Councillor Ronald Ernest Wightman JP Northamptonshire Regiment and Chairman Bungay UDC
1914-18 British War Medal. Victory Medal. Coronation Medal 1937.
The Man Ronald Ernest Wightman was born on Tuesday 11th October 1887 in Skegness, Lincolnshire, son of Ernest Henry, a Draper and Trade Valuer and Ellen nee Farrow. He was one of six children, Sidney Alfred Henry (born in 1888 and killed in action on 9th April 1917), Gertrude Mary (1890–), Russell Hugh (1894 – killed in action 26th August 1917), Evelyn Whiteman (1896–1984), Harold Charles (1897–).
Then 1891 census shows the family living at 69 Trinity Street, Bungay, North Suffolk, together with seven other people who were employed in Ernest’s business or servants. By 1901 they were at 76 Market Place, Bungay with an even larger number of staff and at the same address in 1911, Ronald now working for his father as a Draper’s Assistant at their well-established shop, H Wightman & Son Ltd and by 1921 shown as Draper's Manager..
Following the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Ronald was aged 26 and in the last quarter of the year aged 17 married Catherine Hilda Brooks in Wangford, having four children, Neville Sidney (1917–), Joan Hilda (1918–), Brenda Ruth (1921–) and Russel David (1926–1982).
In January 1916 the Military Service Act was passed. This imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, but exempted the medically unfit, clergymen, teachers, conscientious objectors and certain classes of industrial worker. A second Act passed in May 1916 extended conscription to married men and it is likely that at this time Ronald enlisted into the Northampton Regiment as a Private with service number 34039.
Ronald’s brother’s Sidney and Russell had already enlisted into the Suffolk Regiment but were both tragically killed in action on 9th April and 22nd August 1917 respectively. Ronald was later transferred to the Labour Corps with a new service number 84444 and survived the conflict being awarded the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals.
The Kelly’s Directory of 1925 shows him living at 2 Trinity Street, Bungay and at some time Ronald became interested in local politics and was elected onto the Bungay Urban District Council (UDC), in England and Wales, a UDC district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area and had an elected council which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. Ronald was also a Justice of the Peace.
Ronald continued working at H Wightman and was elected as Chairman of Bungay UDC for the municipal year of 1936-37 and awarded the Coronation Medal 1937 in this capacity. The 1939 Register shows him living at 2 Trinity Street, Bungay with his family and in addition to his furnishing trade was shown as Bungay’s Chiefl Billeting Officer and Chairman of the Food Committee. the same year he was elected as Reeve of Bungay. In Anglo-Saxon England, a reeve (Old English: gerefa) was an administrative official serving the king or a lesser lord in a variety of roles. After the Norman Conquest, it was an office held by a man of lower rank, appointed as manager of a manor and overseer of the peasants. Bungay claimed it was the only town who still had a Reeve and the assertion was not challenged.
It is unknown if Ronald, now aged 52 served with any of the Civil Defence organisations during World War II, but his shop was bombed during an air raid which he survived. By 1958 he was living at Cransford, 20 Broad Street, Bungay and passed away on 13th August 1970 aged 82. He left money in his will to Bungay Town Football Club and Bungay and Waveney Valley Golf Club. Catherine lived another 17 years and died in 1987.
As a footnote, following the 1974 Local Government reorganization Bungay UDC was subsumed into Waveney District Council, and then again on 1st April 2019 into the new East Suffolk District Council. The business of H Wightman survived until it finally closed its doors in June 2024.
Then 1891 census shows the family living at 69 Trinity Street, Bungay, North Suffolk, together with seven other people who were employed in Ernest’s business or servants. By 1901 they were at 76 Market Place, Bungay with an even larger number of staff and at the same address in 1911, Ronald now working for his father as a Draper’s Assistant at their well-established shop, H Wightman & Son Ltd and by 1921 shown as Draper's Manager..
Following the outbreak of World War I on 4th August 1914, Ronald was aged 26 and in the last quarter of the year aged 17 married Catherine Hilda Brooks in Wangford, having four children, Neville Sidney (1917–), Joan Hilda (1918–), Brenda Ruth (1921–) and Russel David (1926–1982).
In January 1916 the Military Service Act was passed. This imposed conscription on all single men aged between 18 and 41, but exempted the medically unfit, clergymen, teachers, conscientious objectors and certain classes of industrial worker. A second Act passed in May 1916 extended conscription to married men and it is likely that at this time Ronald enlisted into the Northampton Regiment as a Private with service number 34039.
Ronald’s brother’s Sidney and Russell had already enlisted into the Suffolk Regiment but were both tragically killed in action on 9th April and 22nd August 1917 respectively. Ronald was later transferred to the Labour Corps with a new service number 84444 and survived the conflict being awarded the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals.
The Kelly’s Directory of 1925 shows him living at 2 Trinity Street, Bungay and at some time Ronald became interested in local politics and was elected onto the Bungay Urban District Council (UDC), in England and Wales, a UDC district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area and had an elected council which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. Ronald was also a Justice of the Peace.
Ronald continued working at H Wightman and was elected as Chairman of Bungay UDC for the municipal year of 1936-37 and awarded the Coronation Medal 1937 in this capacity. The 1939 Register shows him living at 2 Trinity Street, Bungay with his family and in addition to his furnishing trade was shown as Bungay’s Chiefl Billeting Officer and Chairman of the Food Committee. the same year he was elected as Reeve of Bungay. In Anglo-Saxon England, a reeve (Old English: gerefa) was an administrative official serving the king or a lesser lord in a variety of roles. After the Norman Conquest, it was an office held by a man of lower rank, appointed as manager of a manor and overseer of the peasants. Bungay claimed it was the only town who still had a Reeve and the assertion was not challenged.
It is unknown if Ronald, now aged 52 served with any of the Civil Defence organisations during World War II, but his shop was bombed during an air raid which he survived. By 1958 he was living at Cransford, 20 Broad Street, Bungay and passed away on 13th August 1970 aged 82. He left money in his will to Bungay Town Football Club and Bungay and Waveney Valley Golf Club. Catherine lived another 17 years and died in 1987.
As a footnote, following the 1974 Local Government reorganization Bungay UDC was subsumed into Waveney District Council, and then again on 1st April 2019 into the new East Suffolk District Council. The business of H Wightman survived until it finally closed its doors in June 2024.
Ronald's World War I Medal Index Card
The Story The medals awarded to Ronald Ernest Wightman were acquired from Lockdales online auction on 27th November 2024 and of interest as Ronald had been Chairman of a former Urban District Council.
Ancestry and newspaper archives enabled a reasonable biography to be pieced together and therefore to remember a man who did so much for his home town and was part of a long established business in the town
Ancestry and newspaper archives enabled a reasonable biography to be pieced together and therefore to remember a man who did so much for his home town and was part of a long established business in the town
Medal Details
- 1914-18 British War Medal: 34039 PTE.R.E.WIGHTMAN. NORTH'N.R.
- Victory Medal: 34039 PTE.R.E.WIGHTMAN. NORTH'N.R.
- Coronation Medal 1937: Unnamed as awarded.
Page last updated 28 Dec 24
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