Person:William Edwards (179)

William Edwards was born on 24th September 1875 at Sidlesham in Sussex, son of a dressmaker named Fanny Edwards, formerly Grant, and her husband William Edwards, a traction engine driver. Young William had a twin sister called Edith Eliza. They were the third and fourth of William and Fanny's ten children.

Shortly after the twins' birth, before the next child was born in 1877, the family moved to the neighbouring parish of Pagham. They appear there in the 1881 census. In 1886 William's twin sister Edith Eliza died at the age of ten years old.

The family was still at Pagham in 1891, with William by this time working as an agricultural labourer. By 1901 William was working as a stoker on the railways, and had moved to London. In that year's census he was lodging with a Hulse family in the Deptford area.

On 10th November 1907 William married one of the Hulse's daughters, Mary Ann Rebecca (known as Rebecca). They married at St Mark's Church in Deptford. By this time William was working as an engine driver. When they married he was 32 and she was 21. William and Rebecca appear to have had two daughters, one in 1911 and one after the First World War in 1919. The 1911 census finds William and Rebecca and their two month old daughter living with Rebecca's parents at 82 Milton Court Road in Deptford. After the war they lived with Rebecca's parents at 12 Pagnell Street in Deptford.

Rebecca's father died in 1919. William and Rebecca continued living with her mother at 12 Pagnell Street until at least 1924. They moved away some time between 1924 and 1926; the 1926 electoral roll shows Rebecca's mother still there, but not William and Rebecca.

William's mother died at North Mundham near Chichester in 1925. His father died at Littlehampton in 1933.

By the outbreak of the Second World War, William and Rebecca were living at 81 Hawthorn Road in Bognor Regis on the Sussex coast. William was working as a locomotive driver for the Southern Railway.

William died in Sussex in 1956, aged 81. Rebecca survived him by seventeen years.

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

   b. William EDWARDS, December Quarter 1875, Westhampnett Registration District, Volume 2b, page 336, mother's maiden name Grant

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Sidlesham (Sussex). Parish registers of Sidlesham, 1566-1901. (Chichester: West Sussex County Council).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Sidlesham in the County of Sussex in the Year 1875
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   395 Twins	1875 October 24th	William & Edith Eliza	William & Fanny	Edwards	Sidlesham	Engine Driver	William Bruton, Vicar

   This baptism has been linked to the William Edwards who married Mary Ann Rebecca Hulse on the basis that their marriage certificate says William's father was another William Edwards engine driver, and that in the 1901 and 1911 censuses when William was living with Mary Ann Rebecca his birthplace was given as Siddleston and Siddlesum, both of which are clearly phonetic interpretations of Sidlesham.

3. ↑ 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 1123; Folio 98; Page 10, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Pagham hamlet, Pagham, Sussex
   William Edwards, head, married, male, 34 [1846/7], Engine Driver (Ag[ricultura]l), b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fanny Edwards, wife, married, female, 40 [1840/1], b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Albert Edwards, son, male, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fred Edwards, son, male, 7 [1873/4], Scholar, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   William Edwards, son, male, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Eliza Edwards, daughter, female, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   John Edwards, son, male, 3 [1877/8], b. Pagham, Sussex
   Ann Edwards, daughter, female, 2 [1878/9], b. Pagham, Sussex
   Theresa Edwards, daughter, female, 11 mo [1880], b. Pagham, Sussex

4. ↑ 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 841; Folio 96; Page 8, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Pagham Hamlet, Pagham, Sussex
   4 rooms occupied
   William Edwards, head, married, male, 42 [1848/9], Traction Engine Driver, employed, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   Fanny Edwards, wife, married, female, 48 [1842/3], b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   William Edwards, son, single, male, 15 [1875/6], Agricultural Laborer, employed, b. Sidlesham, Sussex
   John Edwards, son, male, 13 [1877/8], Agricultural Laborer, employed, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Thersa Edwards, daughter, female, 10 [1880/1], Scholar, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Lily Edwards, daughter, female, 9 [1881/2], Scholar, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Louise Edwards, daughter, female, 8 [1882/3], Scholar, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Alfred Edwards, son, male, 6 [1884/5], Scholar, b. Pagham, Sussex

5. ↑ 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 529; Folio 151; Page 75, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 218 Trundley Road, Deptford, London
   5 rooms occupied
   Edw[ar]d Hulse, head, married, male, 60 [1840/1], Railway Clerk, wroerk, b. Canterbury, Kent
   Mary Ann Hulse, wife, married, female, 46 [1854/5], b. Epsom, Surrey
   Edward Hulse, son, single, male, 26 [1874/5], Railway Stoker, worker, b. Epsom, Surrey
   Rebecca Hulse, daughter, single, female, 14 [1886/7], Tailoress, worker, b. Peckham, Surrey
   Joseph Hulse, son, male, 13 [1887/8], b. Peckham, Surrey
   Elizabeth Hulse, daughter, female, 8 [1892/3], b. Peckham, Surrey
   William Edwards, boarder, single, male, 24 [1876/7], Railway Stoker, worker, b. Siddleston [sic], Sussex

6. ↑ 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 2607; Schedule 72, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 82 Milton Court Road, Deptford, London
   6 rooms occupied
   Edward Hulse, head, male, 70 [1840/1], married 30 years, 4 children born to marriage, 4 children still living, No work - printer, b. Canterbury, Kent, Failing eyesight
   Mary Ann Hulse, wife, female, 56 [1854/5], married, b. Epsom, Surrey
   Alfred Joseph Hulse, son, male, 23 [1887/8], Litho Printer, worker, b. Peckham, London
   Elizabeth Emily Hulse, daughter, female, 18 [1892/3], Counterhand, worker, b. Peckham, London
   William Edwards, son in law, male, 36 [1874/5], married 1 year, 1 child born to marriage, 1 child still living, Loco Engine Driver, worker, b. Siddlesum [sic]
   Mary Ann Rebecca Edwards, wife, female, 24 [1886/7], married
   Lily Rebecca Elizabeth Edwards, daughter, female, 2 months [1911]

7.   London, England. Electoral Registers 1832-1965.

   1918
   12 Pagnell Street, Deptford:
   Edwards, Mary Ann Rebecca
   Edwards, William
   Hulse, Edward
   Hulse, Mary Ann
   
   1919
   12 Pagnell Street, Deptford:
   Edwards, Mary Ann Rebecca
   Edwards, William
   Hulse, Edward
   Hulse, Mary Ann
   
   1924
   12 Pagnell Street, Deptford:
   Edwards, Mary Ann Rebecca
   Edwards, William
   Hulse, Mary Ann
   
   1926
   12 Pagnell Street, Deptford:
   Harvie, Edward German
   Harvie, Temperance Annie
   Hulse, Mary Ann

8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Bognor Regis Urban District, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 81 Hawthorn Road, Bognor Regis, Sussex
   Edwards William, male, b. 24 Sep 1875, married, S.R. Locomotive Engine Driver
   Edwards Rebecca ["Mary Ann Rebecca" added in a later hand], female, b. 30 Apr 1886, married, Unpaid domestic duties
   Edwards [later crossed out and replaced with "Butler"] Grace M.C., female, b. 26 Aug 1919, single, Dressmaker
   Ford [later crossed out and replaced with "Thornhill"], Elizabeth / female / 11 Jul 1919 / single / Shop assistant

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

   d. William EDWARDS, December Quarter 1956, Chichester Registration District, Volume 5h, page 504, aged 81 [1874/5]