Person:William Spire (2)

William Spire was baptised on 13th October 1776 at Buckland in Gloucestershire, son of Mary Spire, formerly Whitford, and her husband Isaac Spire, a weaver. He was their second child, having an older sister called Elizabeth. In 1778, when William was less than two years old, his mother died.

William’s next sighting is on 15th September 1794, aged about eighteen, when he married Elizabeth Hale at Buckland. They settled in the hamlet of Laverton in the parish of Buckland, where they went on to have ten children together between their marriage and 1817.

Only four of their children survived to adulthood. A son died as a baby in 1801. They also had two daughters who died in 1806 and 1809 for whom no baptism records have been found, but who were probably not babies when they died given how close their burial dates were to the known birthdates of other children. Another daughter died in 1814 when about eighteen months old, and a son died in 1815 when just a few days old. The baptism records of some of the children describe William as being a weaver.

William’s eldest son, Thomas, married in 1819 and William's first known grandchild was born later that year.

In 1823 William’s daughter Ann died aged 17.

William’s father died in 1824, having left Buckland and returned to his native parish of Ashton under Hill, about six miles to the west.

William’s sister Elizabeth had moved to the London area and married a gentleman called Jeremiah Knill. Elizabeth and Jeremiah do not appear to have had any children. Elizabeth died in 1830. In 1837 Jeremiah died, leaving a will and several codicils. In the will he left an annual income to William and his wife Elizabeth, but then in two of the codicils left different incomes to them. It was not clear whether the payments mentioned the codicils were intended to be on top of payments list in the main will, or instead of them. The Spires took the executor to court, arguing that the payments were cumulative. The case concluded in 1839 in favour of the Spires, giving them a combined income of £60 per year. Considering average earnings at the time were around £34 per year, this would have enabled them to live relatively comfortably.

That said, the 1841 census finds Elizabeth living in Laverton working as a servant for Elizabeth Sperry, one of William’s cousins. William and one of their grandsons were living elsewhere in the village.

In 1845 William’s son William’s wife died aged 35, and so the younger William was left with five surviving children aged between eleven years and just seventeen days old to look after. He was a policeman and was regularly posted to different parts of Gloucestershire. The five children therefore came to live in Laverton with their grandparents. In 1848 William’s son William was discharged from the police on grounds of ill health, having developed a heart condition, and he too came to live with his parents and children at Laverton.

The 1851 census finds William, Elizabeth their son William and his five children all living in the same house in Laverton.

William died aged 77, and was buried at Buckland on 5th January 1854. He and Elizabeth had been married for 59 years. He had seen eighteen grandchildren born in his lifetime (although some had died young) and he also lived to see great grandchildren. Elizabeth survived him by less than two years.

1. ↑ Church of England. Buckland Parish Registers, 1539-2000. (Gloucester: Gloucestershire Archives).

   1776 / Oct[obe]r 13 Baptiz[e]d Will[ia]m Son of Isaak & Mary Spires

2.   Reports of Cases in Chancery, argued and determined in The Rolls Court during the time of Lord Langdale, Master of the Rolls. (Bevan, London, 1840)
   Page 419.

   SPIRE v. SMITH.
   1839. May 28.
   Several annuities given by will and codicils, held to be cumulative.
   THE question in this case was, whether certain annuities, given by the will and codicils of the testator, were cumulative or substitutional.
   By his will the testator gave as follows:- “I give to Mr. William Spire, of Laverton, in the parish of Buckland, in Gloucestershire, 20l. per annum for and during his natural life, and should he die before his present wife, at his demise I will that she shall have 50l. for herself, in order that she may bury him gentlemanlike with that sum. I will that my executors shall so arrange matters, that he may receive those payments quarterly, without failure even once.”
   By a second codicil to his will, the testator gave as follows:- “1837, July 20th, I give to William Spire, of Laverton, in the parish of Buckland, in Gloucestershire, the sum of 10l. per annum, for and during his natural life; and I give to his present wife, for and during her natural life, independent of him, unless jointly their each 10l. be united for their mutual comfort.”
   And by the fourth codicil, he gave in the following words:- “8th September, 1837. If my God should take me off suddenly, it is my wish that my executors should provide of William Spire, of Laverton, Gloucestershire, and his now wife, 10l. each per annum more than I have given them by my will. Jeremiah Knill.”
   Mr. Stinton, for the plaintiffs, William Spire and his wife, argued that the annuities were cumulative and not substitutional, and claimed the several annuities given by the will and two codicils.
   Mr. Koe, for the executors, contra.
   The MASTER of the ROLLS:- It is difficult to say what the testator intended; but the inclination of my opinion is, that all the annuities take effect, [his Lordship read the will,] so that the husband is to have 20l. a year for life, and the wife after his death is to have 50l. for a particular purpose, namely, to bury her husband. Then comes the second codicil [his Lordship read it.] He has not distinctly given 10l. a year to the wife, but has done it by implication, for it is impossible not to see that he intended to give it to her, for he speaks of their each 10l. a year. He has given to each 10l. a year, that to the wife being independent of her husband, or giving to her a power over it, and this therefore cannot be substitution for the gift by the will [his Lordship read the fourth codicil.] By the fourth codicil, he gives to the husband and wife, “10l. each per annum more than he had given them by the will:” the annuity to the wife is not given by the fourth codicil, in the same way in which the annuity was given by the second codicil, or independently of the husband, and is not a substitute for it. The case is not free from doubt; but my impression is, that the testator has not used words of substitution, and that all the bequests take effect. The 10l. a year given to the wife in the second codicil must be paid to her separate receipt.

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 360; Book 2; Folio 8; Page 10, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Laverton, Buckland, Gloucestershire
   William Spiers, male, 60 [1776-81], Ind[ependent], born in county
   Cristopher [sic] Spiers, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], 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 1971; Folio 225; Page 16, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Buckland, Gloucestershire
   William Spire, head, married, male, 73 [1777/8], Fund Houlder, b. Laverton, Gloucestershire
   Elizabeth Spire, wife, married, female, 73 [1777/8], Fund Houlder, b. Hampton, Worcestershire
   ~ second household in same house ~
   William Spire, head, widower, male, 40 [1810/11], Tea Dealer, b. Laverton, Gloucestershire
   Amelia Ann Spire, daughter, unmarried, female, 16 [1834/5], b. Laverton, Gloucestershire
   Jephunneh Spire, son, unmarried, male, 14 [1836/7], b. Laverton, Gloucestershire
   Julia Clarke Spire, daughter, female, 10 [1840/1], b. Laverton, Gloucestershire
   Jabez William Spire, son, male, 9 [1841/2], b. Marston Sicca, Gloucestershire
   James Sperry Albert Spire, son, male, 5 [1845/6], b. Dursley, Gloucestershire

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

   d. William SPIRE, March Quarter 1854, Winchcomb Registration District, Volume 6a, page 255, aged 76 [1777/8]

6. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Buckland Parish Registers, 1539-2000. (Gloucester: Gloucestershire Archives).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Buckland in the County of Gloucester in the Year 1854
   No	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   262	William Spires	Laverton	Jan[ua]ry 5 1854	77 [1776/7]	W. Phillipps Rector

   A note in the margin alongside this entry says “a very deep snow”.