Person:William Mason (63)

William Mason’s origins have yet to be established. The age given when he died suggests that he was born around 1781. His first confirmed sighting is in 1805, by which time he was married to a woman called Mary and living in Kings Worthy in Hampshire. Between 1805 and 1828 William and Mary had ten children baptised at Kings Worthy, including twins in 1821. Many of the children’s baptisms describe William as being a labourer.

Four of William and Mary’s children died when under two years old, including both twins. They also lost a son in 1831, aged sixteen.

William died in 1836, when he was said to be 54 years old. He was buried at Kings Worthy on 2nd March 1836. It has yet to be established when Mary died.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Hampshire Genealogical Society. Hampshire Burial Index, 1400-1841. (Havant, Hampshire, England: Hampshire Genealogical Society, 2011).

   bur. 8 Dec 1829, Kingsworthy / William Mason / 55 [1773/4]
   bur. 2 Mar 1836, Kingsworthy / William Mason / 54 [1781/2]

   There were two William Masons buried at Kings Worthy. The man buried in 1829 left a will, describing himself as a tailor, and a December 1830 newspaper article reports the death of “Ann, widow of the late William Mason of Kings Worthy”. The William Mason who was married to Mary was described as a labourer on their children’s baptism records and a gardener on his daughter Caroline’s marriage certificate. It therefore seems likely that the man buried in 1836 was the one married to Mary rather than the one buried in 1829.