Biography of Eric Wilson

Eric Norman Wilson

Eric was born in 1915 and in an incident reminiscent of the famous story concerning Oliver Cromwell, he too was seized in infancy by a pet monkey!  The animal was purchased by Eric’s father, Thomas George Wilson, during one of his voyages as a seagoing Chief Engineer.  Named “McTavish,” it was normally kept in a cage dressed in a small kilt.  In an impudent display of malicious contempt for its human captors, and a fury born of its confinement, the hairy little “Scotsman” had a habit of raising the hem of its tartan garment to spray the contents of a full bladder through the wire bars!  During a rare moment of freedom the monkey took a liking to little Eric’s baby clothes and became quite agitated when the little lad wouldn’t part with them.  Eric’s mother rescued her infant son from the struggle and, thankfully, the pet wasn’t subject to the same punishment as its legendary Hartlepudlian predecessor.

Like his elder brother, James, Eric Wilson became an articled clerk at Fortune’s accountancy practice, Collingwood House, Church Street, West Hartlepool.  During the Second World War he served with the Cameronians, also known as the Scottish Rifles, and was first assigned to Balmoral  Castle, where his duties included guarding the then Queen Elizabeth.  He took part in mountain warfare training, comprising climbing and skiing, but his active service was spent in Holland (typical Army!).  His unit was due to go to Arnhem, as part of Operation Market Garden, by towed assault glider.  Thankfully, bad weather delayed the flight, preventing the men from playing any significant part in that ill-fated assault.

Eric was eventually invalided out of Holland with pneumonia but upon his recovery was seconded to the Allied & Military Government of Occupied Territory (AMGOT) on administrative duties.  He also spent time as a regimental policeman.  After his “demob” Eric found employment at West Hartlepool’s steelworks, working as a semi-skilled fitter’s mate but earning more money than in his previous white-collar position as a clerk.

In his retirement Eric and his wife Irene (nee Lendrem) lived at Hamsterley Village in County Durham before moving to a care home near Bishop Auckland. The couple met in West Hartlepool’s Ward Jackson Park.  Eric and a friend spotted two girls, persuading his friend to go over and ask them out.  When first married the couple “lived in” with Eric’s mother for a while before moving to homes in Ashley Gardens, Catcote Road and Carr Street, the latter being left to them by the Lendrem family.  Irene worked for many years as a school-crossing lady, cycling three times daily to the Owton Lodge.  It was a job she loved.

Card players and keen cyclists, Eric and Irene frequently took to the countryside on their tandem bike.  Though of a retiring disposition, Eric was once a frequent letter writer to the local paper and in his younger days he was also a keen sportsman, playing amateur rugby and cricket, in the latter case for the steelworks.

Eric and Irene Wilson had two children, Maureen and Derek Gordon.  Both became teachers and both attended the Wesley Youth Club as members of the Concert Party.   As a youngster Derek Wilson was given a book on meteorology as a birthday-gift from his parents.  At the age of fourteen he became the youngest accredited rainfall observer in the country, being featured in the local newspaper.  He also met the then Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, during an official visit to the Hartlepools.  Derek began his working life as a weather forecaster at the Middleton St. George airport near Darlington.  Sadly, he died at the age of just thirty-two, the victim of a massive epileptic fit in a bed-sit at Greenford in London, during the Silver Jubilee year, 1977.  He was laid to rest in Stranton Grange Cemetery, Hartlepool and is remembered by another family member as the archetypal student, with long knitted scarf and a curly mop of bright red hair.

Eric and Irene Wilson celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in 2001.  Irene passed away two years later and Eric followed in 2004.

Source: “The Wilsons of Whitby and West Hartlepool,” Vol. 4 by Stuart James Wilson.  See also images. 

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