier                                                                          Born 4 November 1911                                                     Died April 2002.                                                              Educated Bolton Church Institute.                                           Draughtsman at Dobson & Barlow and Bristol Aeroplane Co. Joined TA 1931. Commissioned in Royal Artillery August 1939. Volunteered for No 8 Commando after escaping from Dunkirk in 1940. Became a founder member of the elite Special Boat Section.                                                                           Took part in raids on enemy targets around the Mediterranean from 1941. Captured by Italians in 1942, escaped 1943, recaptured and held as POW in Brunswick, Germany. Liberated in 1945. Awarded DSO 1942, and bar 1946.             Raised £13,000 with other ex-POWs to start the Brunswick Boys' Club in Fulham, opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1948. Continued as a serving officer in Palestine and during the Korean War.

 

William Tyson Wilson (1855-1921)                                     Born 8 December 1855 Westmorland                                   Died 14 August 1921 Bolton                                              MP Westhoughton 1906-1921 (Labour).                             First Labour MP for Westhoughton. One of first intake of Labour MPs ever to be elected 1906. Labour Whip 1915 - Chief Whip 1919.                                                                    Founder of the Bolton Building Trades Federation and Conciliation Boards for the Building Trades.

 

David Winder (1824-1912)                                             Painter                                                                            Born 1824 Bolton                                                             Died 16 April 1912 74 Chorley Old Road, Bolton.              Began career as a mechanic at Dobson & Barlow in Bolton. Later took up painting as his profession.        Commissioned to paint the portraits of many contemporary Lancashire worthies including several Bolton Mayors such as Charles James Darbishire, Benjamin Alfred Dobson and Fergus Ferguson.

 

Samantha Kate (Sammy) Winward (1985-)                             Actress                                                                            Born 12 October 1985 Bolton                                             Educated Turton High School.                                              Played Katie Sugden (neè Addyman) in 'Emmerdale'.

 

Charles Wolfenden (1826-1884)                                        Politician                                                                        Born 1826 Harwood, Turton, Lancashire.                              Died 3 November 1884 Ashleigh, Heaton, Bolton                 Educated Bolton Grammar School                                         Mayor of Bolton 1875, 1876 (Conservative).              Accountant, sharebroker and cotton spinner - Wolfenden & Sons of Derby Street.                                                         Brother of James Rawthorne Wolfenden qv. Father of Dr Richard Norris Wolfenden qv.

 

Dr Richard Norris Wolfenden (1854-1926)                            Marine Biologist and Physician                                          Born 18 January 1854 Bolton                                              Died 18 August 1926 Ontario, Canada                    Educated  Bolton Church Institute; Owens College, Manchester; Cambridge University                                                      Trained as a doctor and became an expert on throat diseases. Founded the 'Journal of Laryngology and Rhinology'.                Became disillusioned with medicine and changed career to become a marine biologist, undertaking pioneering x-ray studies of marine invertebrates and crustaceans.                             Son of Charles Wolfenden qv, Mayor of Bolton.

 

James Rawsthorne Wolfenden (1811-1886)                          Politician                                                                          Born 5 November 1811 Bolton                                           Died 14 May 1886 Bolton                                                 Mayor of Bolton 1861, 1862 (Liberal).                                Brother of Charles Wolfenden qv.                                Sharebroker and master cotton spinner - Wolfenden & Sons of Derby Street.

 

Kenneth Wolstenholme (1921-2002)                                    Sports Commentator                                                        Born 17 July 1921 Worsley, Lancashire.                                Died 25 March 2002 Torquay, Devon                                  Educated Farnworth Grammar School                                Voice of "They think it's all over - it is now!" in 1966 World Cup final.

 

Samuel Wolstenholme (1878-1933)                                     Professional Footballer                                                         Born 16 March 1878 Little Lever, Bolton                          Died 1933                                                                      Right-half - played for Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and England.                                                                He coached in Germany and was interned as an enemy alien there during the First World War.

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Harold Wood                                                                   Potato thrower                                                                   There is a tradition of hurling potatoes over the  125ft high Darcy Lever Viaduct railway bridge, over the River Tonge.          In the early 1960s,  the late Harold Wood, of Crossen Street, defeated the Lancashire County Cricket team in a potato-throwing challenge.                                                           In 1977, Mr Wood conceded his title to England fast bowler Peter Lever during the Silver Jubilee celebrations.                     

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Harry Wood (1883-1871)                                                 Politician                                                                          Born 1883 Bolton                                                             Died 8 August 1871 Bolton                                        Educated St Thomas's School, Bolton.                                    Mayor of Bolton 1964 (Conservative).                                   Solicitor's Clerk.

 

Tom Woodward (1917-1994)                                          Professional Footballer                                                         Born 8 December 1917 Westhoughton, Bolton                     Died November 1994 Bolton.                                            Winger - played for Bolton Wanderers 1935-1949, Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic.

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Ian Workman (c.1954-)                                                     Businessman                                                                  Mr Workman is well known in Bolton as the founder of the IGW group, the company that bore his initials.

What started as a car repair and sales business when he left school in 1975 commanded a £15 million turnover inside 20 years, with sales, repairs and garage outlets across the area employing about 150 people.

The firm, which had franchises for Saab, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Isuzu, occupied the island intersection at Higher Bridge Street, Kay Street and Waterloo Street that is now home to Mercedes.

The company also had sites in Halliwell Road, Moss Bank Way, Chorley New Road, Radcliffe Road and Kay Street.

In 2000, his empire had entered administration. He was left with one facility, in Belmont Road, Sharples, which he continued to run.                                                            He is currently serving a life sentence after stabbing his wife Sue through the heart at their luxury home in Edgworth in April 2011.

 

Duncan Robert Worsley (1941-)                                         Cricketer                                                                          Born 18 July 1941 Farnworth, Bolton.                                  Educated Bolton School, Bolton.                                        Batsman and Bowler - played for Lancashire 1960-1967 and Oxford University.

 

Frank Stewart Worthington (1948-2021)                               Footballer                                                                        Born 23 November 1948 Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire.   

Died 22 March 2021 Huddersfield.                                    Scored 35 goals in 84 appearances for Bolton Wanderers  between 1977-1979.

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Caleb Wright (1810-1898)                                                English mill owner and Liberal politician.

Born 1 Aug 1810

Died 28 Apr 1898                                                          In 1841 he became manager of Ormerod and Hardcastles Mill in Bolton.

 

Helen Wright (1892-1970)                                                Politician                                                                        Born 29 June 1892 Tonge Moor, Bolton                                Died 1970 Greenmount House, Chorley New Road, Bolton.     Educated Sunning Hill Primary School; Clarence Street School; Lords Commercial Institute, Bolton.                                  Mayor of Bolton 1950 (Labour).                                          First woman to become Mayor of Bolton.                        Labour councillor from 1929. JP. National Organiser for the Independent Labour Party by the time she was 23. Secretary and agent of Bolton Labour Party.

 

John Charles  Wright (1861-1933)                                 Clergyman                                                                       Born 19 August 1861 Bolton.                                              Died 24 February 1933 Christchurch, New Zealand               Educated Manchester Grammar School; Merton College Oxford                                                                         Son of Rev Joseph Farrall Wright qv, Vicar of Christ Church, Bolton and co-founder of Bolton Wanderers.                           Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Australia 1909-1933 - Elected Primate of Australia 1910.

 

Joseph Farrall Wright (1827-1883)                                       Anglican Clergyman                                                      Born  1827 Manchester                                                   Died  19 June 1883 Bolton                                                 Vicar of Christ Church, Bolton.                                        Founder, with Thomas Ogden qv, of Christ Church Sunday School football team in 1874. After disagreeing with Rev Wright over the use of Church premises the team broke away from Christ Church to become Bolton Wanderers in 1877.       He remained Vicar of Christ Church, Bolton until his death but was buried at Christ Church, Walmsley as his own churchyard was by then full. His son, John Charles Wright qv became Anglican Bishop of Sydney, Australia.

 

Bernard J Wrigley (1948-)                                                  Folk singer, Comedian and Actor                                      Born 1948 Farnworth, Bolton.                                              Educated Thornleigh Grammar School                                  'The Bolton Bullfrog' - appeared in 'Last of the Summer Wine', 'Phoenix Nights' etc and in 'Emmerdale' as Barry Clegg.

 

Private Constantine Wrigley (c.1816-1854)                            Born c.1816 in Bolton, Lancashire                                       Died 24 Oct 1854                                                         Eldest son of Constantine Wrigley, landlord of the Hen and Chickens, Deansgate, Bolton, Lancashire. A tobacconist prior to enlistment. Enlisted 27 Jan 1836.                                        Shown as a corporal on the casualty roll. His regimental number is 496. His Crimea medal was claimed 28 Mar 1856.           Killed in the Charge of the Light Brigade 24 Oct 1854

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Czeslais Wrzosek (1922-)                                         Director of Manor Carpets.

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BIOGRAPHIES Y

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David Wright Young (1928-2003)                                        Born 12 October 1928 Greenock, Scotland                          Died 1 January 2003 Bolton                                               Educated Greenock Academy; Glasgow University; St Pauls Teachers' Training College, Cheltenham                               MP Bolton East 1974-1983, MP Bolton South East 1983-1997 (Labour)                                                        Deselected 1997.

 

Dr James Young (1861-1917)                                           Politician                                                                          Born 20 August 1861 Bolton                                               Died 28 October 1917 Dinmore, Markland Hill Lane, Bolton   Educated Bolton Church Institute; Owens College, Manchester - MRCS, LRCP.                                                             Mayor of Bolton 1911, 1912 (Conservative).                 Surgeon with premises at 267-271 Derby Street, Bolton.

 

Frank Young (1904-1977)                                                  Politician                                                                          Born 26 November 1904 Great Lever, Bolton                      Died 13 April 1977 Sandwell, West Midlands.                      Educated  St Michael's School, Bolton; Miss Houghton's private school, Bradford Street; Bolton Church Institute.                   Mayor of Bolton 1957 (Conservative).                                   Worked for his family's tobacco manufacturing business, R Young & Co until the factory was sold. He then continued as a tobacco wholesaler.

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