The end of this week marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of Huddersfield’s greatest sons, Harold Wilson. There will be a series of commemorative events on the day itself, Friday, but all this week the Examiner is celebrating the life of a remarkable man. A series of features will profile his life while on Wednesday there will be a special Harold Wilson All Our Yesterdays supplement. We start with Harold’s early family life.

Harold Wilson was born bang in the middle of the First World War in an unassuming terrace house in Huddersfield on March 11, 1916.

His father, James Herbert, was born on the ‘wrong’ side of the Pennines in Manchester and was a seriously clever chap with an outstanding ability in maths and a memory to match.

An industrial chemist, he became immersed in politics from the age of 10 when he helped out with menial duties on behalf of the Liberal Party though later he transferred his allegiances to the Labour Party.

Harold’s mother, Ethel, was a schoolteacher and four years before his birth the couple moved to the mill village of Milnsbridge.

They were by no means well off but Herbert was a departmental manager in a synthetics factory and, along with his older sister Marjorie, the family lived happily enough at 4 Warneford Road, Cowersley.

Former home of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson on Warneford Road, Cowlersley, Huddersfield
Former home of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson on Warneford Road, Cowlersley, Huddersfield

Christian Dissenters, the couple attended the nearby Baptist chapel with Herbert getting involved in the scouts while Ethel busied herself with the girl guides and the Women’s Guild.

The first house Harold would remember though was a more substantial affair, a stone-built semi-detached residence where his family moved soon afterwards and in its attic the young lad was able to set up his Hornby train set.

His first school was New Street Council School in Milnsbridge which he joined at the age of four ... and a five minute walk from his home.

He didn’t care for the class mistress, a Miss Oddy, describing her in his memoirs as “either an incompetent teacher or a sadist, probably both.”

The next memorable event in his life was an operation for appendicitis which in those faraway days meant he missed an entire school term due to convalescing.

But there was the exhilaration of a long visit to Perth, Australia, in 1926 with his mother to visit a sick relative and he was fortunate in watching Huddersfield Town’s home games during their glory years in the 1920s.

A bright boy, Wilson went on to win a scholarship to attend Royds Hall Grammar School which is now a comprehensive school.

Labour leader Harold Wilson pictured with his wife Mary Wilson 1970 Dbase msi

Once again though his education was disrupted when he contracted typhoid fever after drinking contaminated milk on a scouts’ outing. He was lucky as six others died from contracting the fever.

An even greater disruption took place in December 1930 when his father was made redundant. Finding employment was not easy and it took Herbert nearly two years to find work. The family moved to Spital on the Wirral, Cheshire and Harold was educated in the Sixth Form at the Wirral Grammar School for Boys, where he became Head Boy.

His intellectual precociousness quickly became apparent and he obtained an exhibition enabling him to study Modern History at Jesus College, Oxford, from 1934. Before that however, there was the matter of romance with Harold, aged just 18, falling for a somewhat puritanical young lady, Mary Baldwin, who was shocked to discover that he drank the “occasional beer”.

There was little doubt that they would be married before too long.

After his first year at Oxford, Harold switched to studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating with “an outstanding first class Bachelor of Arts degree” and was congratulated on his performance by the dons.

Politics was only something he dabbled in at university and was a member of the Liberal Party for most of his time there.

A glittering career in academia beckoned with him becoming one of the youngest Oxford University dons of the century when he was only 21.

He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937 and a Research Fellow at University College.

However, the outbreak of the Second World War saw Harold volunteer for service.

This was denied though thanks to his undoubted talents he was given a position in the civil service instead.

Practically this meant he supported William Beveridge, the Master of the College, to work on the problems of wartime manpower supply.

Months earlier on January 1, 1940 he and Mary were married and became a truly devoted couple.

Tomorrow: Harold’s early political years.