Great x4 Grandfather William Vernon

My Great x4 Grandfather William (1794 - 1860) was a labourer, husbandman, pauper, and father of eight.

William Vernon was born around 1794 in South Molton, Devon to William Vernon (about 22), a labourer and gardener, and Mary Vernon (nee Bray) (about 22).

William was baptised on 16th March 1794 in South Molton. William's parents had only married three months earlier on New Years Day 1794, implying Mary was pregnant with William when she married. William, being the couple's firstborn son, was named for his father.

William was the eldest of seven children (five sons and two daughters):

• William  1794 -
• Elizabeth  1799 -
• Arthur  1803 -
• James  1806 - 1841 (34 years old)
• John  1809 -
• Henry  1813 -
• Mary  1815 -

All seven children were baptised in South Molton.

On 26th September 1824, William (about 30), a labourer, married Sarah Prout (about 22) in South Molton. On the record of their marriage, whilst Sarah left only her mark, implying she could not write, William was able to sign him name. They married in the presence of William's younger brother Arthur Vernon.

Signature of William Vernon, 1824

William and Sarah had eight children (five sons and three daughters):

• John 1827 - 1855 (28 years old)
• William  1829 -
• Mary  1831 - 1845 or 1847 (13 - 16 years old)
• James  1833 -
• Henry  1835 -
• Elizabeth  1839 -
• Thomas  1841 -
• Sarah Bray  1843 -

Records of baptism of their eldest sons, John and William, list the young family as residing on East Street in South Molton in the late 1820s.

Around 1830, William, Sarah and their two infant children moved from South Molton, about twelve miles south west, to Ashreigney. Sadly, they resided for some time in the poorhouse there. Their children, Mary and James, were born in Ashreigney poorhouse.

It seems the family managed to leave behind the poorhouse by the mid 1830s. The 1835 baptism record of their next and sixth child Henry lists their abode as Hayes. Hayes was likely around today's Little Hayes Plantation, a wooded and laked area, and Hayes Moor, both just to the south west of Ashreigney. Interestingly, William and Mary baptised baby Henry in an independent church (rather then a Church of England church) in nearby Chumleigh. Does this baptism show a shift in their Christian belief?

Perhaps not, for the couple baptised their younger children once more in C of E churches. The baptism record of their next son Thomas, from January 1841, interestingly shows that the family were back living on East Street up in South Molton. The 1841 Census shows William's parents and younger sister Elizabeth living on East Street; also further up the street were William's younger brother Henry and his wife Ann; however, I cannot find William and his family there on the 1841 census.

When William was about forty-seven, his younger brother James passed away, aged thirty-four, in January 1841. He was buried on 31st January 1841 in South Molton. His abode was also listed at East Street. East Street in South Molton seems to have been a real base for the Vernon family from at least the 1820s through into the 1850s.

Colourised Photograph of East Street, South Molton, c 1900

William's eldest daughter Mary passed away as a teenager in either 1845 or 1847 in South Molton. (There are records of death for a Mary Vernon in South Molton in both years, and there isn't a way to find out which is our Mary, as there is no age given)

By the time of the 1851 Census, William and his family were back in Hayes, which is then described as a hamlet, and their home called Clarkes Hayes. Though not back in the workhouse, the family was alas again struggling. William and his eldest son John were described as paupers, William's middle sons were away from home working as servants and labourers on farms (and were maybe sending money home), but the only individual bringing in money at home seems to have been William's young daughter, twelve-year-old glover Elizabeth.

1851 Census:

William's relationship, or rather lack of, with his father of the same name is hinted to in the latter's 1854 will. William is left by his father "the sum of five pounds, to be paid by my executors hereinafter named, six months after my decease; likewise I give unto my son William all my wearing apparel except my watch, to be delivered after my funeral." After William's widow mother Mary's death, remaining unnamed items were written to be sold and the money raised to be divided between the children with one exception: "share and share alike, except my son William who shall have nothing therewith to do." Whilst William's younger surviving three brothers, Arthur, John and Henry, were left, along with household items, each a dwelling house with a garden, and named as executors, pauper William was left very little. Why?

In 1855, William's eldest son John passed away, aged twenty-eight, in Ashreigney or Ring's Ash. He was buried on 25th March 1855, in Ashreigney or Ring's Ash. Sadly his abode was listed as Torrington Union Work House.

William's younger brother Henry emigrated to Australia. Henry's Australian descendant Norman did a great deal of research on the Vernon family tree in the 1980s, and was in correspondence with my father in the 1990s. Each shared their research with the other; and Norman even shared a small photograph of Henry. I wonder: did brothers Henry and William look alike?

Photograph of William's younger brother Henry

William passed away, in his mid sixties, in 1860. He was buried in Ashreigney or Ring's Ash on 25th November 1860.