Great Great Uncle William 'John' John Vernon

My Great Great Uncle William 'John' (1894 - 1895) was the younger brother of my Great Great Grandfather Walter Charles Vernon (1892 - 1965).

William was born in Jul/Aug/Sep 1894 in the district of Crediton, Devon, to Isaac 'Harry' Harwood Vernon (25), an agricultural labourer and farm carter, and Lucy Vernon (nee James) (26), a former domestic servant and housewife.

William was baptised on 16th September 1894 in Crediton, Devon.

William was the third of four siblings born to Harry and Lucy (one daughter and three sons):

• Edith Ellen  1891 - 1971  (79 years old)
• Walter Charles  1892 - 1965  (73 years old)
• William John  1894 - 1895  (1 year old)
• Frank  1896 - 1997  (6 months old)

On 27th December 1895, 1-year-old William (recorded on his death certificate as John implying his parents may have called the young boy by his middle name) passed away, in Sandford. He had whooping cough, followed by a convulsive attack.

His younger brother Frank and their mother Lucy were both ill with pulmonary tuberculosis and passed away from the disease.

On 22nd February 1897, Frank passed away, aged only six months, in Langham, Kennerleigh.

One month later, their mother Lucy passed away, aged twenty-nine, on 25th March 1897, in Kennerleigh. Lucy's death left Harry a widower with their two oldest children.

Before Lucy passed away, it seems Harry began an affair with Ellen Tonkins - her son Fred Tonkins, born Apr/May/Jun 1897, was conceived before Lucy's death and Harry would later recognise him as his son. On New Year's Eve 1897, Harry and Ellen married. Before they married, Harry was described as Ellen's lodger. 

William's ten younger half siblings (8 half brothers and 2 half sisters):

• Frederick 'Fred' (born Tonkins, later Vernon)  1897 - 1915  (18)
• Mabel Ellen  1898 - 1994  (95)
• George  1900 - 1900  (0 - 3 months old)
• George Henry  1901 - 1973  (71)
• Ernest Isaac  1904 - 1997  (93)
• Isaac Harry (went by Harry like his father)  1906 - 1964  (58)
• William Harwood  1908 - 1972  (64)
• Florence Emily  1911 - 1993  (82)
• Sidney 'Sid'  1913 - 2004  (91)
• Percy  1915 - 2002  (86)