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Edward John Wooster and the Wooster - Borner Link

By Nick Wooster

In 2017 we added an Edward John Wooster to our military section on the website. Born in Bray, Berkshire in 1884, Edward joined the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire) Regiment and was killed in action on 1 July 1916 in France^1,2. Two things left us a little puzzled about this man, (a) where did he fit into the GWT? and (b) why was he constantly referred to as Edward John Borner?
Nonetheless, one of my snooker buddies, Keith Allworth, on a trip to the Thiepval area of France, picked up a few memorial photos for our website, including two for Edward.

Thiepval Memorial


Inscription for Wooster E J

What we Knew in 2017

We were certainly aware of Woosters from Bray, including Victor Arthur Wooster who was lost in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, aboard the Queen Mary³, but still didn't have any real idea as to how Edward fitted into the picture.
We ascertained that he was married to someone called Kate and the medal index card surname had been changed from Borner to Wooster^4,5,6. On the 1891 census an Edward J Borner was living with the Rogers family in Bray and described as a nephew⁷. The lady of the house being Sarah Ann Rogers (nee Wooster) gave us the vital link that Edward was somehow a grandson of Thomas Wooster (b.1822) and Mary Ann Rogers who had migrated from Buckinghamshire to the Bray area in the 1870's. This being the case, Edward and Victor's families were genealogically a long way apart, being 7th cousins. You would have to think that the two families knew each other in such a small place, but probably not the link. With that, the matter was left in the "most wanted" section of the website, as more productive lines of enquiry were pursued, including the snooker!

Interest Reignited in 2023

John Worcester submitted an updated list of Wooster burials in the Maidenhead/Bray area and on that list was the interesting name of Frederick Borner Wooster who died as an infant in 1895⁸. This child just had to be connected to Edward John Borner/Wooster in some way, and armed with the new cheaper digital images from the GRO, it soon transpired that Frederick was a child of Ada Wooster, sister of Sarah Ann Rogers (nee Wooster). No father was named on the birth certificate¹⁶, and when the birth certificate of Edward John Wooster/Borner was obtained, likewise, no father was named¹.

Discovery of the Missing Link

Where, therefore, does the name Borner come from? Well, it turned out that Ada's older sister, Anne Elizabeth married a police officer, Edward John Borner (1848-1921) in 1871 in St Martin in the Field in London⁹. They suffered three infant deaths, with one surviving daughter, Florence Annie Borner, and Anne died from a uterine haemorrhage in 1883, aged only 32¹⁰. It seems inevitable that upon his wife's death that Edward, now an Inspector based in Chelsea at "B Division" of the Metropolitan Police^10.11, took up with her younger sister Ada, the result of which was Edward John Wooster/Borner born in May of 1884¹. However, despite this relationship, Edward (snr) then married Louisa Stokes in 1886 and they had two children^12,13.

See historical photos of Bray village in the Francis Frith Collection: https://www.francisfrith.com/bray

Retirement and Prison!

In March of 1892, Borner retired from the Police after 44 years' service on account of his failing eyesight, the result of an injury received when arresting a violent offender a few years previously^11,14. By now, he had split up with Louisa and recorded his next of kin as his daughter, Florrie Borner, in the Police Pension Register¹¹. In October of 1893, Borner, now back in Bray, was given a one month prison sentence after a brutal assault on Louisa¹⁵. It seems she appeared at his house to retrieve some items and made some unsavoury comments to the woman he was living with, about his failing eyesight. Borner then went looking for her and was alleged to have punched her unconscious outside a pub. Maybe a lenient sentence, but you would have to think the magistrates, describing it as "a bad case", would have taken into account the severe provocation involved.

Edward Borner and Ada's Future

Could this woman he was living with at this time have been Ada Wooster? It would seem quite possible, since Ada gave birth to the aforementioned Frederick Borner Wooster in 1895¹⁶ and with that name it would seem almost inconceivable that Borner was not the father. After this, Borner seems to have lived out his life quietly until his death in 1921¹⁷, with his daughter and her husband John Ludford, first in Kent¹⁸, where Borner originated and then in Staffordshire¹⁹, where Ludford was originally from. Ada Wooster married Jessie Alfred Coles in 1899¹² and they had two children²⁰.

Edward John Wooster (1884-1916)

The subject of our initial research, Edward John Wooster/Borner must have been a confused character and who knows what part his mother or his aunts and uncles played in his life. With his biological father living in London, we don't know if there was contact there. As a child he had the name Borner on the 1891 census⁷ and used Borner when joining the army as he was stationed at Oxford Wood Barracks near Reading on the 1901 census²¹. However, when he married Kate Emily Cooper in Hampstead in 1909²² he now used the name Edward John Borner Wooster and was clearly aware of his father's existence as he was recorded as Edward John Wooster - Retired Police Inspector. The witnesses were his mother, now Ada Coles along with her two children, Nellie and Arthur, so it would seem that at least by now he had a fuller picture of his family. Surprisingly, he still used the name Borner on the 1911 census⁶, and this is one he would have filled in himself. Edward and Kate had a baby son, Leslie John Borner Wooster, who was born in 1911, just before the census. After Edward died in the war, Kate married John Duncan and on the medal card index she had Edward's name changed from Borner to Wooster⁴. The final tragedy for this family, occurred when their son Leslie died in Egypt aged only 15 where he was serving as a Band Boy in the Leicestershire Regiment²³.

Sources

1. Birth Certificate of Edward John Wooster
2. Ancestry, UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919
3. https://woosterfamily.co.uk/Military/VictorArthurWooster.html
4. Ancestry, UK, British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920
5. Ancestry, UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929
6. 1911 England Census, Registration District Number 8, Sub-registration district Hampstead, ED, institution, or vessel 39, Piece 629
7. 1891 England Census, Registration district Cookham, Sub-registration district Bray, ED, Institution or Vessel 8, Piece 1003, Folio 53
8. Death Certificate of Frederick Borner Wooster
9. Ancestry, Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935
10. Death Certificate of Anne Elizabeth Borner
11. Ancestry, London, England, Metropolitan Police Pension Registers, 1852-1932
12. Ancestry, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938
13. 1891 England Census, Registration district Fulham, Sub registration district Fulham, ED, Institution or Vessel 48, Piece 53, Folio 30
14. Southern Echo - Monday 14 March 1892, Page 2
15. Berkshire Chronicle - Saturday 28 October 1893, Page 3
16. Birth Certificate of Frederick Borner Wooster
17. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007. Registration Date 1921, Registration Quarter Oct-Nov-Dec, Registration district Aston, Inferred County Warwickshire, Volume 6d, Page 418
18. 1901 England Census, Registration district Medway, Sub-registration district Gillingham, ED, institution, or vessel 26, Piece 737, Folio 38, Page number 13, Household schedule number 87
19. 1911 England Census, Registration District Number 385, Sub-registration district Erdinton, ED, institution, or vessel 30, Piece 18349
20. 1911 England Census, Registration District Number: 8, Sub-registration District: Hampstead, ED: 41, Piece: 631
21. 1901 England Census, Registration district Reading, Sub-registration district St Mary, ED, institution, or vessel Oxford Wood Barracks, Piece 1147, Folio 147, Page number 15, Household schedule number 1
22. Marriage Certificate for Edward John Borner Wooster and Kate Emily Cooper
23. Find A Grave, Memorial ID 238892496

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  Page last updated

  16 November 2025