Norman William Wheatland (1924-1987) and Monica Mary King (1928-2020).
My great uncle and aunt.
Norman Wheatland was born on 4 February 1924 in Croydon, Surrey, the son of William Albert Wheatland and Elizabeth Marlow.
He grew up in the town and by the time of the 1939 Register was living with his family at 5 Haling Road, South Croydon, and working as a messenger for a dental laboratory. He served in the Royal Navy during the war, was a keen amateur boxer and married Monica Mary King in Croydon in 1946. She’d been born in Devon in 1928.
For many years they lived in Croydon, records showing them at 6 Haling Road, but they later settled in Sussex, making a home in Storrington. They had two children but suffered the loss of their son Michael in a tractor accident when he was aged just 16. Norman and Monica set up the Michael Wheatland Memorial Trust, which worked for greater safety and better training and education in agriculture. They hosted events at agricultural and country shows and sponsored competitions, spending thousands of pounds of their own money on its work. At the Bath and West Show in 1967, for example, they sponsored an Efficiency with Safety competition for Young Farmers and presented a cup to the winners (Somerset Standard 9 June 1967).
In the 1960s Norman set up his own business in Croydon, Atlas Display, which made, supplied and erected tents and marquees for events and venues up and down the country, including such prestigious places as the Glyndebourne Opera House in Sussex (Evening News London 28 July 1969, Croydon Advertiser 14 November 1986, Mid Sussex Times 19 February 1982).
He was a regular in the newspapers, not just publicising the efforts of his charitable trust but sometimes campaigning on local issues. One that clearly exercised him was an attempt by some residents in Woodpecker Lane, Storrington, to block it off to other users. Norman and his neighbours won the battle to declare it a public highway (Worthing Gazette 2 July 1980).
He became a Freeman of the City of London and in 1977 was awarded a medal by Prince Phillip for his work on farm safety (Worthing Gazette 18 October 1978). The paper also reported on his long support for scouts in Croydon – he was awarded the Chief Scout’s Commendation and Silver Acorn for his work – and that he played in the City of London Corps of Drums.
Norman died on 13 July 1987 and his funeral was held on 21 July at Croydon Cemetery (Croydon Advertiser 24 July 1987).
Norman and Monica had two children:
- John Wheatland (1947-????) was born in Croydon.
- Michael Leslie Wheatland (1949-1966) was born in Croydon in 1949 but died aged 16 after his tractor overturned in a road near East Lease Farm, Haselbury Plucknett, Somerset. The details of the tragedy were revealed at a Yeovil inquest (Western Daily Press 2 May 1966). His employer told the hearing that he’d let Michael drive the tractor around his farm yard but had warned him not to drive it on roads as he was under age. The tractor involved had a dual brake system that controlled the rear wheels independently. His employer surmised that Michael had applied too much pressure to one pedal, causing the tractor to swing sharply and hit the bank. He was trapped for more than 15 minutes and suffocated before help could arrive. Norman said his son was the type to do things and ask questions later and he told the hearing that nobody was to blame for the accident. He said his son was an experienced tractor driver and had completed a course at the YMCA’s North Cadbury farm institute. The verdict was misadventure.
Sources:
Family memories.
Birth, marriage, death and burial records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns and other records at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk.
Surrey History Centre records.
British Newspaper Archive (titles in text).
Royal Navy records at the National Archives.