Person:William Moss (39)

Childhood

William Moss was baptised on 5th March 1837 at Caddington in Bedfordshire. He was the eldest child of a straw plaiter named Susannah Moss, formerly Puddephatt, and her husband James Moss, an agricultural labourer. James and Susannah had married just over five months earlier at Caddington. At the time of William's baptism the family was living at Pipers Bottom (now called Mancroft Road) in the hamlet of Aley Green, which fell in the part of Caddington parish which at that time (and until 1897) was in Hertfordshire rather than Bedfordshire. When William was born his maternal grandfather Jeremiah Puddephatt and paternal grandmother Martha Winters (and her husband Thomas Moss) were still alive and living locally. William also had two great grandparents still living when he was born: his maternal grandfather's mother Elizabeth Briden, who died later in 1837, and his paternal grandmother's father William Winters.

William's parents went on to have one more child, a daughter named Elizabeth, baptised at Caddington on 6th December 1840. At the time of Elizabeth's baptism the family was living at Cross, which was just over half a mile north of Aley Green at the crossroads of the roads now called Dunstable Road, Mancroft Road and the track to Bury Farm. Although Cross has subsequently become part of the built up area of Caddington village, at that time it comprised just one or two isolated dwellings surrounded by fields. William's grandmother Martha Moss (formerly Winters) and her husband Thomas Moss also lived at Cross at this time. Shortly after Elizabeth's baptism William's grandmother Martha Winters died.

The census of June 1841 finds William's family still living at Cross. William was four years old and living with his parents and sister and next door to his late grandmother's husband Thomas Moss (who had given his name to the family despite not being James Moss's biological father). Just a few weeks after the 1841 census young William's father James died aged only 23. Later that year William's sister Elizabeth died aged one. In the space of less than six months William's immediate family had gone from being a family of four to just him and his widowed mother, who was still only 27 herself.

In September 1842, William's great grandfather William Winters died. It must have been unusual for William to have lost his father and his father's mother, yet still have her father alive - a family which spanned four generations yet with the two generations in the middle having died.

In November 1842 William's mother Susannah married again, with an agricultural labourer named John King becoming William's stepfather. Susannah and John King do not appear to have had any further children, so William was effectively an only child. The 1851 census finds fourteen year old William working as a farm labourer and living with his mother, stepfather and his stepfather's nephew, a ten year old boy called Edward King.

Marriage to Catherine Warren

On 19th July 1858, William married a bonnet sewer named Catherine Warren. At the time of their marriage William was 21 and Catherine claimed to be 20 (which it has not been possible to verify as she was not baptised until she was an adult). William and Catherine went on to have a daughter named Elizabeth in 1859 and a daughter named Mary in 1860. Both Elizabeth and Mary's baptisms give the family's abode as Tipple Hill, which is where the 1861 census finds them, with William, Catherine and their two daughters living with William's mother and stepfather.

After the 1861 census William and Catherine had another three children: Emily in 1861, James in 1862 and Esther in 1864.

On 26th September 1864, William's wife Catherine died aged just 26, from consumption. William was left looking after five children who ranged in age from five down to about three or four months. The youngest, Esther, had not yet been baptised at the time of her mother's death; she was baptised three days after Catherine's burial. Baby Esther did not long outlive her mother, dying on 29th October 1864 aged five months. Three weeks later, on 18th November 1864, William's daughter Mary also died aged four from fever and pneumonia. In the space of less than two months, William had lost his wife and two of his five children.

Marriage to Bethia King

On New Year's Day 1865 banns of marriage started being read for William to marry Bethia King. They married on 30th January 1865 at Caddington, just over four months after William's first wife Catherine had died. William had known Bethia from childhood, as she was his stepfather's niece and sister of the Edward King who had been living with William and his mother and stepfather back in 1851. Bethia was a few months older than William and, like him, she had been born and brought up in the Aley Green area of Caddington, with her family living at Pipers Bottom.

Bethia and William went on to have nine children together between 1865 and 1882. The 1871 census finds them living at Aley Green next to a public house called The Boot, which elsewhere is described as being on Tipple Hill, suggesting the family may have been living on or near Tipple Hill Road - now a track leading from Mancroft Road to Manor Road, but contemporary maps show that there were houses on Tipple Hill Road. At the time of the 1871 census, two of William's three surviving children from his first marriage were not living with him. His daughter Elizabeth was living with William's stepfather John King, whilst his daughter Emily was living with her maternal grandmother Elizabeth Warren.

The only one of William's three surviving children from his first marriage living with William in the 1871 census was his son James. The following year, aged only nine, young James was prosecuted for theft. It was the first of a number of times James would be prosecuted. In 1875 William's stepfather John King died, leaving William's mother Susannah a widow again. William's eldest daughter Elizabeth continued living with Susannah at Aley Green. William's son James was not so helpful towards his grandmother; in 1879 James was convicted of breaking into her house and stealing clothes. At that time it was said he "had for years been addicted to such practices". James was later to spend time in St Albans jail (where he appears in the 1881 census) before being sent to India in 1882.

William became a grandfather in 1879, when his eldest daughter Elizabeth had a daughter named Laura, although sadly she died aged two. The 1881 census finds William, Bethia and six of their children living at Aley Green. Although William was already a grandfather, he and Bethia were still having children themselves at this time. Their youngest, Ada Lavinia, was born in 1882, by which time not only had William's children from his first marriage left home but so too had the eldest child he and Bethia had together: Susannah was working as a general servant in the neighbouring town of Luton by 1881. By the time Ada Lavinia was born William and Bethia were both 45 years old.

Luton

In 1881, William's landlord put the cottage William rented at Aley Green up for sale. It was described as being one of row of four cottages at Aley Green which adjoined a property called Rose Cottage. There is still a Rose Cottage at Aley Green, on Pipers Lane, and contemporary maps show that there was a row of four cottages immediately north of it, which have since been partly demolished and combined to become a single house called Christmas Cottage. After the landlord sold the cottage, William and his family appear to have left Aley Green and moved to the nearby town of Luton.

The 1891 census finds them living at 146 Chapel Street (which was part of the stretch of Chapel Street now known as Farley Hill). As well as William, Bethia and seven of their children there were also four grandchildren, who were William's daughter Susannah's children, along with their father Thomas Lewis, making for fourteen people living in the house. Whilst the house was described as having more than five rooms, contemporary maps suggest that it was part of a terrace of fairly modest properties.

William and Bethia briefly returned to Caddington parish, although not to the Aley Green area. The 1901 census finds them at Farley Green, which was just over the border between Caddington and Luton at the top of Farley Hill. William was described as a cowman on a farm. They later returned to the same terrace of houses at the bottom of Farley Hill in Luton. That terrace (which appears to have been demolished in the 1920s) was home to several of William's family around this time - he and Bethia lived at number 138, their daughter Susannah and her family lived at number 148 and their daughter Bethia and her family lived at number 152.

Bethia died on 4th December 1906, aged 70, at 138 Farley Hill. William survived her by just over four years. He appears in the 1911 census living with his daughter Bethia's family at 152 Farley Hill. He had lived to see at least 63 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

William died just four days after the 1911 census, on 6th April 1911 at 152 Farley Hill. He was 74.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Caddington Parish Registers. (Bedford: Bedfordshire Record Office).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Caddington in the County of Bedford in the Year 1837
   No.	Date	Name	Parents	Surname	Abode	Father's occupation	Performed by
   1255	March 5th	William Son of	James & Susan	Moss	Piper's Bottom	Laborer	W. Mellard, Vicar

   This baptism has been linked to the adult William Moss on the basis that on both his marriage certificates William gave his father's name as James Moss, in the censuses he gave ages suggesting he was born between 1835 and 1839 and gave a birth place of either the parish of Caddington or the hamlet of Aley Green - and Pipers Bottom was an old name for the main road (now called Mancroft Road) through Aley Green. Also no evidence has been found to suggest that the William the subject of this baptism died young or was someone other than the adult William who married Catherine Warren and Bethia King.

   
2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 440; Book 10; Folio 37; Page 8, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Cross, Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Thomas Moss, male, 55 [1781-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. in county
   ~ next household ~
   James Moss, male, 20 [1816-21], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. in county
   Susanna Moss, female, 25 [1811-16], b. in county
   William Moss, male, 4 [1836/7], b. in county
   Elizabeth Moss, female, 7 months [1840], b. in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1757; Folio 342; Page 10, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Caddington, Hertfordshire
   John King, head, married, male, 37 [1813/4], Farm Labourer, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Susan King, wife, married, female, 37 [1813/4], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   William Moss, son in law, unmarried, male, 14 [1836/7], Farm Labourer, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Edward King, nephew, male, 10 [1840/1], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1015; Folio 89; Page 3, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Tipple Hill, Caddington, Hertfordshire
   John King, head, married, male, 48 [1812/3], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Cadd[ingto]n, Hertfordshire
   Susan King, wife, married, female, 48 [1812/3], Straw Plaiter, b. Cadd[ingto]n, Hertfordshire
   ~ second household in same house ~
   William Moss, head, married, male, 24 [1836/7], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Cadd[ingto]n, Hertfordshire
   Catherine Moss, wife, married, female, 22 [1838/9], Bonnet Sewer, b. Cadd[ingto]n, Bedfordshire
   Elizabeth Moss, daughter, female, 2 [1858/9], b. Cadd[ingto]n, Bedfordshire
   Mary Moss, daughter, female, 1 [1859/60], b. Cadd[ingto]n, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1568; Folio 28; Page 15, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Aley Green (listed immediately after "The Boot"), Caddington, Hertfordshire
   William Moss, head, married, male, 33 [1837/8], Lab[ourer], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Bethia Moss, wife, married, female, 34 [1836/7], Sewer, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   James Moss, son, male, 8 [1862/3], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Susan Moss, daughter, female, 5 [1865/6], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Alberta Moss, daughter, female, 3 [1867/8], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Maude Moss, daughter, female, 1 [1869/70], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Ellen Moss, daughter, female, 8mo [1870], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire

6. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 1653; Folio 136; Page 4, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Aley Green, Caddington, Hertfordshire
   William Moss, head, married, male, 42 [1838/9], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Bethia Moss, wife, married, female, 44 [1836/7], Bonnet Sewer, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Victoria A. Moss, daughter, female, 13 [1867/8], Bonnet Sewer, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Alice M.M. Moss, daughter, female, 11 [1869/70], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Walter A. Moss, son, male, 9 [1891/2], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Prince L. Moss, son, male, 6 [1894/5], Scholar, b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   William A. Moss, son, male, 4 [1896/7], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire
   Bethia Moss, daughter, female, 2 [1898/9], b. Caddington, Hertfordshire

7. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1274; Folio 59; Page 38, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 146 Chapel Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Five or more rooms occupied
   William Moss, head, married, male, 53 [1837/8], Agricultural Laborer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Bertha Moss, wife, married, female, 55 [1835/6], employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Susanah Moss, daughter, single, female, 25 [1865/6], Hat Sewer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Alice M. Moss, daughter, single, female, 21 [1869/70], Hat Sewer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Ellen S. Moss, daughter, single, female, 20 [1870/1], Hat Sewer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Walter B. Moss, son, male, 18 [1872/3], General Laborer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Prince L. Moss, son, male, 16 [1874/5], Agricultural Laborer, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   William A. Moss, son, male, 14 [1876/7], Errand Boy, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Bethia Moss, daughter, female, 12 [1878/9], Scholar, employed, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, stepson, married, male, 34 [1856/7], Rag & Bone Collector, employed, b. Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire
   Thomas Lewis, grandson, male, 5 [1885/6], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Arthur Lewis, grandson, male, 4 [1886/7], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Ethel Bert Lewis, grandson [sic], female, 3 [1887/8], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Harry Lewis, grandson, male, 1 [1889/90], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

8. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1519; Folio 104; Page 1, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: Farley Green, Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Five or more rooms occupied
   William Moss, head, married, male, 65 [1835/6], Cowman on Farm, worker, b. Aley Green, Hertfordshire
   Bethiar Moss, wife, married, female, 63 [1837/8], b. Aley Green, Hertfordshire
   Bethiar Moss, daughter, single, female, 22 [1878/9], Straw Hat Sewer, worker, b. Aley Green, Hertfordshire
   Ada Moss, daughter, single, female, 19 [1881/2], Straw Hat Sewer, worker, b. Aley Green, Hertfordshire

9. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), (formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 9013; Schedule 607, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 152 Chapel Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
   3 rooms occupied
   William Moss, father, 75 [1835/6], Widower, married 40 years, 17 children born alive, 12 children still living, Gardener, worker, b. Caddington
   Hubert Tompkins, head, male, 30 [1880/1], married 6 years, 1 child born alive, 1 child still living, General Laberor, worker, b. Markyate, Hertfordshire
   Oliver Tompkins, boarder, male, 27 [1883/4], single, General Laberor, worker, b. Markyate, Hertfordshire
   Jenny Moss, wife, female, 31 [1879/80], married 6 years, 1 child born alive, 1 child still living, Sewing Hats, worker, b. Caddington, Bedfordshire
   Sidney Moss, son, male, 7 [1903/4], School, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

10. ↑ Death certificate, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

    Registration District Luton
    1911 DEATH in the Sub-district of Luton in the County of Bedford
    No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of registrar
    68	Sixth April 1911 152 Farley Hill Luton UD	William Moss	Male	74 years	Formerly a Gardener (Jobbing)	Bronchitis Heart Failure Certified by J. Robertson M.B.	B. Tompkins Daughter Present at the death 152 Farley Hill Luton	Seventh April 1911	Edward Barnard Registrar

11.   Luton Reporter, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
    Page 4, 30 Jul 1881.

    ALEY GREEN,
    Between Caddington and Markyate Street.
    FOUR FREEHOLD COTTAGES with large and productive Gardens, situate at Aley Green,
    TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY
    Mr. CUMBERLAND
    At the "Red Lion" Hotel, Luton, WEDNESDAY August 3rd 1881, at 5 for 6 o'clock in the Evening by order of the proprietor, in One Lot.
    One Cottage is Brick and Tiled, two and Brick and Thatched, and one is Brick and Slated. Each has a Wood Barn, and there is a Washhouse used jointly. They are now occupied by Henry Anstee, Arthur Bunyan, William Moss, and Thomas Perry, at weekley rents amounts to £21 9s. per annum. The landlord paying the rates.
    A right to the joint use of the well of water is reserved for the owner and occupier for the time being of Rose Cottage, which adjoins the property for Sale, which is bounded at the west and north by land belonging to Chew's Free School, Dunstable.
    May be viewed on application to Mr. Simmonds, at Rose Cottage, and further particulars had of Mr. Geo. Bailey, Solicitor, Luton; and of the Auctioneer, Park Square, Luton.