Robert Wetherall (1829-1905) and Charlotte Watering (1829-1917).
My 3rd great-grand uncle and aunt.
Like several of his siblings, Robert’s actual birth and baptism dates are a bit of a mystery and it may be that he wasn’t baptised at all. Certainly, I’ve found no records recording it. Earlier census returns suggest he was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in about 1829 or 1830, the illegitimate son of Rebecca Frances Wetherall.
A Robert Weatherall was registered as a seaman in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 22 June 1846 with a birth date of 18 August 1828 and this may be our man. It’s worth remembering that birth dates were sometimes changed to meet particular needs, for example to qualify for a particular job. This Robert was said to be a Yarmouth native, couldn’t read, stood 5ft 3ins tall and had blue eyes and a sallow complexion. If this is our man – and there are few if any other candidates – he didn’t stay at sea for long because the 1851 census listed him as a bricklayer’s labourer, living with his mother and siblings at Jays Buildings in the town. In 1851 at Great Yarmouth he married shoemaker’s daughter Charlotte Watering, who was baptised in Norwich on 29 September 1829, and then moved to Marylebone in London, where they had at least seven children.
For many years the family lived at 38 Earl Street in the borough and Robert Snr continued to work as a bricklayer, although he was unemployed at the time of the 1871 census. He was probably the “hard working” Robert Wetherall who appeared in front of the local magistrates on a theft charge, as reported in the Marylebone Mercury on 23 December 1871. William Height, a dealer in jewellery who happened to be drunk, was in the Globe pub in Portman Square, London, when he claimed that Robert had made off with his watch after Height had initially offered it to him for 15s. When Robert was searched by PC Edward Vincent the watch was found in Robert’s pocket – but he claimed that he had tossed for it along with the victim’s pipe and won. The magistrate discharged the case as there wasn’t enough proof for a jury to convict but he told Robert he thought he’d lied and shouldn’t play such tricks in future.
Robert died in 1905 while still at 38 Earl Street and was buried on 23 February at Hendon Cemetery. Charlotte remained at their home, recorded as living there in the 1911 census with her son Robert. She died on 13 March 1917 at 99 Earl Street, Marylebone, and was buried at Hendon on 20 March.
The couple had at least seven children and quite often the surname both of the children and parents would be spelled Weatherall:
- Robert Wetherall (1852-1916). Robert Jnr was born in Great Yarmouth but grew up in Marylebone, London. He worked as a painter and remained single. There’s a record of a Robert Weatherall from Marylebone, a painter, going into the Ladbroke Grove Infirmary in 1908 and this appears to suggest he had a daughter (listed as a Mrs Francis) but I’ve found no proof of this. I suspect the next of kin mentioned is either his married sister Charlotte. He died on 30 March 1916 and was interred at Hendon Park Cemetery.
- Charlotte Wetherall (1854-1932). Charlotte was born in Marylebone, London, and married Cornelius Francis in 1876 in Marylebone and remained in the area all her life, raising a family. Her husband, who died in 1919, worked as a boot closer, a job that involved sewing together the various upper parts of a boot. Charlotte died in 1932 – Cornelius had died in 1919.
- Susan Frances Wetherall (1856-1949). Susan was born in Marylebone, London, and sometimes went by the name Susanna and Susanna Fanny Wetherall. She married local man William Cooper in Marylebone in 1874 and raised a family in the area while he worked as a painter/decorator. He died in 1933, Susan in 1949.
- James Wetherall (1859-1953). James was born in Marylebone, London, and worked as a stone mason. The census showed he moved around the capital, living in such districts as Holborn and Finsbury. He married Frances Humphrys in 1893 and had a daughter. Frances died in 1949 and James in 1953, both in Chelsea.
- Ellen Wetherall (1861-1909). Ellen was born in Marylebone, London, and married street news vendor Jesse Fossey there in 1884. They raised a family in and around Hoxton and Shoreditch in east London but Ellen, who went by the name Nellie, died in 1909. Jesse died in 1922, living long enough to see their son Rifleman Frank Fredrick Fossey killed in the First World War in 1918.
- Mary Ann Emma Wetherall (1864-1957). Mary Ann was also born in Marylebone, London. She married Mayfair-born Whitfield Hall in 1891 and raised a family in South Wimbledon and Marylebone. He worked variously as a clerk, a photographer’s assistant and a hatter’s assistant. By the time of the 1939 Register they were living in Southend-on-Sea in Essex and were comfortable enough to employ a servant or two. By this point Whitfield was describing himself as a retired managing clerk. Mary Ann died in 1957, Whitfield in 1952. Several of their children carried interesting middle names, such as Valkyrie and Boudicea!
- Emma E Wetherall (1866-1960). Emma was born in Marylebone and began working as a domestic servant as a young woman. She was still employed in that capacity in 1911 but in Hastings on the English south coast with the Church Army. In 1939 she was living with her sister Susan and her family in Paddington.
Sources: BMDs, census and other info at Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk (which also has the British Newspaper Archive). Records at Norfolk Family History Society.