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Walter Charles Woodhurst was born in 1860 to parents James (2) Woodhurst and his wife Mary Ann Bonner. His birth certificate [Birth Index: Bethnal Green 1c 311, 1860 (March)] states that he was born at his parents' residence at 7, Middleton Street in Bethnal Green on January 9th 1860. His father was the informant and was occupied then as a railway servant. His birth was registered six weeks later, on February 20th.
Middleton Street intersects Canrobert Street where the second wife Jane Wright of James (2)'s nephew Richard William (3) was living in 1884. No Woodhursts were living in Middleton Street at the time of the 1861 Census.
The 1861 Census finds him at age "13 months" living with his parents at 21, Dock Terrace in West Ham.
In 1879 he married Julia Caroline Perry. The GRO reference to their marriage is [Marriage Index: Bethnal Green 1c 571, 1879 (June)]. Julia Caroline was born in 1859 to parents Frederick William Perry and his wife Julia Mary [Birth Index: Shoreditch 1c 134, 1859 (June)]. She was christened at St. John the Baptist in Shoreditch on September 29th 1861 [IGI: Batch C040372].
The 1881 Census finds Walter Charles and Julia Caroline living at 24, Duncan Place in Hackney. His age is cited as 21 and his occupation as "Letter Sorter (MCS)", the suffix possibly denoting membership of the Civil Service. With them was their first child Walter Arthur Frederick aged 1 who was born around 1880 in Hackney.
In early February 1882 he was living at 91, Morning Lane when his child Rose Alice was born. Morning Lane branches off to the east from Mare Road (today's A107 road) which runs through central Hackney. It is slightly north of, and parallel to, Loddiges Road where his brother George Daniel had been living in 1875. He was still occupied as a letter sorter. Later in February he was a witness to the marriage of his brother Arthur Alfred (3).
On May 1st 1882 he was brought to trial at the Old Bailey where he pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 18 months' hard labour, the event recorded as follows [Proceedings of the Old Bailey, Case 469, May 1882]:
New Court. - Monday, May 1st, 1882.
Before Mr. Common Serjeant.
469. WALTER CHARLES WOODHURST (22) [pleaded guilty] to stealing, while employed in the Post Office, a letter containing a sovereign, four half-sovereigns, and other money, the property of Her Majesty's Postmaster-General. - Eighteen Months' Hard Labour.
In 1884 he was living at 4, London Place, London Fields in Hackney when his child Alfred George was born. London Place no longer exists as such, but may have corresponded to today's London Lane which branches off west from Mare Road directly opposite the beginning of Loddiges Road. His letter sorting days had clearly ended with his earlier conviction, as he was now occupied as a boot laster (presumably shaping boots on a last).
In December 1890 Julia Caroline served as the informant for the death certificate of Arthur Alfred (3).
The 1891 Census finds the family living at 1, Annie's Cottages, Crescent Road in Leyton, where they occupied four rooms. Besides the children already mentioned, there were also two younger daughters Florence Ada and Clara Dorothy. His occupation is cited here as "nil", suggesting that he was temporarily unemployed. Crescent Road in West Leyton branches off Church Road, which runs roughly parallel to the Dagenham Brook separating Leyton from Leyton Marshes and Hackney Marsh.
Later in 1891 the family appears to have moved to 4, Annie's Cottages, as that is the address cited on the birth certificate of their next child Albert William. Walter Charles was now occupied again as a boot laster.
In 1893 Julia was summoned to court for allegedly assaulting a woman named Mrs Rebecca Dennett, but Julia counter-summoned accusing Dennett of having wilfully broken a window in her home, which was now in St Stephen's Road, Walthamstow. The case against Julia was dismissed and Dennett was ordered to pay damages and costs or else be imprisoned for 14 days. The Chairman of the Bench told Dennett to "clear out from this part of the world, for she had been to this court often enough. She was always kicking up a row". The case was reported in The Essex County Chronicle", issue of April 7th 1893.
Julia was in court again in August 1896 at the Stratford Petty Sessions. Besides a few other of her possessions, a sewing machine which she had been using in the course of her work had been distrained, in lieu of unpaid rent, by a man named Thomas Allen. The Chairman ruled that the sewing machine was a tool of trade and ordered that it be returned to her, observing that "the law of distress was a very hard one to poor people, and the Bench sometimes thought it was carried out in a brutal manner." [The Essex County Chronicle, issue of August 7th 1896]
The 1901 Census finds the family living at 34A, Ringwood in Walthamstow, misspelling their surname as "Willis". Walter Charles was still working as a boot laster, and Julia as a clothing machinist.
In 1904 Walter and Julia, then living in Allen Road, Leyton, brought an action in the County Court against their landlord's bailiff, who had sought to distrain goods in lieu of unpaid rent. The Woodhursts alleged that the distraint was illegal and that Julia had been assaulted in the ensuing tussle as the bailiff forced entry through a window. The Court found for the bailiff. [The Essex Guardian, issue of May 14th 1904]
In 1907 Walter Charles was a witness to the marriage of his son Alfred George, and in 1917 he and Julia Caroline were the witnesses to the marriage of their son Sydney Arthur.
The 1911 Census finds the family living at 27, William Street in Leyton. Walter Charles was still working as a bootmaker.
Walter Charles died in 1931 [Death Index: W. Ham 4a 149, 1931 (Sept)] and Julia Caroline in 1933 [Death Index: W. Ham 4a 159, 1933 (June)].