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Laura Winifred Wooster (1890-1967) and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)   Tree
by Michael William White

Whilst searching the National Archives catalogue index for Wooster records I came across the Airwomen's Records which included a record for Laura Winifred Wooster, Service No. 8448; date of enrolment 5 November 1917. Was she on the Great Wooster Tree and was she a flying Wooster? After downloading the document, I discovered that she had in fact enrolled in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and was not on the Great Wooster Tree.

The WAAC was first founded on the 28th March 1917. The rationale for the creation of the organisation was primarily to replace men working in non-combatant roles within the army so that they could be redeployed in combat roles. The women were employed in a broad range of occupational groups including clerks, domestic services, mechanical maintenance, storekeepers, cooks and waitresses. Although they wore a form of military uniform, military ranks were forbidden from use within the WAAC. Instead of officer titles, women in command were referred to as 'Controllers' and 'Administrators' and women of the lowest rank were simply referred to as 'Worker'. Similarly, badges of rank were replaced by fleur-de-lis symbols and flowers, such as the rose. In April 1918 the WAAC became the Queen Mary Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) and was disbanded in September 1921. When the Royal Air Force (RAF) was created in 1918, several WAAC volunteers entered the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF). The service records are available at the National Archives, but many records suffered severe damage as a result of a German air raid in September 1940. About 57,000 women served in the WAAC, but only 7,000 records survive. The original records have suffered substantial fire, water and mould damage, but the microfilm images have been digitised and can be downloaded for free when visiting the National Archives.

Laura Winifred Wooster was born in Weybridge on 9 Mar 1890, the daughter of Laura and Frederick William Wooster, Florist and Fruiterer. She was the oldest of three surviving children. The first born, Annie Louisa WOOSTER (b.1889) only survived a few weeks. Her brother, Terence Howard Wooster was born on 29 July 1891 and her younger sister, Irene Marjorie Wooster was born 18 Sep 1902, both in Weybridge. In 1901, at the age of 11, Laura was living with her parents and younger brother in her father's shop on Queen's Street, Weybridge. The family also had a general domestic servant staying with them so her father's business must have been doing quite well. At the age of 21 and living at home, it seems that with two Lauras in the household she preferred to be called Winifred, as recorded in the 1911 Census and when writing her signature as a witness on her brother's marriage certificate in 1919, so perhaps we should refer to her as Winifred. By 1911 her father was retired, probably through ill health as he was only 46, and Winifred was working as an assistant fruiterer most likely in her father's former shop on Queen's Road, Weybridge. The Pocket Guide to Weybridge from 1912 carries an advertisement for "WOOSTER's Fruit & Floral Stores". The proprietor, Ernest William Welman, would have been about 33 years old and back in 1901 he was working in Brentford, Middlesex, as a market garden labourer, so perhaps Frederick was helping him to continue the business whilst still getting some rent from the shop.

Advertisement in the Pocket Guide to Weybridge from 1912. Source: https://www.weybridgesociety.org.uk/local-info/history/

On the 26 Oct 1917, Winifred travelled to Hyde Park to enrol in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Her home address was given as 86 Woodbridge Road, Guildford where she was living with her mother Mrs L Wooster. She started her service on the 5 Nov 1917 and agreed to serve for 12 months or for the duration of the war, whichever was the greater period. Her first week of service was spent in a hostel in London after which she was working as a 'Storewoman' and was living in a hostel in Aldershot. Later that year, on the 28th Dec 1917, she was posted to the Royal Flying Corps Packing Depot at Englemere Hill, Ascot, a building on London Road near All Saints Church, where she worked as a storekeeper.

One of the jobs of a packing depot was to prepare disassembled aircraft for export to foreign bases and to receive returning aircraft. Indeed, aircraft movement records show that on the 6 Jan 1917, a B.E.2b biplane was sent to Ascot by road (less the engine!), before being shipped to 16 Training Squadron at Beaulieu on 31 July 1917, which was only a few months before Winifred was posted to Ascot.

After only a few weeks at Englemere Hill, on the 14 February 1918 Winifred moved to the nearby Ascot Parts [or Park] Orders No.46. No record could be found regarding the location of this storage area or whether it included an airfield. In "A Potted History of Sunninghill and Ascot", the author mentions that there were 1,200 RAF [probably RFC] personnel stationed in Ascot during World War I, which had its main stores on the west side of King's Ride. This probably corresponds to the area of land around Englemere Pond, now Englemere Natural Reserve, which is almost opposite Englemere Cottage. A newspaper article on 23 July 1917 reports that concerns were raised in the Commons about a naturalised German living at Englemere Cottage, almost opposite the aerodrome. The RAF also used the Heath within Ascot Racecourse during World War 1 which might also have been used as an airfield. So Winifred would almost certainly have socialised with members of the Royal Flying Corps and even if she didn't get to fly in one of those WW1 biplanes she may have had her tea break sat on a crated aircraft!

Map showing location of Englemere Hill, Ascot (Source: Archi UK: Old Maps of Britain www.archiuk.com)

On the 1 April 1918, Winifred transferred to the Women's Royal Airforce at the time of its formation. However, her service record does not mention where she was posted next or when she was discharged.

So why did Laura Winifred Wooster join the WAAC? Was she influenced by her brother who was at that time serving in the Salonika Campaign or perhaps at the age of 27 she hoped to find a husband in the Royal Flying Corps! Or was she just doing her bit to help the war effort?

After WW1, her sister, Irene Wooster and her mother, Mrs Wooster, appear to have been active members of the Cavendish Baptist Church, Ramsgate, as they were recorded in the Thanet Advertiser as helping with refreshments at the church's annual sales to support Medical Missions. However, Winifred does not appear in any records until the 1939 Register as Laura W Wooster, Housekeeper, living in the home of Arthur A Powell, a Master Plumber and Decorator, at 35 Effingham Street, Ramsgate, Kent with her mother (apartment housekeeper) and sister (unpaid domestic duties). Laura Winifred Wooster never married and does not appear to have had any children. Winifred's mother, Laura Wooster, died on the 26 October 1951, and in her will everything is left to her three children. Winifred died in 1967 aged 77. Her sister, Irene Marjorie Wooster, also remained a spinster and died in 1977 aged 75. Their brother, Terence Howard Wooster married Fanny Millicent Ruffle on 19 Mar 1919 but they only appear to have had one son, Terence R Wooster, born in 1919. The 1939 Register shows that Terence junior was in the Royal Navy, HMS Pembroke, which was probably the Royal Navy Barracks at Chatham rather than a ship. In 1942, Terry Wooster was mentioned in the Thanet Advertiser & Echo as a member of the Broadstairs Sailing Club, along with other members from the Royal Navy. He does not appear to have married and died in 1953 at the age of 33.

Family Tree for Laura Winifred Wooster and her link to the Great Wooster Tree

Unfortunately, it appears that there are no surviving Woosters from the marriage of Frederick William Wooster and Laura Howard. Their marriage certificate from 1887, records that they were living in Walton on Thames and shows that Frederick's father was Timothy Wooster, Gardener. A search of the 1881 Census shows that Timothy, Gardener/Domestic Servant, born in Ealing, Middlesex, about 1840, was married to Louisa and was also living in Walton on Thames. Timothy Wooster, Florist, married Louisa Stevens on the 14 April 1861 at St Mary’s Church Paddington. The parish register shows Timothy's father as Moses Wooster, Farmer. No GRO birth record could be found for Timothy, but there is a baptism of a Timothy Woster[sic] on the 30 Jun 1839 at St Mary's, Ealing, born 7th June 1839, son of Moses and Jane Woster. Two further baptisms for Francis Wooster (13 Mar 1845 Paddington Green St Mary, Westminster) and Frederick John Wooster (16 Jul 1843 St Marylebone Christ Church, Westminster) are probably Timothy's siblings. Laura Winifred Wooster is now be linked to the Great Wooster Tree, as Moses Wooster and Jane Brant were married at St. Pancras on 13 Dec 1838 and are recorded in the Great Wooster Tree.

Sources

Wooster, Laura Winifred; Form of Enrolment in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; Service No. 8448; 5 November 1917; The National Archives, AIR 80/265/82.
Wooster, Terence Howard, Territorial Force; Service No. Mt/182 (M2/034828); 14 September 1914; First World War Service Records 'Burnt Documents', The National Archives WO363 (available on findmypast.co.uk)
Wooster T.H., Short Service Attestation; Service Number: M2/034828; First World War "Burnt Documents"; The National Archives, WO363 (available on ancestry.co.uk).
Wooster, Terence Howard, Service Number M2/034828, British Army WW1 Pension Records; The National Archives, WO364 (available on ancestry.co.uk).
Copy of Marriage Certificate for Frederick William Wooster and Laura Howard, 1st August 1887 at All Ss Congregational Chapel [now the United Reform Church], York Road, Weybridge.
Copy of Marriage Certificate for Terence Howard Wooster and Fanny Millicent Ruffle, 29th March 1919, at the Register Officer, Thanet, Kent.
Parish Register Marriage Record for Timothy Wooster and Louisa Stevens, 14 April 1861, St Mary's Church, Paddington (available on ancestry.co.uk).
Will of Laura Wooster of 9 Park Road, Ramsgate, Kent; died 26th October 1951.
UK Census records and 1939 Register.
Births, Marriages and Deaths Records (FreeBMD and General Register Office websites).
British Newspaper Archives (available on findmypast.co.uk).
A pocket guide to Weybridge, 1912; www.weybridgesociety.org.uk/local-info/history (accessed 13 November 2019).
Royal Flying Corps Aircraft; www.airhistory.org.uk/rfc/aircraft.html (accessed 13 November 2019).
A Potted History of Sunninghill and Ascot, bkthisandthat.org.uk/potted-history-of-sunninghill-and-ascot (accessed 13 November 2019).

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  Page last updated

  10 October 2023