Page 17 - NJC Magazine Spring 2017

Wilde’s Ancestry
Wilde
Mark Wilde and Emma Gee, Parents Leonard Thornton Wilde
Leonard’s parents were Mark Wilde and Emma Gee. Mark married Emma Gee on the 24th of April 1906 at North Dudsley, North Lancashire. Mark Wilde and Emma Gee during their marriage had two children; Cecilia Mary and Leonard Thornton. Their eldest daughter Cecilia Mary Wilde was born in 1909 in Northwich, Cheshire. Leonard was born in 1912. Cecilia married Jean Gadisseur in London in December 1947. Cecilia and Jean had a daughter named Christina who currently lives in Lille, Belgium.
Mark Wilde was born on the 10th of June 1873 at Hyde in Cheshire, the son of William Wilde and Mary Bredbury. Mark Wilde died in Blackpool on the 23rd of April 1956 and was buried on April 27th in Manchester. Emma Gee died on the 25th of April 1915 and was buried on April 28th 1915 in Manchester. After Emma’s death, Mark remarried, marrying Ethel Marian. Both Mark and Emma are buried in plot 4760 in the Sale Cemetery, Manchester. Mark during his lifetime was an engineer, a bookkeeper, and a farmer and publican.
Tracing Leonard’s life has been difficult given privacy restrictions on records. He was born on the 9th of January 1912 in Northwick, Cheshire. Unfortunately, British census records are not yet available for 1921. It is known that he attended Oxford University; however a search of the Oxford records was beyond the scope of this project. Leonard did list the Oxford Union Society as his UK residence in 1960. He is listed in the 1939 directory as a theology student, living at 49 Banbury Rd. Oxford.
Various transatlantic passage records are available for the period of 1952-1960. A 1951 USA border crossing record was located indicating an association with the Calvert Military Academy in Calvert, Indiana.
Nothing in the documents searched provided any insight into his schooling prior to attending Oxford. There is a reference to a Leonard Wilde music teacher in both Sale, Manchester and in Hyde. Unfortunately, it was impossible to link those records to our Leonard Wilde.
Leonard was buried on the 6th of April 1966 in Sale Cemetery, Manchester in plot 4760 next to his mother.
news and souvenirs for alumni, families and friends 15
Leonard Wilde addresses students in a ship’s cinema en route to Europe.