1940 to 1949
1940
12th March. Resignation of Miss Connell, Matron of Wolverhampton and
Midland Counties Eye Infirmary for 31 years.
3rd April. Death of Alderman J. Whittaker, following a motor car accident
near Ascot.
19th April. Visit to Wolverhampton of the King and Queen.
7th May. First "Spitfire" given to the Nation from a fund inaugurated as
the efforts of "Quaestor" from the Express & Star.
28th May. Death of A.C. Skidmore, Mayor of Wolverhampton 1915 to 1917 and
former Borough Coroner.
10th June. Italy declares war on the Allies.
25th July. Opening of the Methodist School Church, Fordhouses.
5th September. Opening of Bantock Memorial Congregational Church, Low
Hill.
6th to 13th October. Czech Week in Wolverhampton.
21st October. Messerschmitt exhibited in North Street; proceeds for
Mayor's Spitfire Fund.
1941
1st January. Amalgamation of the Royal Hospital with the Queen Victoria
Nursing Institution.
21st February. Father F.J. Swift, S.S. Peter and Paul, North Street,
celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Priesthood. He was appointed Honorary Canon of
St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham.
16th March. Ordination service by the Bishop of Lichfield at St. Peter's
Church.
18th March. Silver jubilee of the priesthood of the Rev. M. Woulfe, of
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Old Fallings
27th April. Opening of Sunday Cinemas in Wolverhampton.
13th May. Jan Marasyk, Czechoslovakian Foreign Minister visited the
Rotary Club.
7th September. T. Jefferson Davies, President of Rotary International
was a guest of Wolverhampton Rotary.
8th October. First British Restaurants in Wolverhampton Opened at Dudley
Road and Low Hill.
13th December. Presentation to Horace Pearson on
his retirement from the Headmastership of Tettenhall College, which he had held
for 13 years. He was succeeded by F.D. Field-Hyde.
1942
3rd January. Inauguration of the new headquarters of Wolverhampton
People's Forum.
12th January. Wolverhampton Town Council decided to establish its first
Wartime Nursery at the Woodlands, Bushbury Road.
21st to 28th March. Wolverhampton Warships Week opened by Admiral Snagge.
The target was £1,250,000 and £1,512,983 was actually raised.
17th May. Death of Rev. T. Stanton, Vicar of St. Matthew's Church.
22nd May. Presentation, at the Town Hall Hotel to T. Tatem on the
completion of 50 years' membership of the R.A.O.B.
30th May. Final War League Cup at the Molineux Grounds. Wolves 4,
Sunderland 1.
1st June. Opening of Wolverhampton's first residential open-air school,
at Kingswood Camp.
8th August. Death of F.F. Sharpe, President of Wolverhampton Rugby
Football Club.
4th October. Death of Mr. T.F. Richards, the first Labour M.P. for West
Wolverhampton.
23rd October. Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia visited the
Wulfrun Hall.
3rd November. Mr. W. Cockburn, appointed Secretary and House Governor of
the Royal Hospital in succession to Mr. W.H. Harper.
23rd November. Retirement of Mr. W.T. Beeston, Chief Librarian of
Wolverhampton. He was succeeded by Miss M. Atherton.
1943
9th February. Death of the second Viscount of
Wolverhampton.
20th April. Mr. F.L. Steward elected Chairman of the Governors of the
Royal Orphanage in succession to Alderman H. Southan.
5th May. Deposits in Wolverhampton Trustee Savings Bank reached
£1,000,000.
2nd July. Sir Stafford Cripps visited the Civic Hall.
25th July. Changes in Children's Dress at the Royal Orphanage.
2nd November. 1,000th meeting of the Wolverhampton Rotary Club.
1st December. Queen of the Netherlands visited Dutch Soldiers at New
Cross Hospital.
Centenary of Alfred Hinde Ltd. Business established on Snow Hill, 1843.
1944
20th January. British Red Cross Society Club opened.
4th February. Visit to Wolverhampton of General Dobbie of Malta Fame.
11th February. Death of Mr. N.B. Graham, Co-proprietor of the Express &
Star.
21st March. The Royal Orphanage became the Royal Wolverhampton School.
22nd June. Mr. N.W. Goodchild, Chief Constable of Barrow-in-Furness,
appointed Chief Constable of Wolverhampton.
7th July. Death of Mr. Ian C. Hannah, M.P. for Bilston Division.
27th September. Princess Juliana (later Queen of the Netherlands)
visited Dutch Soldiers in New Cross Hospital.
6th October. Death of Roland Elcock, V.C. of Wolverhampton.
7th December. Death of Mr. R.J. Emerson, Wolverhampton Sculptor.
1945
10th January. Water first supplied from the new Hilton Water Works.
12th January. Resignation of Mr. T.A. Warren, Director of Education since
1919.
12th February. Death of Mr. H.H. Chilton, novelist, playwright and
industrialist.
27th March. Death of Alderman F.S. Thompson, Mayor of Wolverhampton
1943-44.
2nd July. South Staffordshire Smallpox Hospital Board dissolved.
2nd July. Mr. T.A. Warren installed as President of Rotary International.
2nd August. Resettlement Unit, the first in the Midlands, opened at
Wightwick Hall.
29th October. Sir Charles Mander and Alderman A. Davies became Honorary
Freemen of Wolverhampton.
18th December. Opening in Wolverhampton of the first American
prefabricated House.
1946
26th January. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands made his first post-war
visit to the Dutch Camp in Wrottesley Park.
22nd February. Death of Mr. Horace Pearson, former Headmaster of
Tettenhall College.
24th February. Death of Bishop Kempthorne, a former Bishop of Lichfield.
25th March. Death of Judge H.S. Staveley Hill, former Wolverhampton
County Court Judge and former M.P. for the Kingswinford Division.
26th March. Retirement of Major Eustace Lees, Secretary of Wolverhampton
and Midland Counties Eye Infirmary.
1st May. Death of Canon F.J. Swift of S.S. Peter and Paul.
21st May. Death of Sir Charles Marston. Lady Marston died May 9th, 1949.
24th September. The Mount, Penn Road, acquired as the headquarters for
adult organisations.
21st October. 21st Birthday of the West Midlands Joint Electricity
Authority.
6th November. Death of Lord Hayter, Honorary Freeman of Wolverhampton.
18th November. Compton Hall bought by Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary
Committee for use as a nurses' home.
9th December. Mr. Bevan toured Housing estates and opened 330th Permanent
House and first pair of B.I.F. houses.
1947
9th January. First Road Safety Exhibition at the Civic Hall.
12th January. Bishop of Lichfield, Dr. F.S. Woods visited Darlington
Street Methodist Church.
17th January. Judge R.H. Norris took his seat for
the first time in Wolverhampton County Court.
1st March. Death of Mr. Harold Downes,
Wolverhampton's Chief Sanitary Inspector.
15th March. Death of Mr. B.H. Preston, former Secretary of Wolverhampton
School Board.
14th April. Death of ex-Councillor H.H. Kendrick, Wolverhampton Solicitor
and secretary for many years of the Literary and Scientific Society.
22nd April. 25th Birthday of Wolverhampton Rotary Club.
9th May. Centenary of Wolverhampton Law Society. President Mr. F.L.
Steward).
11th May. Inaugural Meeting of the Wolverhampton Publicity Club.
1st June. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, the Very Rev. J.
Masterson visited Wolverhampton for the first time.
18th September. Centenary of the Wolverhampton Corporation Water
Undertaking.
6th to 9th October. St. Peter's School Centenary.
30th October. Death of Viscountess of Wolverhampton.
10th November. Alderman H.E. Lane elected Mayor. He served until May
23rd, 1949.
24th November. Death of Mr. H.A. White, Mayor of Wolverhampton 1939-40
and for several years Chairman of Wolverhampton and District Boy Scouts Local
Association.
15th October. Sir Stafford Cripps visited the Civic Hall.
28th December. Last Service in St. Mary's Church, Stafford Street.
1948
January. National Foundry College established at Wolverhampton and
Staffordshire Technical College.
5th January. Diamond Jubilee of Wolverhampton Photographic Society.
11th February. Death of Mr. F.J. Blakemore, ex-president of Wolverhampton
Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber of Trade.
22nd April. Bantock House Museum opened.
4th May. Centenary of Messrs. Gaunt & Hickman.
5th May. Death of Mr. J.D. Graham, Chairman of Directors of the Midland
News Association.
6th May. Death of Mr. T.A. Henn, Mayor of Wolverhampton 1919 to 1920 and
an Honorary Freeman of the Borough.
20th May. Centenary of the Incorporation of Wolverhampton.
3rd June. Part of Bushbury Cemetery consecrated by the Bishop of
Lichfield.
23rd June. Stanley Cullis appointed Wolves Manager.
4th July. Wolverhampton Friendly Societies Medical Association ceased to
exist.
18th to 25th September. Wolverhampton Centenary Exhibition took place in
the Civic Hall.
21st September. Mr. S. Tatem, of Wolverhampton, elected High Chief Ranger
A.O.F. at Edinburgh.
14th October. Death of Sir F. Wrottesley, a former
Recorder of Wolverhampton.
1st November. Royal Hospital Patients Aid Society formed in place of the
Royal Hospital Contributory Association.
16th December. Duke of Edinburgh's Civic Visit.
1949
9th February. The Hospital Sunday Fund,
instituted about 80 years ago, ceased to exist.
23rd March. Cheque for £2,000 handed to the Royal Wolverhampton School
to Form a Trust.
31st March. Death of Mr. S. Ernest Hodgetts, formerly Secretary and
House Governor of the Royal Wolverhampton School. He retired in December 1947
and was succeeded by Mr. J.W. Saunders, Second Master.
15th April. Death of Mr. G.F. Chell, former Secretary of Wolverhampton
and Staffordshire Technical College and of Snow Hill Congregational Church.
30th April. Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Leicester City 3-1 in the FA.
Cup Final, winning the Cup for the third time.
12th May. Municipal Elections instead of November 1st. Labour Majority
on the Town Council reduced.
22nd May. Annual meeting of the Town Council for the election of Mayor
instead of November 9th.
27th May. Death of Mrs. F. Evans, Wolverhampton Ex-Mayoress. She
bequeathed a silver tea service and a spirit lamp to the Corporation.
31st May. Death of Mr. H.E. Jephcott, Wolverhampton journalist and former
secretary of the local branch of the National Union of Journalists.
10th June. Lutheran Service at St. Mark's Church, the first of its kind
in Wolverhampton.
19th June. Centenary of the consecration of St. Mark's Church.
23rd July. Mr. Winston Churchill, M. P., addressed a Conservative rally
in Molineux Grounds.
29th July. Boating on the lake in West Park
inaugurated.
31st July. Centenary of the opening of Snow Hill Congregational Church.
17th August. Death at Lichfield of Rev. J.J.G. Stockley, Canon Emeritus
and Chancellor of Lichfield Cathedral. He was a former Rector of Wolverhampton.
1st September. Closing down of Wolverhampton Poor Children's Boot Fund
which started in 1923.
23rd September. Minister of Education, Mr. G.
Tomlinson inaugurated the third session of the National Foundry College at the
Technical College.
23rd September. Formal opening of Tor Lodge, Tettenhall Wood, as a
hostel for college Students by Mr. George Tomlinson, Minister of Education.
1st October. Centenary of Wolverhampton Freeholders Permanent Building
Society.
10th October. Retirement of Mr. C. Owen Silvers, Wolverhampton Transport
General Manager and Engineer. He was succeeded by his deputy, Mr. R.H.
Addlessee.
23rd October. Dedication in St. Peter's Church of the Branch Standard of
the Chindits Old Comrades Association.
20th November. Centenary of the Consecration of St. Matthew's Church.
22nd November. C.W. Andrews retires after being Registrar at the
Wolverhampton School of Art for 37 years.
12th December. Ven. A.P. Shepherd, Archdeacon of Dudley, dedicated pews
and the altar frontal in the war memorial chapel at St. Peter's Collegiate
Church.