William George Cox was born at Wickhamford on 25th April 1919, the eldest of eight children of George Frederick Cox and his wife, Dorothy Rose (née Winstone). He was baptised in the Church of St John the Baptist on 29th June 1919.
William’s father had emigrated to Canada in 1910, had served overseas with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force during the First World War, and then returned to his widowed mother’s home at Pitchers Hill, Wickhamford. His stay at Wickhamford was just temporary, as the intention was to settle permanently in Canada.
Thus one-year-old William left Liverpool with his parents on 23rd April 1920 and arrived at Quebec on 6th May 1920. George, as a returned soldier, appeared in a separate place on the ship’s manifest to Dorothy and William; he described himself as a farmer. They were going to Scollard, Alberta, where William’s Uncle Charles, lived (his father’s elder brother). Five brothers and sisters were born in Canada: Charles Henry (1921), Ruth Irene (1922), Dorothy Elizabeth (1923-1993), James Winstone (1928-2017), Alice Mary (1931-1996).
Soon after arrival in Canada, George applied to the Soldier Settlement Board for a grant and was given land at Delia, a village in southern Alberta. The family had to leave Delia, however, in April 1933, and the land was transferred to the Director of Soldier Settlement. William returned to Wickhamford with his parents and siblings later in 1933; two further siblings were born after the return home.
The Cox family built a house on Pitchers Hill, Wickhamford, and named it Delia after the place where they had lived in Canada.
During the Second World War, William served in the Royal Air Force, mainly in East Africa.
William married Margaret Lister Gibbs at Wolverhampton in 1945. The marriage banns were read at Wickhamford as William had returned to the parental home after coming back from the war. They settled in Wolverhampton where two children were born. William died at Wolverhampton in 2002.