Person:William Edwards (184)

William Edwards was baptised on 13th December 1801 at Pagham on the Sussex coast, son of Susannah Edwards, formerly Bollard, and her husband James Edwards. William was the eighth of their ten children.

On 29th October 1823 William was married in the nearby city of Chichester to Charlotte Gilbert. They returned to Pagham where they had two sons in 1824 and 1827. Sadly Charlotte died just three months after their second son's baptism. She was said to be 24 years old.

William married again eight months after Charlotte's death. His second wife was Eliza Horner, who was also from Pagham. They do not appear to have had any further children. In 1831 William's younger son died aged three, leaving William with only one surviving son, Charles. The following year William's mother died. It has yet to be established when William's father died.

The 1841 census finds William and Eliza living at Lagness in the parish of Pagham, with William working as an agricultural labourer. William's son Charles was married in 1849.

By 1851 William and Eliza were running the White Horse Inn at Oving, just outside Chichester. William died in 1853, aged 51. He was buried back at his native Pagham on 22nd February 1853. Eliza survived him by about seventeen years. She continued running the White Horse for a year after William's death, before transferring the licence to William's brother James. She remarried in 1856.

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

   Baptisms in 1801 / December 13th / William son of James & Susanna Edwards

   This baptism has been linked to the William Edwards who married Charlotte Gilbert then Eliza Horner on the basis that in the 1851 census (in which he appears with Eliza) he claimed to have been born around 1801 in Pagham. Also, after William's death Eliza transferred the licence of the public house they ran to a James Edwards, who appears to have been brother to the William baptised in 1801.

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 1099; Book 4; Folio 6; Page 5, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Lagness, Pagham, Sussex
   William Collins, male, 75 [1761-6], Ind[ependent], born in county
   Thomas Collins, male, 25 [1811-16], Farmer, born in county
   William Edwards, male, 35 [1801-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Eliza Edwards, female, 30 [1806-11], 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 1652; Folio 416; Page 2, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: White Horse Inn, Oving, Sussex
   William Edwards, head, married, male, 49 [1801/2], Innkeeper, b. Pagham, Sussex
   Eliza Edwards, wife, married, female, 39 [1811/12], Innkeepers Wife, b. Pagham, Sussex

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

   d. William EDWARDS, March Quarter 1853, Westhampnett Registration District, Volume 2b, page 205, aged 51 [1801/2]

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

   BURIALS in the Parish of Pagham in the County of Sussex in the Year 1853
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   713	William Edwards	Oving	Feb[ruary] 22nd 1853	51 y[ea]rs [1801/2]	R. Barker, Vicar