Person:Henry Edwards (46)

Henry Edwards was baptised on 12th January 1800 at Pagham on the Sussex coast. He was the seventh of ten children of Susannah Edwards, formerly Bollard, and her husband James Edwards. It has yet to be established when Henry's father died. Henry's mother died in 1832.

Henry was married on 9th July 1833, aged 33, to Ann Luff. She was originally from Fernhurst, also in Sussex, but they married in Portsea, the parish which surrounded the town of Portsmouth in Hampshire. After their marriage they moved to Chichester, where their first son, Walter Henry, was baptised in 1835. They then moved to Runcton in the parish of North Mundham, a little way south of Chichester, where they had twins, George and William, in 1836. Sadly the twins died as babies, both being buried on Christmas Day 1836.

Henry and Ann had one further son, Alfred, baptised at North Mundham in 1840. The children's baptisms describe Henry as a labourer.

The 1841 census finds Henry living in Runcton alone and working as a servant, whilst Ann and their two surviving sons Walter and Alfred were staying with Ann's widowed sister, Hannah Child, who ran an inn in Chichester. The 1851 census finds Henry, Ann, their son Alfred and Ann's sister Hannah Child living at Chilgrove in the parish of West Dean. By this time Henry was working as a gardener. They had moved again by 1861, with Henry, Ann and Ann's sister Hannah Child living at Cocking.

Ann in 1863, aged 65. Henry outlived her by about 21 years. He appears in the 1871 census lodging in Runcton. In 1881 he was boarding with his widowed niece, Susannah Francis (Henry's late brother James's daughter), at 15 Florence Lane, Portfield, in the parish of Oving but on the edge of Chichester.

Henry died in 1884, aged 84.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Church of Pagham (Sussex). Parish registers for Pagham, 1707-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   Baptisms in 1800 / January 12th Henry son of James & Susannah Edwards

   This baptism has been linked to the Henry Edwards who married Ann Luff on the basis that in the censuses he consistently claimed to have been born around 1800 in Pagham, and in the 1881 census he was living with a Susannah Francis, who was niece of the Henry baptised in 1800, being daughter of that Henry's brother James.

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 1100; Book 10; Folio 5; Page 8, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Runcton Village, North Mundham, Sussex
   Henry Edwards, male, 40 [1796-1801], M[ale] S[ervant], born 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 1655; Folio 5; Page 2, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Chilgrove, West Dean, Sussex
   Henry Edwards, head, married, male, 51 [1799/1800], Gardener, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Ann Edwards, wife, married, female, 54 [1796/7], b. Fernhurst, Sussex
   Alfred Edwards, son, male, 10 [1840/1], Scholar, b. Mundham, Sussex
   Hannah Child, lodger, widow, female, 60 [1790/1], b. Fernhurst, Sussex

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 626; Folio 11; Page 16, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Cocking, Sussex
   Henry Edwards, head, married, male, 61 [1799/1800], Gardener, b. Lagnes, Sussex
   Ann Edwards, wife, married, female, 64 [1796/7], b. Fernhurst, Sussex
   Hannah Childs, visitor, widow, female, 74 [1786/7], b. Fernhurst, Sussex

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 1112; Folio 48; Page 8, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Mill House, Runcton, North Mundham, Sussex
   John Ide, head, married, male, 36 [1834/5], Miller Journeyman, b. Oving, Sussex
   Sarah Ide, wife, married, female, 39 [1831/2], b. Cocking, Sussex
   Ellen Ide, daughter, female, 9 [1861/2], Scholar, b. Boxgrove, Sussex
   William Stoveld, boarder, unmarried, male, 19 [1851/2], Miller, b. Westhampnett, Sussex
   Henry Edwards, lodger, widower, male, 71 [1799/1800], Farm Servant, b. Pagham, Sussex

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 1126; Folio 96; Page 36, 3 Apr 1881.

   15 Florance [sic] Lane, Portfield, Oving, Sussex
   Susanna Francis, head, widow, 57 [1823/4], Laundress, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Maria Jane Francis, daughter, unmarried, female, 22 [1858/9], Laundress, b. Chichester, Sussex
   William Francis, son, unmarried, male, 17 [1863/4], No occupation, b. Chichester, Sussex, Epileptic from Birth
   Henry Edwards, boarder, widower, male, 81 [1799/1800], Gardener, b. Pagham, Sussex

7. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Henry EDWARDS, June Quarter 1884, Westhampnett Registration District, Volume 2b, page 224, aged 84 [1799/1800]