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Samuel Towers (1862-1943)                                                  Painter                                                                               Born 17 September 1862 Bolton                                            Died 1943 Evesham, Worcestershire                                  Watercolour and oil landscape painter. Exhibited at Royal Academy.

 

Arnold Townend  (1905-1974)                                            Politician                                                                            Born 12 February 1905 Sale, Cheshire                              Died August 1974 Wythenshaw, Manchester, Lancashire      Mayor of Bolton 1971 (Labour)                                     Worked in the accounts department at Victoria Station, Manchester.

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Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann  OBE (1923-2013)          Footballer

Born  22 Oct 1923 Bremen, Germany   

Died 19 Jul 2013 at his home in Spain.                               He made his debut for Manchester City on 19th November 1949 away to Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, in Division 1.

 

Harry Tunstall (1870-1943)                                                    Inventor and Businessman                                                  Born 15 November 1870 Bolton                                           Died 1943 12 Maple Avenue, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA  Inventor of the Tunstall Comber - important improvement on cotton combing machinery. Worked for Dobson & Barlow as engineer in Bolton. Travelled for company in France, Germany, Switzerland and Russia.                                                                         Arrived in USA as representative of Dobson & Barlow. Entered cotton managing business in USA, settling in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Granted 8 US Patents between 1920 and 1926.

 

James Aspinall Turner (1797-1867)                                          Politician and Industrialist                                                    Born 1797 Bolton                                                               Died 30 September 1867 London                                Educated Bolton Grammar School                                       MP Manchester 1857-65 (Liberal)                                    Cotton manufacturer and merchant in Manchester. Opponent of the Anti-Corn-Law League.                                                Keen botanist and horticulturalist. Was president of the Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Society.

 

Joyce Ann Tyldesley(1960-)                                                    Egyptologist                                                                      Born 1960 Farnworth, Bolton                                                 Educated Bolton School; Liverpool University                      Author of many books about Ancient Egypt including 'Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh'. Worked on BBC TV series 'Egypt - How A Lost Civilisation Was Rediscovered' 2005 and wrote the companion book.

 

Richard Knowles (Dick) Tyldesley (1897-1943)                          Cricketer                                                                             Born 11 March 1897 Westhoughton, Bolton                             Died 17 September 1943 Over Hulton, Bolton                      Batsman and Bowler - played for Lancashire 1919-1931, England and MCC.                                                            Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1925.

Buried at Westhoughton Cemetery

 

Frank Holmes Tyson (1930-)                                                    Cricketer                                                                            Born 6 June 1930 Farnworth, Bolton                              Batsman and Bowler - played for Northamptonshire1952-1960, England and MCC.                                                     Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1956.                                  (Very) fast bowler - nicknamed 'The Typhoon' - professional career was shortened by a cricket ball at the back of the head.

 

BIOGRAPHIES V

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Asif Vali (1969-)

Born Jul 1969  Bolton                                                           Heads the Platinum Sports and Events Management Company.

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Mathieu Vallet (c.1734-1823)                                                French chemist and balloonist.                                              Died 15 Aug 1823                                                              The Ainsworths persuaded Mathieu Vallet to work for them and introduce chemical bleaching into their factory.  He went to Bolton with his son Victor and worked for the Ainsworths for a number of years.    Around 1790, Mathieu Vallet lived and worked, in a group of buildings known as 'Ropers Farm', comprising a farmhouse, a barn and various outbuildings.            The lane in Bolton leading to Ropers and the cottages, which were once Chemical Hall, is now named 'Valletts Lane'.               A partnership in a dyeing company between Victor Vallet and Peter Ainsworth was dissolved when a Bankruptcy Notice was published on the 21st October 1800                                       Mathieu  was buried at the church of All Saints', Childwall, in the Grace family grave (Plot 796).

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Norman Vaughan (c.1918 -2001)                                          He released 'I Belong to Bolton' in 1989 and it became a local bestseller with many copies also becoming popular with people who had moved out of the country. Two more novels followed; 'Chippy' told the story of his working life as a master craftsman, and 'Bolton Memories", from 1993, which recounted detailed tales from various stages in his life.

 

Laurence Vaux  (1519-1585)                                         Roman Catholic Clergyman & Martyr                                   Born 1519 Blackrod, Bolton                                                   Died 1585 The Clink Prison, London                            Educated   Manchester Grammar School; Queens & Corpus Christi, Oxford                                                                     Ordained 1528 - Warden of Manchester Cathedral 1558.       Refused to submit to Protestant Church of England at accession of Elizabeth I - Fled abroad and wrote a Catechism in English.         Arrested on his return to England 1580 and imprisoned in the Clink, where he died.

 

James   Vickers (1895-1972)                                                 Politician                                                                            Born 1895 Halliwell, Bolton                                                   Died 19 September 1972 Barlow Park Avenue, Bolton   Educated Halliwell Road Wesleyan Day School, Bolton               Mayor of Bolton 1952 (Labour)                                          He joined the Bolton Artillery aged 19 on 12 February 1914 (six months before the outbreak of War) and served as a Driver in Egypt, the Gallipoli campaign and later in France. He received a bullet wound at Cambrai on 28 September 1918.                     Insurance agent.

 

Nora Vickers (1903-)                                                           Politician                                                                            Born 25 November 1903 Bolton                                            Died 20 February 1979 Bolton District General Hospital, Farnworth                                                                       Mayor of Bolton 1966.                                                         Born Nora Jones.                                                               During the Second World War she was Commandant of the Red Cross at Tonge Fold, Bolton.

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Charles Blacker Vignoles FRS FRSA  (1793-1875)                     British railway engineer, and eponym of the Vignoles rail. 

Born 31 May 1793 Wexford, Ireland

Died 17 Nov 1875 Hythe

Designed the Croal Viaduct.

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Robert Vose (1820–1894)

Tripe Dresser

Born 1820 Chorley, Lancashire, England.

Died 1894 Lancashire, England

In 1881 lived at 1, Churchgate, Bolton.

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BIOGRAPHIES W

 

William Wain (1819-1882)                                                Maritime Engineer and Industrialist                                          Born March 1819 Bolton                                                     Died 1882 Denmark                                                            Apprenticed in Bolton and Wigan, worked in Norwich and travelled to London where was introduced to a Danish naval officer Nicolai Tuxen and then took a position on a Danish ship.   Became Danish naval officer and later took Danish citizenship. Chief Engineer in the Navy 1849 and Assistant Director of Dockyards in 1862. Held several patents including one for a revolutionary floating repair dock.                                           Became partner in major Danish shipbuilding company Burmeister and Wain in 1865. Honours included Privy Councillor of Denmark.

 

James Walch (1837-1901)                                                   Composer                                                                           Born 21 June 1837 Egerton, Turton, Lancashire                    Died 13 August 1901  Llandudno, Wales                  Composed hymn tunes 'Sawley' and 'Tidings' and other religious pieces.                                                                    Organist at Duke's Alley Congregational Church, Bolton from 1851, in 1857 at the Walmsley Church and in 1863 at St. George's Parish Church, Bolton.                                              Conducted the Bolton Philharmonic Society from 1870 until 1874.

 

Albert Walker (1910-1993)                                                  Professional Footballer                                                      Born 4 February 1910 Little Lever, Bolton                                 Died 1993                                                                  Played for Bolton Wanderers, Barrow, West Ham, Doncaster Rovers.                                                                               Joined the National Fire Service in the Second World War. Later served as Coach at his old club, West Ham, retiring in 1980.

 

Norman Walker (1892-1963)                                                 Film Director, Screenwriter, Producer                                        Born 8 October 1892 Bolton                                                Died 4 November 1963

 

Roger A Walker   (1966-)                                                      Professional Footballer                                                           Born 15 November 1966 Bolton                                           Winger - played for Bolton Wanderers 1985-1986 and then in Malta.

 

Sir Joshua Walmsley (1794-1871)                                           Born 29 September 1794 Liverpool                                         Died 17 November 1871 Torquay, Devon                            MP Bolton 1849-1852 (Liberal/Radical)                                 Corn merchant. Mayor of Liverpool 1839-40. MP for Leicester 1852-57. Knighted 1840.

 

Thomas Walmsley (1812-1890)                                          Politician                                                                             Born 5 August 1812 Bickerstaffe, Lancashire                             Died 13 September 1890  Brooklyn, Green Lane, Great Lever, Bolton                                                                         Mayor of Bolton 1869, 1870.                                              Master iron manufacturer - founded Atlas Forge in Bolton 1866.  He lived at Brooklyn, Green Lane, Great Lever which was designed for him by the Bolton architect George Woodhouse.

 

Andrew Walsh (1965-)                                                          Author                                                                                Born 1965 Bolton                                                               Wrote novel 'St Brodag's Isle' 2001.

 

Jackie Walsh (c.1932 -2019)                                              Head baker at Ye Olde Pastie Shoppe

Died 30 May 2019 aged 87.

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John Walsh (1952-)                                                             Politician                                                                        Born 1952                                                                          Educated Church Road Primary School, Bolton; Bolton School     Mayor of Bolton 2002 (Conservative)                                     Management consultant and accountant.

 

Norman Walsh (1931-)                                                         Sports shoe maker                                                               Born 1931 Bolton                                                                Worked for Foster Brothers in Bolton from 1945 to 1961 when he set up his own business. Norman Walsh Footwear originally made high quality Rugby boots.

Later created new versions of the fell-running shoe culminating in the classic blue and yellow 'Walsh Trainer'.

 

Robert Walsh (1791-1873)                                                    Politician                                                                            Born 16 March 1791 Bolton                                                  Died 9 July 1873 Chorley Old Road, Bolton.                            Mayor of Bolton 1842 (Liberal).                                        Textile and bedquilt manufacturer - inherited the business from his father, Thomas Walsh.

 

Fred Warburton (1880-1948)                                                 Professional Footballer and Manager                                    Born 8 August 1880 Sharples, Bolton                                      Died 29 November 1948 Morecambe, Lancashire                 Played for Turton FC, Bolton Wanderers, Swindon and Plymouth Argyle. He was also a keen cricketer for Turton. At the end of his playing career he returned to Bolton before moving his family to the Netherlands and a new life as a football trainer.                     His first job was as trainer for Amsterdam before moving to Utrecht and later the Hague. He became coach/manager for the Dutch national team in 1912 and 1919-23. He also played and coached cricket in both countries.                                           The family returned to Britain in the mid 1930s and settled in Morecambe where he worked with Morecambe FC and Westgate Cricket Club until his death.

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Geoff Warburton (c.1963-)

2019 Masterchef contestant 

Educated at Farnworth Grammar School.

 

Henry Warburton (1865-1936)                                              Industrialist and Politician                                                       Born 1865 Bolton                                                                Died 5 September 1936 Bolton                                               Mayor of Bolton 1930 (Liberal)                                        Master baker. Nephew of Thomas Warburton, founder of Warburton's Bakers. Joined firm in 1890 age 16, took over at 25 and was responsible for firm's expansion into major company.                                                              Chairman of Bolton Wanderers 1930. First President of Bolton Cricket League 1930.

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Albert Ward (1865-1939)

English first-class cricketer. 

Born 21 Nov 1865 Waterloo near RothwellLeedsYorkshire.

Died 6 January 1939  HeatonBoltonLancashire, England.

He was the first professional to score 1,000 runs in a single season for Lancashire.                                                        He played in seven Tests for England

He owned a sports outfitters shop in Bolton at one time.

Buried at Heaton Cemetery.

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Irving Wardle (1929-)                                                           Theatre Critic and Dramatist                                                Born 20 July 1929 Bolton                                                      Educated Bolton School; Wadham College, Oxford              Theatre crritic on The Observer, The Times and The Independent on Sunday.                                                                Written theatre connected books and two plays - 'The Houseboy' and 'Faust at Elsinore' - the former being adapted for TV.             Son of John Wardle, theatre critic of The Bolton Evening News.

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