Person:William Killwick (1)

William Christopher Killwick (or William Crisp Killwick) was born on 12th February 1818 and baptised at Trincomalee on the island of Ceylon (since renamed Sri Lanka). He was the son of Sarah (or Sally) Isabella Killwick, formerly Williams, and her husband Edward Killwick, who was a commander in the navy of the British colonial government of Ceylon, being the commander of a ship called the Kandyan. William's parents were British, having married at Falmouth in Cornwall in 1809. William's father later held posts in the administration of Ceylon, serving as a magistrate in Mullaitivu in 1818 and 1819, and was appointed Master Attendant of Trincomalee in December 1821. Sadly both William's parents both died on the same day in June 1822 from cholera, when William was only four years old. They were buried at Trincomalee. William and his three siblings were sent back to Britain to the care of their paternal grandfather, who was granted a pension from the authorities of £40 a year to look after the four children.

Back in Britain, William was sent to the Greenwich Hospital School in Kent, then a little outside London, attending there from just after his eleventh birthday. His younger brothers followed him to the same school.

By 1841, William was working as a draper at Ely in Cambridgeshire. The census finds him, another draper and a servant living together on Fore Hill in the centre of the city.

On 5th Augusut 1843, aged 25, William married Eliza Timothy at Stepney in Middlesex, in the eastern suburbs of London. They went on to have two sons together. Their first son, Edward William, was born in 1845 in St Pancras, when William was described as a cheesemonger and the family was living at Brill Row. Their second son, David, was born in 1847 in the Kent Street / Old Kent Road area of Southwark.

The 1851 census finds William, Eliza, their two sons and a servant living at 15 Kent Street in Southwark, with William working as a master upholsterer. By 1861 they had moved to 5 St James's Place in Bermondsey.

In 1869 William's business failed and he was declared bankrupt. He was described as a mattress manufacturer and upholsterer at the time, with premises in both Clerkenwell and Rotherhithe. Hearings continued over the next couple of years. It was established that he had debts of about £1,972 but his assets were only around £1,417.

The 1871 census finds William, Eliza and their younger son living at 87 Jamaica Road in Bermondsey, along with a servant called Jane Timothy, who was likely a relative of Eliza's. The family was still at 87 Jamaica Road in 1881, when William was listed as 'David Killmark' and described as a furniture dealer.

Some time between 1881 and 1891, William and Eliza seem to have separated. The 1891 census finds her living with her elder son in Mile End Old Town. William had set up home with a woman called Elizabeth Brain and was living with her at 205 Roman Road in Stratford-le-Bow to the east of London, and working as a tobacconist and confectioner. He was listed as 'Edward Brain' in the 1891 census, using his father's first name and Elizabeth's surname.

William's wife Eliza died in 1894, aged about 76.

William and Elizabeth appear together again in the 1901 census, again using different names, describing themselves as William and Elizabeth Cripp, seemingly a variant of William's middle name. Elizabeth's nephew Edgar Brain was living with them (he had previously lived with Elizabeth in the 1881 census too). It is not clear what happened to Elizabeth after 1901. William was again working as an upholsterer at this time.

William died in 1909 in the Brentford area of Middlesex, aged 91.

1. ↑ Trincomalee Birth and Baptism Records, accessed 13 Mar 2020.

   St Stephen's Church Trincomalee Births / Baptisms
   KILLWICK
   William Christopher son of Edward Killwick and Sarah his wife

2. ↑ Discovery Catalogue (The National Archives).

   Reference: ADM 73/274/64
   Description: William Crisp Killwick. When admitted to Greenwich Hospital School: 7 March 1829. Applicant born 12 February 1818. Parents died in Ceylon on the same day from cholera leaving paternal grandfather to care for 4 children. [He made successful applications to get 3 boys into the school].
   
   Reference: ADM 73/274/63
   Description: John Arthur Clubb Killwick. When admitted to Greenwich Hospital School: 22 April 1831. Applicant born 8 August 1819. Parents married 1809 in Falmouth.
   
   Reference: ADM 73/274/62
   Description: James King Killwick. When admitted to Greenwich Hospital School: 28 September 1832. Applicant born 6 December 1820 in Ceylon. Family Bible accepted as proof of this as no other documentation available. Parents married 19 August 1809 in Falmouth.

3. ↑ 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 88; Book 12; Folio 15; Page 24, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Fore Hill, Ely (Trinity parish), Cambridgeshire
   William Killwick, male, 20 [1816-21], Draper, not born in county
   Robert Howley, male, 20 [1816-21], Draper, born in county
   Mary Ingle, female, 20 [1816-21], F[emale] S[ervant], born in county

4. ↑ 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 1563; Folio 276; Page 8, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: 15 Kent Street, Southwark (St George the Martyr), Surrey
   Will[ia]m Killwick, head, married, male, 32 [1818/19], Upholsterer Mast[e]r, b. Ceylon, British Subject
   Eliza Killwick, wife, married, female, 30 [1820/1], Assistant, b. Stepney, Middlesex
   Edw[ar]d Killwick, son, male, 6 [1844/5], b. Pancras, Middlesex
   David Killwick, son, male, 4 [1846/7], b. St Geo[rge] the Mar[tyr], Surrey
   Emma Davis, servant, unmarried, female, 18 [1832/3], House Servant, b. Lambeth, Surrey

5. ↑ 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 320; Folio 7; Page 7, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: 5 St James's Place, Bermondsey, Surrey
   William Killwick, head, married, male, 46 [1814/15], Upholsterer, b. Africa, British Subject
   Eliza Killwick, wife, married, female, 38 [1822/3], b. Stepney, Middlesex
   Edward Killwick, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1845/6], b. Somers Town, Middlesex
   David Killwick, son, male, 13 [1847/8], b. Kent Road, Surrey

6. ↑ 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 634; Folio 126; Page 29, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: 87 Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, Surrey
   William Killwick, head, married, male, 50 [1820/1], Upholsterer, b. Africa
   Eliza Killwick, wife, married, female, 47 [1823/4], b. Wales
   David Killwick, son, unmarried, male, 22 [1848/9], Upholsterer, b. Old Kent Road, Surrey
   Jane Timothy, servant, unmarried, female, 18 [1852/3], General Serv[ant], b. Old Kent Road, Surrey

7. ↑ 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 565; Folio 111; Page 13, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address 87 Jamaica Road, Bermondsey, Surrey
   David Killmark, head, married, male, 69 [1811/12], Furniture dealer, b. Ceylon, British
   Eliza Killmark, wife, married, female, 50 [1830/1], b. Wales
   Caroline Edwards, female, 16 [1864/5], Domestic Serv[ant], b. Marlow

8. ↑ 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 316; Folio 106; Page 31, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 205 Roman Road, Stratford le Bow, London
   Edward Brain, head, married, male, 58 [1832/3], Confectioner & Tobacconist, neither employer nor employed, b. Ceylon
   Elizabeth Brain, wife, married, female, 48 [1842/3], b. Barlling, Kent

9. ↑ 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 279; Folio 121; Page 12, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 112 Goldsmith Row, Shoreditch, London
   William Cripp, head, married, male, 76 [1824/5], Upholsterer, worker, b. Ceylon
   Elizabeth Cripp, wife, married, female, 52 [1848/9], b. Berry Green, Kent
   Edgar Blain, boarder, single, male, 39 [1861/2], Uph[olsterer], worker, b. Berry Green, Kent

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

    d. William Crisp KILLWICK, September Quarter 1909, Brentford Registration District, Volume 3a, page 76, aged 97 [1811/12]

11.   England. The London gazette. (London, England)
    Page 7353, 24 Dec 1869.

    William Killwick, trading under the style and firm of M. Killick and Co., of No. 12, Clerkenwell-close, Clerkenwell, in the county fo Middlesex, and No. 396, Rotherhithe-wall, in the county of Surrey, Mattrass [sic] Manufacturer and Upholsterer, having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, in London, on the 21st day of December, 1869, is hereby required to surrender himself to Philip Henry Pepys, Esq., a Registrar of the said Court, at the first meeting of creditors to be held before the said Registrar, on the 13th day of January next, at eleven of the clock in the forenoon precisely, at the said Court. Mr. George John Graham, of No. 25, Coleman street, London, is the Official Assignee, and Mr. H.R. Jones, of East Temple-chambers, Whitefriars, is the Solicitor acting in the bankruptcy.

12.   Clerkenwell News, in United Kingdom. The British Newspaper Archive
    Page 5, 9 Feb 1871.

    RE WILLIAM KILLWICK.
    This was an examination and discharge sitting under the bankruptcy, on his own petition, of William Killwick, trading under the style or firm of W. Killwick and Company, of No. 1, Clerkenwell close, and No. 396, Rotherhithe-wall, Surrey, mattress manufacturer, who ascribed his failure to want of capital, pressure by being sued by creditors, and profits being insufficient to meet his necessary expenses. His total debts are stated at £1,972 12s. 6d., against assets £1,417 8s. 7d., and deficiency £555 3s. 11d. His expenditure was not stated. His examination had been adjourned on the ground of having filed defective accounts, and Mr. Bagley, as counsel for the creditors' assignee, having stated that the bankrupt had not complied with the former order of the Court, his examination was adjourned sine die, and he was ordered to pay the costs of the former sittings.