Great x3 Grandfather William Boobier

My Great x3 Grandfather William (1826 - 1886) was a slatuary and journeyman stone mason and father of twelve.

William Boobier was born around 1826 in Tiverton, Devon, to Thomas Boobier (about 45), a labourer and navigator, and Mary Boobier (nee Wood) (about 45).

William was baptised on 27 August 1826 in Tiverton.

William was the youngest of six siblings (four sons and two daughters):

• John  1806 - 1840 (34 years old)
• Mary  1809 - 
• Edward  1817 -
• William  1820 - 1824  (4 years old)
• Grace  1823 - 1836  (13 years old)
• William  1826 - 1886 (59 years old)

Alas two of William's siblings passed away in childhood. William was the second of his name: the older William passed away, aged only four, in 1824, two years before the younger was born. In 1836, when the younger William was about ten, his older sister Grace passed away, aged about thirteen. Both lived and died in their hometown of Tiverton.

In 1840, when William was about fourteen, his father Thomas suddenly passed away, aged fifty-nine, in Tiverton. Thomas was buried on 8th November 1840 in Tiverton. William's oldest brother John passed away soon after, aged about thirty-four. John was buried on 22nd November 1840 in Tiverton. William's widowed mother Mary was supported by the income of her surviving adult children, as shown on the 1841 Census:

On 29th March 1850, William (23), a stone mason, married Tiverton-native Emma Kimmings (23), a laundress, in Tiverton. Emma's father Philip was also a mason. Perhaps William was Philip's apprentice.

William and Emma had eight children (six sons and two daughters):

• William Edwin Kimmings  1850 - 1851 (14 months)
• Thomas Philip  1851 -
• William Donald  1854 - 1855 (13 months)
• Emma Grace  1855 -
• Edwin John  1858 -
• William Edwin  1861 -
• Lucy Janet/Jeanette  1863 - 1863 (0 - 3 months)
• George Albert  1864 - 

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1851, William's oldest son, also called William, sadly passed away, aged only fourteen months old, in Tiverton. He was buried on 16th October 1851, in Tiverton.

In May 1855, another son called William, passed away, aged about thirteen months. He was buried on 17th May 1855, in St Peter in Tiverton.

1851 Census:

Alas William and Emma' eldest child William Edwin passed away young, only fourteen months old, in 1851. He was buried on 16th October 1851 in Tiverton.

William's family were a close one. As shown on the 1861 Census, his next door neighbours were his sister and mother, both widowed and both called Mary, with niece Sarah (daughter of their brother Edward). Also staying with William and his family is another niece Mary Ann (another daughter of Edward).

1861 Census:

In Jan/Feb/Mar 1863, William's baby daughter, Lucy, passed away, aged zero to three months, in Tiverton.

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1866, when William was about forty, his mother Mary passed away, aged about eighty-five, in Tiverton.

Sometime in 1860's, William and his family moved from their native Tiverton about fifteen miles south to Exeter. There alas in early 1867, not longer after the death of his mother, William's wife Emma passed away, aged about forty. She was buried on 24th January 1867 in Exeter. Did mother and daughter in law succumb to the same illness?

At the time of Emma's burial, the family resided at Okehampton Street, Exeter. There William was left a widower with five young children (the eldest about fifteen, the youngest only two).

William soon remarried. In May or June 1868, William (about 41) married Jane Mutter (about 30) in Tiverton, having had the previous months their banns read in both their native Tiverton and William's adoptive Exeter.

William and Jane had four sons:

• Robert  1869 -
• Walter  1871 -
• Alfred  1873 -
• Frederick  1874 -

In 1881, William and his family could be found living on Jubilee Street, Exeter.

1881 Census:

In March or April 1886, William passed away, aged about fifty-nine, in Exeter. He was buried on 4th April 1886 in Exeter. He left behind a widow and nine surviving children.