william ashton + elizabeth porter
William was born in Charmouth on 10 May 1865, the son of John Ashton and Kezia Kenway, and he was only six years old when his father died and only fifteen when he left home. He was sent in to service to help support his family following his father’s death and his first position was as a House Boy in the home of Robert Seymour Sillery, a retired captain in the Ceylon Rifle Regiment. Their house was on the High Street in Honiton, Devon about 15 miles north-west of Charmouth, a distance that would have made it difficult for William to visit his family on a regular basis.
By 1891, he had left Devon and moved to London where he appears in the Census living in a large boarding house on Knightrider Street near St Paul’s Cathedral in Cheapside. Most of the residents were young men in their twenties working as servants or in the drapery business. William’s occupation was listed as servant and although the census does not provide any more detail on his employer, he most likely worked in the drapery or clothing business.
William married Elizabeth Porter at St George’s Camberwell on 18 April 1897. Elizabeth was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire on 26 September 1868, the daughter of Joseph Porter, a blacksmith, and Hannah Taplin. Strangely, William appears in his marriage record and subsequent baptismal records, as William Bowen Ashton however there is no reference to a middle name prior to this period. The marriage record also notes that his occupation was a waiter and his address as 63 Maydwell Street in Camberwell. Elizabeth was living on Holmby Street which ran parallel to Maydwell Street off Albany Road and the area consisted of Victorian era blocks of flats that were demolished in the 1960s to make way for the new Aylesbury housing estate. Elizabeth’s sister Annie and her husband David Davies were both witnesses to the marriage but as no other witnesses are recorded, it is not known if anyone from William’s family attended the wedding.
Their first daughter, Gladys Elizabeth, was born on 13 August 1897 only four months after her parents’ marriage and she was baptised at St George’s Camberwell on 16 January 1898. William and Elizabeth were still living at 63 Maydwell Street when Gladys was baptised but his occupation had changed to Steward. They had a second daughter, Elsie Hannah Frances. She was baptised at St George’s Camberwell on 14 October 1900 and her baptismal record lists the family’s address as 67 Holmby Street and it also notes that William’s occupation had changed again, this time to Porter.
William and Elizabeth were still living at 67 Holmby Street when the 1901 Census was taken on 31 March and William was working as a Clothes Porter while Elizabeth cared for their two young daughters. The census also lists two visitors staying with the family, one year old Arthur Barret and 22 year old Arthur Zeal, a Clothiers Manager. They had two more children, Lily Beatrice born on 21 July 1902 and William Frederick on 1 September 1904, and they were both baptised at St George’s on 7 October 1904. But sadly in the fall of 1905, Lily died aged only two years.
To make matters worse, the family broke apart sometime over the next five years when William and Elizabeth separated. By 1911, Elizabeth was living in north London along with her daughter Elsie and employed by an elderly widow as a General Servant. Her two other children, Gladys and William, were staying with her sister Annie and her husband David Davies in Birmingham.
William’s whereabouts have not been confirmed but there is a potential match in the census records at the Camberwell Workhouse in the Casual Ward. It appears that William was separated from his family and had fallen on hard times. According to Life in a Workhouse:
Workhouses were obliged to provide casual wards to accommodate the many vagrants applying for a night's lodging especially when the weather was cold. If a vagrant possessed any food when searched, he received no relief. Vagrants were kept separate from other inmates and were expected to work for at least four hours depending on their capabilities. For their labours they were given straw, rugs and a diet of bread and gruel.
It is not know how long William and Elizabeth were separated but their two children, Gladys and William, remained in Warwickshire and presumably continued to live with their aun and uncle. Gladys married Edwin James Findon in Smethwick on 24 May 1920 and they had one son. They were still living in Smethwick in 1939 where Edwin worked as a Jeweller and Gladys as a Beer Retailer. William died in Birmingham in 1931 and was buried at the local cemetery, Warstone Lane.
The family next appears in the public records in 1939 Register with William and Elizabeth reconciled and living at 46 Henshaw Road in Birmingham along with daughter Elsie and her finace, William Allworthy. Seventy-four year old William was retired but Elizabeth was working as a general grocery dealer and may have been running a small shop. Their daughter was employed as a Tailoress and William Allworthy as a Works Fireman, possibly in a factory. Elsie and William married in 1941 but it does not appear that they had any children.
William died in Birmingham in 1945 followed by Elizabeth in 1953; they were both buried at the Warstone Lane Cemetery.