Will Wakeham 5 May 1911 – 13 June 2009

Will Wakeham was the son of Gertrude Clarke, Anthony Jacques Cheeper/Clarke's 2nd child by Emma Terry, and William Ellis Wakeham.

He was born 5 May 1911, Poplar 1c 898.

He married Marjorie Constance, b. 29 Mar 1908.

Their marriage was on 2 Sep 1939, just as Hitler began to invade Poland, and hence the day before Great Britain declared war on Germany.

Will would have been 29-35 during WWII, and may have been very much involved in it. It appears he's always lived in London. So even if he was 'medicalled out' of the forces, or in a restricted occupation, he'd have had trouble avoiding the Blitz.

Will and Marjorie had 2 children:

1. Anthony William Wakeham, b. 10 May 1945, a confirmed bachelor, resident in Italy (just south of Rome) for many year, retired c. 2005
2. Carol Ann Wakeham, b. 17 May 1948, m. on 13 Apr 1974 to Anthony Charles Owen, living and working in schools in Walton-on-Thames, with two children. I met Carol in July 2009, at Geoff Clarke's place in Walton-on-Thames:
   1. James Anthony Owen b. 9 May 1977
   2. Simon Edward Owen b. 30 Jul 1979

Marjorie died in 1993.

The Wanless and Terry families were aware of one another's existence. Indeed they lived in close proximity through the 1940s and 1950s, with Will Wakeham's family at Tybenham Rd and Geoff Clarke's at Poplar Rd, both in Merton Park 1-1/2 miles south of Wimbledon.

Will lived in Walton-on-Thames. Geoff Clarke was in ongoing contact with him from 1979 until Will's death in 2009.

In June 2006, I missed meeting Will because he'd just left for his annual 4 weeks in Italy with his son (at age 95). Will was complaining about no longer being able to drive, and needing some assistance to get around.

But I finally met Will, in Geoff's company, in June 2007.

Will passed away on 13 June 2009, at 98. He was well until his last 3 weeks. He then had a urinary infection, caught pneumonia, recovered, but then had a couple of heart attacks and then died in his sleep.
He'd continued his regular 3-week summer holiday with his son south of Rome until 2007, i.e. at 96.

We're missing a lot of information; and we'd love to know more!

This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann

Created: 21 January 2006; Last Amended: 16 October 2009