Person:William Walby (1)

William Walby was baptised on 21st June 1772, the eldest child of George Walby and Alice Wright, who had married the previous August.

William's next sighting is when he was 37 years old, on 17th July 1809, when he married Ann Cocker at Great Wymondley, a few miles north of Aston. William's younger brother George had married at Great Wymondley just under two years earlier. William and Ann's marriage record does not record whether he was a bachelor or widower; given his age it is possible that this was not his first marriage. Either way, she was several years his junior.

William and Ann went on to have two children baptised at Graveley, just east of Great Wymondley, in 1810 and 1812. They then returned to Great Wymondley where they had another five children baptised between 1814 and 1829. At least two of their children died young.

Back in Aston, William's mother died in 1816 and his father died in 1821.

The 1841 census finds William and Ann living at Great Wymondley with some of their children and what appear to be two grandsons. William was working as an agricultural labourer. Later that year, William's daughter Elizabeth married his nephew Thomas (William's brother George's son).

Ann died in 1845, aged 59. William survived her by just under four years. He was buried at Great Wymondley on 3rd April 1845, although his last abode was given as the neighbouring parish of Hitchin. He was 76 years old.

1. ↑ Church of England. Aston Parish registers, 1558-1980. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   1772: Will[ia]m Son of George & Alice Walby June 21

   This baptism has been linked to the William who married Ann Cocker in 1809 on the basis that William's brother George also moved to Great Wymondley (George explicitly gave his place of birth as Aston in the 1851 census). Although not proof of connection, it is also worth noting that two of George's sons married two of William's daughters (Thomas and Elizabeth then James and Amy). The ages given for William in the 1841 census and when he died are a little younger than they should be, but remain within a reasonable margin of error for the time.

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 437; Book 12; Folio 6; Page 6, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Much Wymondley, Hertfordshire
   William Worby, male, 60 [1776-81], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Ann Worby, female, 55 [1781-6], born in county
   Emma Worby, female, 25 [1811-16], born in county
   Elizabeth Worby, female, 20 [1816-21], born in county
   Mary Worby, female, 15 [1821-6], born in county
   Thomas Worby, male, 9 [1831/2], born in county
   George Worby, male, 5 [1835/6], born in county

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

   d. William WARBOYS, March Quarter 1849, Hitchin Registration District, Volume 6, page 424, aged 70 [1778/9]

4. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Registers of Great Wymondley. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Great Wymondley in the County of Hertford in the Year 1849
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   137	William Waby	Hitchin	Jan[uar]y 25	70 [1778/9]	Tho[ma]s Henry Steel, Vicar