William was born on 19th October 1880 in Exeter, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 28), a railway guard and horse keeper/groom/carman, and Bessie Staddon Edworthy (nee Nott) (about 21), a housewife.
William was baptised on 1st December 1880 in St Mary Major, Exeter.
William and the second of six children (four girls and two boys) and the eldest son:
- Edith Florence Jessie 1878 - 1895 (16)
- William Gilbert John 1880 - 1949 (69)
- Beatrice May 1882 - 1969 (86 or 87)
- Cora Agnes 1886 - 1907 (21)
- Frederick 'Fred' Cecil 1888 - 1975 (87)
- Winifred Violet 1895 - 1982 (87)
The 1881 Census shows baby William and his young parents living at 11 Follett's Buildings, St Mary Major, Exeter. William's older sister, Edith, then a toddler was meanwhile staying with their maternal grandmother Grace Nott and aunt Jessie Nott, a milliner, in Morchard Bishop.
1881 Census:
Follet's Buildings had been built only seven years earlier in 1874, when an improvement scheme headed by Exeter's mayor Charles Follett had seen their construction. With's Exeter's recent cholera outbreaks in mind, Follett oversaw the building of these new tenements of between two and four rroms, with each tenement having a larder, scullery, water supply, coal cellar and water closet!
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| Later photograph of Follett's Buildings |
The family were still living at Hoopern Street in 1888, when William's younger son Fred was baptised, but sometime in the early 1890s, they moved to 64 Howell Road, near the railway station. On his youngest sister Winifred's 1895 baptism record, their father's occupation is listed as a railway guard. Previously William senior had been a carman, and many carmen were employed by the railway for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. William junior and Fred would both go on to work for the railway.
The 1901 Census shows that as a young man, William moved from his native Exeter and lived and worked briefly in Woking, Surrey (which is at the edge of the Outer London area). He worked as a railway carriage oiler, and boarded with fellow railway carriage worker Harry Francis and his young family.
1901 Census:
William was soon back in Exeter, though he would latter return to the London area for a few years after his marriage.
On 7th October 1901, William (21), a carriage examiner for the L&SWR (London and South Western Railway), married young widow and mother of one Ruth Bloxham (nee Edworthy) (24), in St Davids, Exeter. At the time of their marriage, William and Ruth both resided at Chaplin's Yard, Howell Road. William's family meanwhile lived down the street at Railway Yard, Howell Road. William's father of the same name acted as witness. Ruth's maiden name was also Edworthy - William and Ruth may have been distantly related.
Ruth had a daughter, Gracie Ruth Bloxham, born 1900, from her first marriage. By the 1911 Census, little Grace was using the surname of her step-father William, and on her school record William is listed as her father, implying William unofficially adopted Grace.
William and Ruth had at least eight children (including Grace). The 1911 Census records they had seven children, six of whom were still living at the time. I have only been able to find the name of six of their children (including Grace) born before 1911.
- Gracie 'Grace' Ruth (born Bloxham, later Edworthy) 1900 -
- William 'Willie' 1903 -
- Dorothy 'Dolly' 1906 -
- Stanley 1908 -
- Sydney 1909 -
- Mary 1910 -
- ? (died young) before 1911 - before 1911
- Margaret 1912
- Hilda May 1917
For a short while, the family lived in Harlesden, in North West London! There, William and Ruth's children, William and Dorothy were born in 1903 and 1906. But the family were back in William's native Exeter by 1908 - there all their younger children were born - living at 6 Regents Square in Heavitree.
In January 1911, when William was thirty, his father of the same name passed away, in Exeter.
1911 Census:
Either the street was renumbered or the ever-growing Edworthy family moved into the larger house next door sometime between 1911 and 1915, for the 1911 Census shows them clearly at the four-roomed 6 Regents Square, whilst William's First World War service records and the later 1939 Census give his and his family's address as the six-roomed 5 Regents Square. The number of rooms is as given on the 1911 Census. Also at some point in the twentieth century the street name was slightly altered from Regents - as it was at the time the Edworthy family lived there - to Regent Square - as it is today.
At the time of the First World War, William was in his early thirties and eager to do his bit.
On 21st November 1915, William (35) enlisted as a private in the Labour Corps (175th Labour Company) of the Devonshire Regiment (regimental number was 104541). However, he was 'home' from 21st's November 1915 all the way till 19th March 1917, though willing to fight. Below is a letter William himself wrote in February 1917 offering up his services:
The letter may have had effect for, one month after he wrote it, the 20th March 1917, saw William in France.
On his military record, his character is described as 'good'. He was in receipt of the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
His medical records also show he was 5'7'' and 10 1/2 st. He also had varicose veins on both legs and had had some dental treatment.
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| Photograph of William (about 43) with nephew Stan, 1923 |
On 3rd April 1919, when William was thirty-eight, his mother Bessie passed away, aged about sixty, in Totnes.
Twenty years later, at the eve of the Second World War, William, by then in his late fifties was working as a labourer for what looks like a furniture remover. He and Ruth were still living at 5 Regent Square, Heavitree. All their children had grown up and left home.
1939 Census:
In Oct/Nov/Dec 1949, William passed away, aged sixty-nine, in the district of Exeter.
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