Person:William Francis (25)

William Francis's origins have yet to be established. He claimed to have been born around 1826 at Lodsworth in Sussex. His first confirmed sighting is on Christmas Day 1857 when he was married to Susannah Edwards at Chichester. The 1861 census finds them living on Southgate in Chichester, with William working as a grocer. William and Susannah appear to have had two children.

William died in 1863, when he was probably only in his late thirties. Susannah survived him by over thirty years.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 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 623; Folio 51; Page 20, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: West side, Southgate, Chichester (Subdeanery), Sussex
   William Francis, head, married, male, 34 [1826/7], Grocer & shopman, b. Lodsworth, Sussex
   Susannah Francis, wife, married, female, 37 [1823/4], b. Pagham, Sussex
   Maria Jane Francis, daughter, unmarried, female, 2 [1858/9], b. Chichester, Sussex
   Jane Smith, boarder, widow, female, 60 [1800/1], Monthly Nurse, b. Horsham, Sussex
   Fanny Croucher, servant, unmarried, female, 15 [1845/6], Domestic Serv[an]t, b. Singleton, Sussex
   John Sherwood, lodger, widower, male, 83 [1777/8], Lawyer out of Practice, b. London [more detailed birthplace illegible]

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

   d. William FRANCIS, September Quarter 1863, Chichester Registration District, Volume 2b, page 201

   There is alternatively a William Henry Francis who died in 1867 in Westhampnett district aged 40, but he can be ruled out as he appears in the 1861 census living at West Itchenor.

3.   England. Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Findmypast).

   William claimed in the 1861 census to have been born at Lodsworth around 1826. There is this baptism:
   ch. 15 Oct 1826, Lodsworth, Sussex: William son of George & Sarah Francis
   but William's marriage certificate gave his father's name as John, not George. Further work required to established whether there were two people called William Francis from Lodsworth born around 1826, or if either William's marriage or baptism records have recorded his father's name incorrectly.