Noel was born on 6 December 1896 and baptised at Daresbury Church. His parents, were William and Mary Jane Oulton. They had six other children, William, John J, Joseph, Emily, Martha and Mary.
William was the blacksmith in Moore and the family lived in a cottage next door to the smithy, sited in what is now the Red Lion car park. Noel is recorded as being a gardener in the 1911 census.
He joined the Machine Gun Corps, service number 90443, though nothing is known of his war service.
Noel married Ida Norris in 1921, in Winchcomb, Gloucestershire, but they moved back to Moore and were living in ‘Elsdon’, Runcorn Road at the time of the 1939 register. Noel was the foreman at a wire mill. Noel and Ida had two children, Rita and Alan.