Great x4 Grandfather William Edworthy

My Great x4 Grandfather William (1785 - 1860) was a husbandman, agricultural labourer, and father of seven.

William Edworthy was born around 1785 in West Worlington, Devon, to John Edworthy (about 40), a husbandman, and Joan Edworthy (nee Lockyear) (about 38).

William was baptised on New Years Day 1786 in West Worlington.

William was the seventh of ten children (six daughters and four sons):

• Mary  1773 - 
• Richard  1775 - 
• Catharine  1776 - 
• Ann  1778 - 
• Elizabeth  1781 -
• Frances  1783 - 
• William  1785 - 
• Joanna  1788 - 
• John  1789 - 1810 (20 years old)
• George  1792 - 

In 1808, when William was about twenty-two, his mother Joan passed away, aged about sixty. Joan was buried on 29th May 1808, in West Worlington.

In 1810, when William was about twenty-four, his younger brother John passed away, aged about only twenty. John was buried on 1st May 1810, in West Worlington. William would name his first son John, perhaps after his deceased brother and father.

On 3rd October 1810, William (about 24), a husbandman and agricultural labourer, married Elizabeth 'Betty' Ford (about 26), in his native West Worlington.

William and Elizabeth had seven children (two daughters and five sons):

• Mary  1811 -
• John  1814 -
• George  1817 -
• William  1820 -
• Anne  1822 -
• James  1824 -
• Samuel  1828 -

In 1820, when William was about thirty-four, his father John passed away, aged about seventy-five. John was buried on 13th June 1820, in West Worlington.

Alas the 1841 Census shows William and Elizabeth living in the poorhouse in West Worlington. All of their children, including their youngest aged only thirteen, were out working as servants, apprentices and labourers on different local farms.

1841 Census:

Though they were no longer in the workhouse, age was still unkind to William and Elizabeth. In their mid sixties, in the 1851 Census, Elizabeth is recorded as deaf; whilst William seemingly struggled to find work as a farm labourer, and is recorded as a pauper.

1851 Census:

In Jan/Feb/Mar 1860, William passed away, aged about seventy-four, in the district of Crediton.

Great x3 Grandfather William Edworthy

My Great x3 Grandfather William (1820 - bef 1901) was a farm labourer and father of eleven.

William was born around 1820 in West Worlington, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 34), a husbandman and agricultural labourer, and Elizabeth Edworthy (nee Ford) (about 35).

William was baptised on 3rd March 1820 in West Worlington.

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

• Mary  1811 -
• John 1814 -
• George  1817 - 
• William  1820 -
• Anne  1822 -
• James  1824 -
• Samuel 1828 -

Alas the 1841 Census shows William's parents, in their fifties, living in the poorhouse at West Worlington. All of their children, including their youngest aged only thirteen, were out working as servants, apprentices and labourers on different local farms. At the time, twenty year old William lived, and worked as a labourer for farmer George Smyth, at Town Farm, East Worlington.

1841 Census:

In 1841, William's future wife Mary Harris, aged only seventeen, gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, whom she called Ann. Was William the father? William's older brother George certainly lived at the time with the Harris family in Lapford (as shown on the 1841 Census), and would soon marry Ann's older sister Mary, meaning it was likely younger siblings William and Mary knew each other. And on the 1851 Census, young Ann is recorded as William's daughter.

On 26th September 1844, William (24) married Mary (20) in Lapford. At the time, Mary was at least seven months pregnant with their son John.

Including Ann, William and Mary had eleven children (four daughters and seven sons):

• Ann  1841 - 1882  (41)
• John  1844 - 1910  (65)
• Elizabeth  1849 - 1917  (about 68)
• William  1852 - 1911  (about 59)
• George  1854 - 1876  (22)
• Samuel  1856 - 1920  (64)
• Ellen  1858 - 1934  (75)
• Lewis  1861 - 1943  (82)
• Frederick  1863 - 1943  (79)
• Frank  1866 - 1929  (63)
• Mary Harris  1869 - 1939  (69)

Sometime in the late 1840s, William and his young family moved from Lapford to Coldridge.

1851 Census:

Age was unkind to William's parents. In their mid sixties, in the 1851 Census, William's mother Elizabeth is recorded as deaf; whilst, his father William senior, seemingly struggled to find work as a farm labourer, and is recorded as a pauper.

Sometime in the early 1850s, William and his family moved from Coldridge to East Worlington.

In 1860, his father William passed away, in his seventies.

1861 Census:

Like William and his siblings before them, William's children each left home at a young age to work on nearby farms.

In 1866, when William was about forty-six, his mother Elizabeth passed away, aged about eighty-two, in South Molton.

1871 Census:

1881 Census:

In late 1886, when William was about sixty-six, his wife Mary passed away, aged about sixty-two, in East Worlington. She was buried on 15th December 1886 in East Worlington.

Widowed, William stayed at Oddislake, East Worlington, where he lived with his son Lewis and his family.

1891 Census:

William passed away in his seventies, sometime in the 1890s or very early 1900s, in the district of Crediton.

Great Great Grandfather William Edworthy

My Great Great Grandfather William (1852 - 1911) was a farm servant, carrier, groom, railway guard, and father of six.

William Edworthy was born around 1852 in Coldridge, Devon, to William Edworthy (about 31), a farm labourer, and Mary Edworthy (nee Harris) (about 28).

William was the fourth of eleven children (four girls and seven boys):

• Ann  1841 - 1882  (41)
• John  1844 - 1910  (65)
• Elizabeth  1849 - 1917  (about 68)
• William  1852 - 1911  (about 59)
• George  1854 - 1876  (22)
• Samuel  1856 - 1920  (64)
• Ellen  1858 - 1934  (75)
• Lewis  1861 - 1943  (82)
• Frederick  1863 - 1943  (79)
• Frank  1866 - 1929  (63)
• Mary Harris  1869 - 1939  (69)

The elder siblings, including William, left home at a very young age to enter service at nearby farms. On the 1861 Census, William, only nine years old, is on the next page from his family, working and living at Rull Farm, East Worlington, as a farm servant. Also working on the farm was 16-year-old Samuel Edworthy, not to be confused with William's younger brother Samuel, but perhaps an older cousin. William's father was a farm labourer - did he also work for farmer Samuel Price at Rull Farm?

Alas information relating to William's teenage years eludes me, and I cannot find him on the 1871 Census, when he would have been about nineteen.

We next find William in 1877, aged twenty-five, having moved as a young man from the mid Devon countryside into the city of Exeter, where he worked as a carrier. A carrier was a driver of a (horse-drawn) vehicle for transporting goods. Did he learn to drive a horse and cart as a young lad on the farm?

On 21st May 1877, William (25) married Bessie Staddon Nott (19) in her native Morchard Bishop. At the time of their marriage, William was living in St Sidwell's, Exeter. The young couple would set up home in William's adoptive Exeter.

William and Bessie had six children (four daughters and two sons):

• Edith Florence Jessie  1878 - 1895 (16)
• William Gilbert John  1880 - 1949 (69)
• Beatrice May  1892 - 1969 (86 or 87)
• Cora Agnes  1886 - 1907 (21)
• Frederick 'Fred' Cecil  1888 - 1975 (87)
• Winifred Violet  1895 - 1982 (87)

Alas two of their children passed away young: Edith, aged sixteen, in 1895, when William was about forty-three; and Cora, aged twenty-one, in 1908, when William was about fifty-five.

In 1881, William, Bessie and their eldest son could be found living at 11 Follett's Buildings, St Mary Major, Exeter:

Follett'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 Exeter's recent cholera outbreaks in mind, Follett oversaw the building of these new tenements of between two and fours rooms, with each tenement having a larder, scullery, water supply, coal cellar and water closet!

Later photograph of Follett's Buildings

The 1881 Census lists William as working as a carman (a variation of a carrier). The baptism records of William's children William Gilbert (1880) and Cora (1886) list William's occupation as a wagoner; whilst the baptism record of William's son Fred (1888) lists William's occupation as a vanman. All are variations of the same job.

By the time of William's daughter Cora's birth in 1886, William, aged about thirty-four, and his family had moved to Hoopern Street, also in Exeter. There Cora was privately baptised on the day of her birth - a practice often done if the child was not expected to live long. Less than a month later, William's mother Mary passed away, aged about sixty-two, in East Worlington.

Possibly due to complications at her birth, Cora retained only the abilities of a very young infant. She was unable to talk, and had to be washed, dressed, fed etc by others. William and Bessie tried to care for Cora at home, but struggled. Cora was initially sent to Earlswood Asylum in Surrey, but in 1904 William and Bessie got her back closer to her home in Exeter and she spent the remainder of her short life in Digby Hospital (Exeter City Asylum). Cora passed away from phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis or a similar progressive wasting disease), aged twenty-one, on 29th December 1907.

The family were still living at Hoopern Street in 1888, when Fred was baptised, but sometime in the early 1890s, they moved to 64 Howell Road, near the railway station. On his youngest daughter Winifred's 1895 baptism record, William's occupation is listed as a railway guard. Previously William had been a carman, and many carmen were employed by the railway for local delivers and collections of goods and parcels. William's sons would both later also work for the railway.

By 1901, William and his family had moved down the road from 64 to 54 Howell Road:

Seemingly no longer a railway guard, in 1901 William was back working with horses, as it seems he did for most of his working life. It is nice to picture William with his horse and cart.

William passed away, aged about fifty-nine, in January 1911, in Exeter. William and his daughters Edith and Cora were all buried at Exeter Higher Cemetery in Heavitree, Exeter, but being poor their graves are alas unmarked. After William's death, his son Fred, aged twenty-two, became the breadwinner and supported his widowed mother Bessie and youngest sister Winifred.