William Dixon (1850)

Born 25 Dec 1850 in St Helens, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Winifred (Price) Dixon — married 17 Jul 1871 in St Nicholas Sutton, St Helens

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Biography

This profile is part of the St Helens, Lancashire One Place Study.

William Dixon was born on 25 Dec 1850 in Sutton, St Helens, Lancashire. He was the son of Robert Dixon and Elizabeth or Betty (Highcock) Dixon. His birth was registered in the first quarter of 1851, in Prescot district. He had two older sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret, and two older brothers, James and Richard.

By March 30th 1851, William's parents were living in Sutton Nook with their five surviving children. William's father was working as a labourer. Also in the household was William's aunt Ellen and her husband John Roberts and their one-month-old daughter Sarah. Next door were William's aunt Elizabeth and family, and William's grandfather.

William was christened on 4 Jan 1852 at St Michael's Church in Burtonwood, Lancashire. The family's address was given as Sutton, and his father's occupation as labourer.

William's youngest brother John Dixon was born in 1853 in Sutton, St Helens; his birth was registered in the last quarter of 1853, in Prescot district. He was christened on 18 Dec 1853 at St Michael's Church in Burtonwood, Lancashire. The family's address was given as Sutton, and his father's occupation as labourer.

By April 7th 1861, the family were living in Sutton Moss, Sutton. William's father was working as an agricultural labourer. Four of his children were still with him - James, Richard, William and John. None of the boys were working yet.

By April 2nd 1871, they were still in Sutton Moss. William's father was employed as a teams man. Only two of the children were still living with their parents - William and John, both employed as miners. William's married brother Richard was visiting them on census night with his wife and their baby. They also had a 16-year-old boarder named William Gorty, who was a miner and born in St Helens; he bears a strong and perhaps suspicious resemblance to the final person in the household, another visitor, 16-year-old William Gouty, also born in St Helens.

William married Winifred Price on July 17th 1871 at St Nicholas' Church in Sutton (Anglican). Both were 20 years old, neither had been married before, and both were said to be living in Sutton at the time. The fathers were given as Robert Dixon (laborer) and James O'Neil (laborer). The witnesses were Richard Dixon and Harriet Winders - William's brother and his brother's future wife.

William's father died in 1873, aged 63. He was buried on 19 Jan 1873 at St Nicholas' Church in Sutton.

On 7th December 1873, Winifred stood as godmother to her nephew by marriage James Garner, at St Anne's church in Sutton (Catholic).

At some point between 1874 and 1881, William and Winnie adopted Albert Edward Rowland, an illegitimate boy whose mother died in 1875.

By April 3rd 1881, William and Winnie had their own household in Sutton Moss, Sutton. William was employed as a coal miner. Winnie's elderly widowed mother Elizabeth was living with them; she was drawing an annuity. William and Winnie appear not to have had children apart from their adopted son Albert.

By April 5th 1891, William and Winifred were living at 69 Helena Road, Sutton. Winifred's mother was no longer living with them. Albert was now sixteen, and he and William were both working as coal miners. They had a lodger, another collier named Joseph Hampton.

Winifred died in 1899 in St Helens, aged 48.

William married Sarah Ann (Harrison) Pearson in 1900, in a registrar-attended ceremony in Prescot district.

By March 31st 1901, they were living at 33 Eliza Street, Sutton. William was still working as a coal miner. They had two boarders, Joseph Hampton and Thomas Rees, both colliers; and five of Sarah's children from her first marriage were living with them - Alfred (18, and a railway sheet repairer), Sarah J (16), William J (11), John P.R. (8) and Percival (4).

By April 2nd 1911, they were still in St Helens, and William was still a coal hewer. Two of the Pearson children were boarding in their household - William James, now 21 and an electric crane attendant, and Percy, now 14 and a lamp room assistant at a colliery.

Research Notes

Death

Death if he died in St Helens area, the 2 closest matches are deaths in 1931 and 1913. The 1931 one (aged 81) is closer to the right age, but is definitely the wrong William as he is buried at St Helens Cemetery with an Ellen of similar age who died in 1892, and there is a matching couple in the 1891 census. The 1913 one's age is 2 years off, but it's not an unreasonable margin of error at the time and in a poorly-educated working-class community. The 1913 one was not buried at St Helens Cemetery. Alternatively if he left St Helens area, there are plenty of possible matches elsewhere.

Sources

• Birth registration listed on https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp (William Dixon, first quarter 1851, Prescot district, mother Highcock)

• Marriage (1) listed on Lancashire Online Parish Clerk

• Marriage (2) registration http://www.lancashirebmd.org.uk/printaka.php?date=1900&county=lancashire&reference=PT%3AR%2F65%2F80&file=D&pos=115327&area=PT&prefix=PT&lang=

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGYH-ZRL : 20 October 2017), Robert Dixon, Sutton, Lancashire, England; citing Sutton, Lancashire, England, p. 34, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey. Piece 2195 folio 260a sch 107.

• "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7BK-GKD : 12 December 2017), Robert Dixon, Sutton, Lancashire, England; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. Sch 122.

• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD6X-KZ1 : 11 December 2017), Robert Dixon, 1871. Piece 3867 folio 19.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27L-Y56B : 13 December 2017), Elizth Dickson in household of Will Dickson, Sutton, Lancashire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 79, Piece/Folio 3739/109, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,775,077.

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:77DN-JMM : 10 December 2017), Winifred Dickson in household of William Dickson, Sutton, Lancashire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9LV-T8H : 8 April 2016), William Dixon, St Helens, Lancashire, England; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing St Helens subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWY9-NGX : 2 August 2017), William Dixon, St Helens, Helens, Lancashire, England; from "1911 England and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

Footnotes

The civil registration index, and the England and Wales censuses, are Crown Copyright.