My Great x3 Uncle William (1868 - 1942), was a carter, labourer, private in the army, and the older brother of my Great Great Grandmother Emma Wright (nee Bennett) (1871 - 1944).
William was born on 19th November 1868, in the district of St Thomas, Exeter, Devon, to James Bennett (about 26), a railway labourer, and Sarah Ann Bennett (nee Andrews) (about 24). His military record gives his places of birth as Topsham.
William was baptised on 28th March 1869 in Woodbury, Devon. At the time of William's baptism, the young family were living in the village of Ebford.
(Topsham and Ebford was about a mile from each other. Both are villages, just outside Exeter.)
William was the eldest of two children (one son and one daughter):
- William 1868 - 1942 (73)
- Emma 1871 - 1944 (73)
1871 Census:
In August 1872, when William was only three, his father James Bennett, aged about thirty, died from injuries received in an accident in work. In his role as a packer for the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, he aimed to unload a truck. Alas, he attempted to get into a truck while it was still in motion; he missed his step and his leg got entangled in the wheel!
From the Western Gazzette on 23rd August 1872:
William's young widowed mother Sarah Ann, left a pauper with two young infants, sought relief in Exeter. Sadly, they were not welcomed by the city, and its justices sought to have them removed to South Molton.
From the Western Daily Mercury on 2nd April 1874:
Census records imply Sarah Ann soon remarried, and William and his sister Emma gained a step-father in the form of Scottish veteran of the Crimean War James Clapperton. Yet it should be noted that I cannot find a record of marriage between Sarah Ann and James Clapperton, though they would live for years as husband and wife.
The family of Sarah Ann, her two infants, and her new husband did settle in Exeter; and William and Emma gained six younger half siblings (three brothers and three sisters)
- James 1874
- George Henry 1876
- Walter John 1880 - 1913 (32 years old)
- Minnie 1884
- Ada 1886 - 1888 (1 year and 9 months)
- Florence 'Florrie' Mabel 1889
In 1881, also living or staying with the Clapperton/Bennett family were the Miller family: William's uncle by marriage American Henry Miller, a fellow pensioner and porter of James Clapperton; his young wife Eliza, who was Sarah Ann's younger sister and William's aunt; and their baby daughter Mary Jane, who was William's young cousin.
1881 Census:
On 27th July 1889, William (2982), aged twenty, enlisted as a private in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Before joining the army in Bodmin, Cornwall, her worked as a carter. He was 5' 3 1/2'', had sallow skin, grey eyes and brown hair.
By 1891, William, a young soldier, was living in a barracks in Wales.
1891 Census:
William served at 'home' from 27th July 1889 to 25th November 1892. Then in India from 26th November 1892 - 14th February 1897. Then back at 'home' in the UK from 15th February 1897 - 2nd February 1899. Then back to India from 3rd February 1899 - 21st December 1900. Then in Ceylon from 22nd December 1900 - 21st July 1902. And finally 'home' from 27th July 1902.
In the 1910s and 1920s, William may have been living in boarding houses in Wales.
1911 Census:
1921 Census:
William may have married and been widowed between 1911 and 1921, in his forties, as this William Bennett is listed as a widower on the 1921 Census, and I cannot find another William matching ours on the 1911 and 1921 Census. However, what we know is definitely our William is listed as single - and not a widower - on the 1939 Census.
It's lovely that William and his sister Emma were living together in old age, in Exeter.
1939 Census:
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1942, William passed away, aged seventy-three, in Exeter.
