Great x3 Grandmother Elizabeth 'Bessie/Betsy' Fisher (nee Brownscombe)

My Great x3 Grandmother Elizabeth 'Bessie/Betsy' (1843 - 1932) was a house servant, work woman on a farm, housewife, and mother of three.

Records consistently give Bessie or Betsy as her first name, leading me to infer she may have gone by both, and so I refer to her as Bessie/Betsy in this post.

Elizabeth 'Bessie/Betsy' Brownscombe was born in January 1843 in Bratton Fleming, Devon, to Thomas Brownscombe (about 23), a sawyer, and Maria Brownscombe (nee Popham) (about 23), a charwoman and later a domestic cook.

Bessie/Betsy was baptised on 8th January 1843 in Bratton Fleming.

Bessie/Betsy was the eldest of three daughters:

• Elizabeth 'Bessie/Betsy'  1843 -
• Mary Ann  1846 -
• Katherine 'Kitty'  1850 -

Betsy and her younger sisters grew up in their native Bratton Fleming.

1851 Census:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1859, when Bessie/Betsy was sixteen, her father Thomas passed away, aged about forty, in the district of Barnstaple. Bessie/Betsy's widowed mother Maria found work as a domestic cook for the household of Rev. Humphrey Senhouse Pinder, the generous Rector of Bratton Fleming, whilst her young daughters worked as domestic servants on local farms.

As a young woman, Bessie/Betsy worked as a house and general servant for farmer Philip Dovell at East Middleton in Parracombe, about six miles south Bessie/Betsy's native Bratton Fleming. Also living and working there was Bessie/Betsy's future husband carter Richard Fisher.

1861 Census:

On Christmas Exe 1863, Bessie/Betsy (20) married Richard (18) in Parracombe. At the time of their marriage, both still resided at East Middleton. Both were able to sign their name on their marriage certificate.

Bessie/Betsy Brownscombe's Signature, 1863

Bessie/Betsy had three children (two daughters and one son):

• Mary  1865 -
• John  1866 -
• Alice Brownscombe  1868 - 1929 (60 years old)

Bessie/Betsy's mother-in-law Frances Fisher, after being widowed in 1866, moved in with Bessie/Betsy and her son Richard Fisher and their young family.

Around 1866, Bessie/Betsy and her family moved a few miles south from Parracombe to Challacombe. There the family lived at Westland Cottage. Westland Cottage would be a real home. The family would live there for over sixty years!

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

1891 Census:

In Oct/Nov/Dec 1899, when Bessie/Betsy was fifty-six, her mother Maria passed away, aged about eighty, in the district of Barnstaple.

1901 Census:

1911 Census:

Sadly illness kept Bessie/Betsy's husband Richard to his bed in for the last six years of his life, from about 1923 to 1929. He was cared for by Bessie/Betsy.

On 26th May 1929, Bessie/Betsy's widowed daughter Alice passed away, aged sixty, at Westland Cottage.

From the North Devon Journal on 30th May 1929:

Less than three months later, Bessie/Betsy's husband Richard passed away, aged eighty-four, on 5th August 1929, at Westland Cottage.

From the North Devon Journal on 8th August 1929:

His funeral, held on Saturday 10th August 1929 at Challacombe, was reported on. An short eulogy in the newspaper gives a lovely description of Richard's character and career. This was the man Bessie/Betsy married and lived with for over sixty years: a bright, happy, smiley, kind, friendly and hardworking man.

From the North Devon Journal on 15th August 1929:

Bessie/Betsy passed away three years later, aged eighty-nine, in Jan/Feb/Mar 1932 in the district of Barnstaple.

Great x3 Grandfather Richard Fisher

My Great x3 Grandfather Richard (1845 - 1929) was a agricultural labourer, horseman on a farm, and father of three.

Richard Fisher was born around 1845 in Goodleigh, Devon, to John Fisher (about 44), an agricultural labourer and later a shepherd of 600 acres (which is just less than one square mile), and Frances Fisher (formerly Abbott; nee Keal) (about 38), later a charwoman.

Richard was baptised on 13th April 1845 in Goodleigh.

Richard had one older half sister from his mother Frances' first marriage to a Robert Abbott:

• Elizabeth Jane  1831 -

The 1841 Census shows young Elizabeth, after her father's premature death and her mother's beginning a new family, went to live with her maternal grandparents, farmer William Keal and his wife Elizabeth, after whom she may have been named, in Goodleigh.

Richard was the fifth of seven children (six sons and one daughter) born to John and Frances:

• John  1834 -
• Mary  1837 -
• William  1840 -
• Samuel 1842 - 1850 (8 years old)
• Richard  1845 -
• Henry  1847 - 1847 (2 months old)
• James  1847 -  1847 (less than 2 months old)

When Richard was two, his younger siblings, twins Henry and James, sadly passed away very young. They were baptised on 21st September 1847. Less than two months later, James was buried on 14th December 1847; and then Henry, perhaps just two months old, was buried on 23rd December 1847. Both were baptised and buried in Goodleigh.

In 1850, when Richard was five, his older brother Samuel, aged eight, also passed away. He was buried on 27th November 1850 in Goodleigh.

Sometime around 1851, young Richard and his family moved about three and half miles south from Goodleigh to Swimbridge.

1851 Census:

Sometime in the 1850's, Richard and his family moved again, about sixteen miles north to Parracombe.

The 1861 Census shows Richard (16) and his future wife Elizabeth 'Bessie/Betsy' Brownscombe (18) both living and working at East Middleton Farm, in Parracombe, for farmer Philip Dovell. There Richard worked as a carter and Bessie/Betsy as a house and general servant. Richard's parents were their neighbours.

1861 Census:

On Christmas Eve 1863, Richard (18) married Bessie/Betsy (20) in Parracombe. At the time of their marriage, both still resided at East Middleton. Both were able to sign their name on their marriage certificate.

Richard Fisher's Signature, 1863

Richard and Bessie/Betsy had three children (two daughters and one son):

• Mary  1865 -
• John  1866 -
• Alice Brownscombe  1868 - 1929 (60 years old)

In 1866, when Richard was twenty, his father John tragically passed away, aged sixty-five, in Parracombe, in a accident at work. He was instantaneously killed, when, whilst turnip picking, he accidentally drove the 'butt' in which he was riding against a wall, causing it to capsize and himself to fall under the shaft.

John was buried on 24th March 1866 in Parracombe. Richard would name his next born child John, likely after his father.

Richard's widowed mother Frances would move in with Richard and his young family.

Also around 1866, Richard and his family moved a few miles south from Parracombe to Challacombe. There the family lived at Westland Cottage. Westland Cottage would be a real home. The family would live there for over sixty years!

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

1891 Census:

In early 1892, when Richard was about forty-six, his widowed mother Frances, aged about eighty-five, passed away in the district of Barnstaple. She had been an invalid in her later years, looked after by Richard and Bessie/Betsy.

1901 Census:

1911 Census:

Sadly illness kept elderly Richard to his bed for the last six years of his life, from about 1923 to 1929. He was cared for by Bessie/Betsy.

On 26th May 1929, Richard's widowed daughter Alice passed away, aged sixty, at Westland Cottage.

From the North Devon Journal on 30th May 1929:

Less than three months later, Richard himself passed away, aged eighty-four, on 5th August 1929, at Westland Cottage.

From the North Devon Journal on 8th August 1929:

His funeral, held on Saturday 10th August 1929 at Challacombe, was reported on. An short eulogy in the newspaper gives a lovely description of Richard's character and career.

Of his character: "A man of a bright and happy nature, he had a smile and a kindly word for all".

Of his career: "Mr Fisher lived in the same cottage for over 63 years... He was employed by the late Mr F.L. Smyth and sons of Westland Pound for over 50 years, being a keen horseman and an expert with the plough and other farm implements. He was well known at Southmolton, Barnstaple and Combe Martin in the old liming days, where he met and made many friends on his journeys with three horses and a wagon."

From the North Devon Journal on 15th August 1929:

Great x3 Grandmother Dinah Herd (nee Bennett)

My Great x3 Grandmother Dinah (1805 - 1869) was a servant, housekeeper, and mother of two.

Dinah Bennett was born around 1805 in Sampford Courtenay, Devon, to William Coombe (about 23) and Loveday Bennett (about 19), a female servant.

Dinah was illegitimate. She was baptised Dinah Coombe, on 11th August 1805 in Sampford Courtenay, but would later go by Dinah Bennett. Her father William Coombe was ordered by the parish to pay maintenance. He was the son of Loveday's employer, Simon Coombe, who Loveday, back when about eleven-years-old, was apprenticed to in 1794.

On 4th November 1811, when Dinah was six, her mother Loveday married George Turner, a labourer, in Stoke Damerel, near Plymouth, which is over thirty-miles south of Dinah's native Sampford Courtenay.

Soon Dinah gained nine younger half siblings (six sisters and three brothers):

• Mary  1813 -
• Loveday  1816 -
• Rebecca  1818 -
• Elizabeth  1821 -
• Susan  1822 - 1826 (3 years old)
• Eliza  1825 - 1826 (1 year old)
• George  1827 - 1828 (4 months old)
• George  1829 -
• William  1832 -

Sometime between 1822 and 1825, the family moved back northwards to Jacobstowe, which is only three miles west of Dinah's native Sampford Courtenay.

On 9th January 1826, Dinah (about 20) married William Herd, a sawyer, in St Mary Steps, Exeter. Whilst William left only his mark, implying he could not write, Dinah was able to sign her name.

Dinah Bennett's Signature, 1826

Sadly, less than six months later, two of Dinah's younger half sisters, Eliza and Susan, passed away in infancy. Eliza (1 years old) passed away first - she was buried on 30th June - followed by Susan (3 years old) - she was buried, less than a week later, on 6th July. Touchingly, Dinah, who was about one or two months pregnant with her first child at the time, would name that child, a daughter, after her sisters. Eliza Susan Herd was baptised on 26th February 1827 in Jacobstowe. Eliza Susan was Dinah and William's only child.

Just over one year later, another of Dinah's young siblings sadly passed away in infancy. George was only four months old, when he passed away, in 1828. He was buried on 9th March 1828 in Jacobstowe. George had been his mother's eighth child, but her first son - I imagine his death was felt acutely.

Around 1834, Dinah's husband William went to America. He had been absent over three years, when on 19th July 1839, Dinah (about 34) gave birth to an illegitimate son, Ezekiel, in Exbourne, which is only about one and half miles from Jacobstowe. Ezekiel was baptised on 25th August 1839 in Exbourne. Ezekiel's birth certificate would acknowledge his father to be widower Walter Easterbrook (about 50), an agricultural labourer and thatcher. On Ezekiel's baptism record and when a baby on the 1841 census, his surname is given as Herd (his mother Dinah's married name); however, on all later records, Herd is listed as his middle name, Easterbrook is listed as his surname, and Walter is listed as his father.

Though Dinah and Walter would never marry - likely because she was still married, though to an absent husband - they would live together for many years, with their son Ezekiel. On censuses, Dinah's given relationship to Walter is inconsistent: she is listed as his servant, housekeeper and visitor.

In 1841, when Dinah was about thirty-five, her step-father George Turner passed away, aged about fifty-four. He was buried on 21st February 1814 in Jacobstowe. Dinah's widowed mother Loveday would find work as a servant.

1841 Census:

On 16th November 1847, Dinah's daughter Eliza (about 20) married labourer and excavator Walter Chapman (about 28), in Stoke Damerel. Meanwhile, Dinah remarried in Exbourne.

1851 Census:

In 1854, when Dinah was about forty-nine, her mother Loveday passed away, aged about sixty-eight, in Jacobstowe. She was buried on 25th June 1854 in Jacobstowe.

On 7th March 1859, Dinah's son Ezekiel (19), a blacksmith, married glover Mary Saunders (22) in her native Highampton. Mary moved in with Ezekiel and his parents. Two years later, in 1861, the family could be found living in Brooks Cottage, Towns End, Okehampton.

1861 Census:

In January 1862, when Dinah was about fifty-six, Walter Easterbrook, the father of her son, passed away, aged seventy-two, in Exbourne. He was buried on 24th January 1862 in Exbourne.

In July 1869, Dinah herself passed away, aged about sixty-four, in Exbourne. She was buried on 23rd July 1869 in Exbourne.

Great x3 Grandfather Walter Easterbrook

My Great x3 Grandfather Walter (1789 - 1862) was an agricultural labourer, thatcher, beerhouse keeper, and father of four.

Walter Easterbrook was born around 1789 in Exbourne, Devon to Thomas Easterbrook (about 24) and Sarah Easterbrook (nee Westlake) (about 24).

Walter was baptised on 29th November 1789 in Hatherleigh, which is less than five miles from Exbourne, and his mother Sarah's hometown. All his siblings were baptised in Exbourne.

Walter was the second of nine children (four daughter and five sons):

• Betty  1787 - 1802 (about 15 years old)
• Walter  1789 -
• Mary  1792 -
• Sarah  1795 -
• Jane  1798 -
• John  1800 -
• Thomas  1802 - 1809 (about 6 years old)
• William  1807 - 
• Thomas Westlake  1810 -

Sadly two of Walter's siblings passed away young: in 1802, when Walter was about thirteen, his older sister Betty passed away, aged about fifteen; and in 1809, when Walter was about twenty, his younger brother Thomas passed away, aged about six.

On Valentine's Day 1810, Walter (21) married Ann Ballamy in Exbourne. Ann left only her mark on their marriage certificate, implying she could not write; however, Walter was able to sign his name.

Walter Easterbrook's Signature, 1810

Walter and Ann had three children (two daughters and one son):

• Ann  1810 - 
• Thomas  1810 - 1811 (0 years old)
• Patience  1811 - 1811 (0 years old)

Walter and Ann's oldest children, Ann and Thomas, were likely twins, being baptised together. Sadly Thomas and his younger sister Patience passed away as babies in 1811. Thomas was buried on 4th April, and Patience was buried on the 27th December, both in Exbourne.

Sadly it seems Walter's wife Ann soon passed away too. She was buried 14th October 1812 in Sampford Courtenay, which is about two or three miles east of Exbourne. The next registered burial on the register is that of a Jane Ballamy on 30th November. Was Jane perhaps a relative of Ann? Maybe an unmarried sister?

So Walter was left, in his early twenties, a widower, with little daughter Ann. What happened to her?

An Ann Mitchell alais Easterbrook married a Richard Knott of Sampford Countenay in Exbourne in 1831, when Walter's daughter Ann would have been in her early twenties. I looked for Mitchells in Exbourne and for a Mitchell/Easterbrook marriage. I found only a marriage between a Christopher Mitchell and Grace Easterbrook (somehow likely a relative of Walter) in Exbourne in 1809. Behold - the 1841 Census shows that Walter and Christopher's household were close neighbours. Christopher and Grace don't appear to have had a daughter called Ann, though they were having children around the time Ann was born, as proved by baptism records. I wonder if they took in little motherless Ann and raised her with their own children. The 1841 Census shows Ann Knott, born around 1811, with her husband Richard and their children in Sampford Countenay; the 1851 Census shows them there again and confirms Ann was born around 1810 in Exbourne. And the only Ann Mitchell or Easterbrook born around then and there was Walter's daughter.

Whilst his little girl was most likely cared for by his neighbouring female relation Grace Mitchell and her family, young widower Walter worked as an agricultural labourer and later a thatcher. He didn't remarry.

It was over nearly thirty years later, when Walter was around fifty, that his second family was born.

On 19th July 1839 in Exbourne, Dinah Herd (nee Bennett) (about 34), a servant and housekeeper, gave birth to Ezekiel Herd. Importantly Ezekiel's birth certificate acknowledges Walter (about fifty) as the father. On Ezekiel's birth certificate, Walter's occupation is listed as beerhouse keeper.

Walter and Dinah did not marry, but would live together for many years. Dinah was a married woman, whose husband William Herd, according to Ezekiel's baptism record, at the time of Ezekiel's conception and birth in 1839, was absent and had been in America above three years.

Ezekiel was baptised on 25th August in 1839 in Exbourne, with his mother's married name Herd; and when a baby on the 1841 Census he was again listed with Herd as his surname; however on all later records, Ezekiel is listed with Herd as is middle name, Easterbrook as his surname, and Walter as his father.

1841 Census:

1851 Census:

In 1859, when Walter was about seventy, his son Ezekiel married. His young wife Mary would move in with the Easterbrook family, who around that time moved from Exbourne about five or six miles south to Okehampton. Ezekiel would work for many years as a blacksmith, which would have required an apprenticeship in youth. Did Walter secure his son an apprenticeship with the local blacksmith?

1861 Census:

In January 1862, Walter passed away, aged about seventy-two, in his native Exbourne. He was buried on 24th January 1862 in Exbourne.

Great x3 Grandmother Mary Ann Manning (nee Ireland)

My Great x3 Grandmother Mary Ann (1842 - 1908) was a laundress, housewife, and mother of nine.

Mary Ann Ireland was born around 1842 in Farringdon, Devon to William Ireland, a labourer, and Mary Ireland (nee Riggs) (about 28), a servant and laundress.

Mary Ann was baptised on 14th August 1842 in Farringdon, Devon. Mary Ann's parents had only married in the February of that year, meaning her mother was about three months pregnant with Mary Ann when she married.

Mary Ann had an older half brother, John, the illegitimate son of her mother Mary, born in 1834. On the 1851 Census, he is listed with the surname of Ireland, but when he married as a young man in 1856 he was once more using the surname of Riggs.

Mary Ann was the eldest of three children (one daughter and two sons) born to William and Mary:

• Mary Ann 1842 - 
• William Henry  1844 -
• Samuel  1848 - 

Sometime between 1844 and 1848, young Mary Ann and her family moved from Farringdon about six miles west to Heavitree, near Exeter.

1851 Census:

Mary Ann's mother Mary was the head of the family by 1851, working and looking after her four children. Where was Mary Ann's father William? In February 1850, when Mary was about seven years old, her father William stole one sheep from a field in Heavitree. For this crime, he was transported to Van Dieman's Land!

Mary Ann's mother struggled to support her family. She found work as a washerwoman for laundress Mary Saunders of Clifton Street, Exeter. In the summer of 1855, when Mary Ann was about twelve, her mother Mary was sentenced to twelve weeks imprisonment, with hard labourer, for stealing a flannel petticoat (instead of returning the washed petticoat from the launderette to its owner, she pawned it) and for obtaining 4s 6d by false pretences from Rebecca Mudge.

With her mother imprisoned who looked after Mary (twelve) and her younger brothers, William (ten) and Samuel (six)? I wonder if their older half-brother, John Riggs, who would have been around twenty at the time, looked after his younger half-siblings.

I cannot find Mary Ann in the 1861 Census, meaning we know little of her life as a young woman.

Too I cannot find a record of marriage between Mary Ann and labourer and former soldier William Manning, but they were certainly together by mid 1864, when Mary Ann about twenty-two, for by April 1865 (9 months later) their first child, Emma, was born in Exeter. Record of her baptism the next month in Exeter list both parents.

Mary Ann and William had nine children (five daughters and four sons):

• Emma  1865 - 1866 (11 months)
• William  1868 -
• Mary Ann 'Polly'  1869 -
• Kate  1871 -
• Rose  1875 - 1877 (2 years old)
• Samuel  1877 - 1877 (7 or 8 years old)
• Unnamed Daughter  1880 - 1880 (0 years old)
• Frederick John  1882 - 1882 (6 weeks old)

Very sadly six (two thirds) of Mary Ann and William's children passed away in infancy. Their eldest child Emma passed away aged eleven months in 1866; over the next few years, they then had three children that survived into adulthood - William, Polly and Kate -; their fifth child Rose (two years old) and sixth child Samuel (eleven weeks old) both passed away in 1877; their seventh child James made it through his earliest years, but passed away aged seven or eight in 1887; their eighth child, an unnamed daughter, was born after a six months pregnancy in 1880 and passed away soon after; and their ninth and youngest child Frederick passed away at six weeks old in 1882.

Why did so many of Mary Ann and William's children pass away so young? My initial gut theory was syphilis, which can cause poor pregnancy outcomes. The mother can have many children, but few survive, as is the case here. However, William was dismissed from the army in 1865 for showing signs of tuberculosis. Did his illness affect the survival of his children? Did he pass it on to them?

Most persons with tuberculosis in the 1800's did not live long with the disease; however, after showing signs in his mid thirties in the mid 1860's, William went on to have nine children, and life for another thirty years, into his mid sixties. I wonder: did he indeed have tuberculosis and was the anomaly who lived long with it? Or was his misdiagnosed and suffered from another condition from which he recovered and lived for many years, or could more likely survive with for many years? Yet, even back then, tuberculosis was well known and easily diagnosed.

Later censuses list William as a labourer, however the females of the family - Mary Ann, her mother, and daughters - are listed too as laundresses or laundry maids. Mary Ann is listed as the employer - she is the running the launderette in her home, employing her relations. It seems likely her business was the family's main income, whilst ill William did the little labour he could.

Mary Ann's life was tough: she saw child after child pass away, and most likely cared too for an ill husband. It is reassuring to see her mother Mary living with the family, supporting her daughter.

1871 Census:

In the 1870's, Mary Ann's surviving children attended Rack Street Central School in Exeter's poor West Quarter. It was reported that many of the school's poor pupils started their day with a Farthing Breakfast at the Coombe Street mission, before walking to school.

1881 Census:

In 1882, when Mary Ann was forty, her mother Mary passed away, aged about sixty-eight, in Exeter. She was buried on Christmas Eve 1882 in Exeter.

Jubilee Street, where Mary Ann and her family lived, was at the bottom of Weirfield Road in Exeter, and consisted of rows of slum terraced houses, close to the River Exe. Sometime in the 1880's, Mary Ann and her surviving family moved from Jubilee Street just around the corner to 4 Colleton Grove.

1891 Census:

The 1891 Census lists Mary Ann's teenage daughter Kate as deaf.

In 1895, when Mary Ann was about fifty-two, her husband William passed away, aged sixty-five, in Exeter. He was buried on 9th March 1895 in Exeter. Eight months later, on 30th November 1895, Mary Ann's surviving son William, a porter, married in Exeter. Mary Ann acted as witness, signing her name on the marriage certificate.

Mary Ann Manning (nee Ireland)'s signature, 1895

1901 Census:

Mary Ann passed away, aged about sixty-six, in 1908 in Exeter. She was buried on 1st November 1908.

It seems her son William, listed as a laundry assistant in the 1901 Census, took over Mary Ann's laundry business after her death. The 1911 Census shows him living three doors down at 1 Colleton Grove (his laundress sisters remain at 4 Colleton Grove); there he is listed as a laundry man and employer, and his wife a laundress, running a launderette at their home, like Mary Ann had done before.

Great x3 Grandfather William Manning

My Great x3 Grandfather William (1830 - 1895) was a soldier, general labourer and father of nine.

William Manning was born around 1830 in Spreyton, Devon, to William Manning (between 34 and 38 years old), an agricultural labourer, and Mary Manning (nee Westcott) (about 34).

William was baptised on 18th April 1830 in Spreyton.

William was the sixth of eight children (four sons and four daughters):

• Samuel  1822 -
• Eliza  1823 - 1824 (1 years old)
• Harriot  1825 -
• Mary Ann  1826 -
• Benjamin  1828 - 
• William  1830 -
• Thomas  1831 -
• Eliza  1834 -

Times were for a while tough: unlike her older sibling's baptism records, the 1834 baptism record of William's young sister Eliza gives their abode as alas the poor house. Hopefully the family, including little William, were not there long. By the time of the 1841 Census, seven years later, they are shown as not living in the poor house, but simply Spreyton village.

1841 Census:

Two key things happened to teenage William and his family in the 1840's: firstly, at some point, his mother Mary passed away, as his father is listed as a widower on the 1851 Census; also William and his family, at some point, moved from his native Spreyton about sixteen miles east to Exeter.

The 1851 Census shows the family living on Smythen Street in Exeter's poor West Quarter. The homes of Smythen Street were mainly late medieval timber-fronted buildings, beautiful in their time, but by the Victorian era long-weathered and their inhabitants poor.

The top part of Smythen Street was known as Butchers' Row, where one side of the street was lined with many butchers' shops. The opening of the Lower Market in 1836, a purpose built space for the butchers of Exeter, marked the beginning of the end for Butchers' Row; however the 1851 Census shows that when William and his family lived there, some fifteen years after the opening of the Lower Market, many of their neighbours were still butchers.

1851 Census:

Neighbouring households were quite small, with only families, but the labouring Manning family appear to have been part-letting their home or running a lodging house, for they have ten persons listed as lodgers, including two small families, the Prideauxs and the Belworthys.

William's younger brother Thomas soon joined the army. He enlisted as a private on 6th February 1852, aged about twenty-one. He served in the Northamptonshire Regiment - 48th and 50th Foot. After thirteen years of service, most likely including the Crimean War, on 31st October 1865, he was found unfit for further service, due to suffering from abdominal aortic aneurysm (a painful enlargement of the body's main artery).

His record of dismissal describes his character and appearance...

"His character is good. Is in possession of the good conduct badge. [But] His name appears four times in regimental defaulters' book. He has been tried twice by court martial."

He was 5'9'', had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. After scars or marks, it says he had the "letter D", most possibly tattooed somewhere upon his body. Did William look like his brother?

It seems William later joined the army too. He was in the South Devon Militia, before joining the 17th Reg of Foot. He enlisted as a private on 7th June 1858, aged about twenty-eight. After seven years of service, on 24th July 1865, he was found unfit for further service, due to suffering from all the signs of phthisis pulmonalis (tuberculosis).

His record of dismissal also describes his character and appearance...

"His character is good. Is not in possession of any good conduct badges. Was six times in the regimental defaulters' book. Was once tried by court martial."

He was 5'5'', had a fair complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. Like his younger brother, he also had a mark of the 'letter D'. What did this D mean to them? Did it perhaps stand for Devon? Interestingly, William's listed intended place of residence after leaving the army is not his native Devon, but randomly in Bradford, Yorkshire. However, after leaving the army, he does not seem to have ended up in Bradford, but soon back down in Devon.

So William, suffering from tuberculosis, returned to his home county, in his mid thirties, in the mid 1860's. Soon he started a family. Interestingly, I cannot find a marriage certificate for William, who after the army worked as a labourer, and his laundress wife Mary Ann Manning (nee Ireland), but by mid 1864 they were certainly together, for by April 1865 (9 months later) their first child, Emma, was born in Exeter. Record of her baptism the next month in Exeter lists both parents.

William and Mary Ann had nine children (five daughters and four sons):

• Emma  1865 - 1866 (11 months)
• William  1868 -
• Mary Ann 'Polly'  1869 -
• Kate  1871 -
• Rose  1875 - 1877 (2 years old)
• Samuel  1877 - 1877 (11 weeks old)
• James  1879 - 1887 (7 or 8 years old)
• Unnamed Daughter  1880 - 1880 (0 years old)
• Frederick John  1882 - 1882 (6 weeks old)

Very sadly six (two thirds) of William and Mary Ann's children passed away in infancy. Their eldest child Emma passed away aged eleven months in 1866; over the next few years, they then had three children that survived into adulthood - William, Polly and Kate -; their fifth child Rose (two years old) and sixth child Samuel (eleven weeks old) both passed away in 1877; their seventh child James made it through his earliest years, but passed away aged seven or eight in 1887; their eighth child, an unnamed daughter, was born after a six months pregnancy in 1880 and passed away soon after; and their ninth and youngest child Frederick passed away at six weeks old in 1882.

Why did so many of William and Mary Ann's children pass away so young? My initial gut theory was syphilis, which can cause poor pregnancy outcomes. The mother can have many children, but few survive, as is the case here. However, William was dismissed from the army for showing signs of tuberculosis. Did his illness affect the survival of his children? Did he pass it on to them?

Most persons with tuberculosis in the 1800's did not live long with the disease; however, after showing signs in his mid thirties in the mid 1860's, William went on to have nine children, and live for another thirty years, into his mid sixties. I wonder: did he indeed have tuberculosis and was the anomaly who lived long with it? Or was he misdiagnosed and suffered after another condition from which he recovered and lived for many years, or could more likely survive with for many years? Yet, even back then, tuberculosis was well known and easily diagnosed.

Later censuses list William as a labourer, however the females in his family - his wife, mother in law, and daughters - are often listed as laundresses or laundry maids. Was it in fact the females' work that supported the family, whilst ill William did the little labour he could?

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

Jubilee Street, where the family lived, was at the bottom of Weirfield Road in Exeter, and consisted of rows of slum terraced houses, close to the River Exe. Sometime in the 1880's, William and his surviving family moved from Jubilee Street just around the corner to 4 Colleton Grove.

1891 Census:

The 1891 Census lists William's teenage daughter Kate as deaf.

In 1895, William passed away, aged sixty-five, in Exeter. He was buried on 9th March 1895 in Exeter.