My Great x3 Half Uncle William (1861 - 1916) was a stone mason, father of six, and an older half brother of my Great Great Grandfather Walter Boobier (1871 - 1924).
William was born on 6th September 1861, in Tiverton, to William Boobier (about 35), a stone mason, and Emma Boobier (nee Kimmings) (about 35), a laundress.
William was baptised on 26th April 1862 in St Peter, Tiverton. He was named after his father.
William was the sixth of eight children (six sons and two daughters):
- William Edwin Kimmings 1850 - 1851 (14 months)
- Thomas Philip 1851 - 1907 (55 years old)
- William Donald 1854 - 1855 (about 1 year and half)
- Emma Grace 1855 - 1911 (54 years old)
- Edwin John 1858 - 1???
- William Edwin 1861 - 1916 (55 years old)
- Lucy Janet/Jeanette 1863 - 1863 (0 - 3 months)
- George Albert 1864 -
Two of William's older siblings passed away before he was born - both were also called William.
In Oct/Nov/Dec 1851, his eldest brother William Edwin Kimmings passed away, aged about fourteen months.
In May 1855, William Donald passed away, aged about thirteen months. He was buried on 17th May 1855, in St Peter in Tiverton.
1861 Census:
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1863, when Edwin was one, his baby sister, Lucy, passed away, aged zero to three months, in Tiverton.
In the mid-late 1860's, William and his family moved from Tiverton to Exeter.
In January 1867, when Edwin was five, his mother Emma passed away, aged about forty. She was buried on 24th January 1867 in Exeter. William's father remarried the next year. William (about 41) married Jane Mutter (about 30) in May/June 1868.
William had four younger half brothers:
- Robert 1869 -
- Walter 1871 -
- Alfred 1873 -
- Frederick 1874 -
1871 Census:
William, like his father of the same name before him, worked as a stone mason.
1881 Census:
In March or April 1886, when William was twenty-four, his father of the same name passed away, aged about fifty-nine, in Exeter. He was buried on 4th April 1886 in Exeter. He left behind a widow and nine surviving children.
Five years later, in Jan/Feb/Mar 1891, when William was twenty-nine, his step-mother Jane passed away, aged fifty-three, in Exeter. William's younger half brothers were orphaned as teenagers - they managed to support each other and found work in labouring trades.
As a young man, William moved from Exeter to Cadoxton - a village near, but then absorbed, by Barry, Wales. The 1891 Census shows William boarding there, with stone mason John Andrews and his family.
1891 Census:
From around 1893, William (about 33) was in a relationship with Glaswegian Mary Brown, because they had a daughter, Rose, in 1894.
It wasn't until five years later, in Oct/Nov/Dec 1898, that William (37), a stone mason, married Mary (about 34), in Cardiff, Wales.
Mary already had a family before William. She was married to mariner George Jackson and had children including:
- David Jackson 18?? -
- William George Jackson 1891 -
William and Mary had six children according the 1911 Census. Two of whom had passed away before the 1911 Census:
Their four surviving children:
- Edith 'Rose' Rosina 1894 -
- Emily 'Emma' Grace 1899 -
- Beatrice 'Beat' Maud 1902 -
- William 'Thomas' Thomas 1904 -
William likely named his daughter Emily 'Emma' Grace, after his older sister Emma Grace.
Around 1900, the family moved from Wales to Bristol, where children Beatrice and Thomas were born.
The 1901 Census shows William living at 4 Chatterton Place. His neighbour, a street over at 15 Chatterton Square, was this older brother Thomas! Thomas had moved to Bristol, as a young man, in the 1870's, and perhaps inspired his decade-younger brother William to make the move too.
1901:
On 20th July 1907, William's older brother Thomas passed away, aged fifty-five, in Bristol.
In Jan/Feb/Mar 1911, William's older sister Emma Grace passed away, aged fifty-four, in the family's native Tiverton.
1911:
In 1911, William's stepson William George Jackson enlisted in army, but was discharged after only a month, "not being likely to become an efficient soldier". A brief physical description is given on his service record: he had hazel eyes, sandy hair, a fresh complexion and was 5'6''. I wonder if any of William George's younger half siblings shared his colouring.
In Oct/Nov/Dec 1916, William passed away, aged fifty-five, in Bristol. He left behind a widow and four surviving children - his daughters aged twenty-two, seventeen and fourteen, and his son only twelve.
The 1921 Census shows William's daughters Emma and Beatrice became tailoresses.
William's children lived their adult lives in Bristol.
Over forty years after William's death, his son William Thomas's death announcements from 1958, show the family to still be close and loving.
From the Bristol Evening Post of 11th February 1958:
