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William
Lockwood was the third of the 11 children born to John William
Lockwood and Sarah Cuthbert. Details of his and son Robert's life, are both
complicated and extraordinary.
William was born October-December 1848 in St George in the East, London E1, and
was listed as living with his parents in the family home on both the 1851 and
1861 Census. In January-March 1870, aged 21, he married
Mary
Ann
Elizabeth
Hills, 18. In the 1871 Census of the following year, his profession was given as
“Cigar Maker” – matching that of father John William Lockwood. He, Mary
Ann and their two months old son Robert W
Lockwood were listed as living in
Turner Street,
Mile
End
Old
Town. Mary Ann died in April-June 1876 aged just 25.
Curiously, following the death of first wife Mary Ann, there were no further
Census associations between William and Robert.
In the 1881 Census, William is entered as a Lodger at 30 Tudor Street in the
West Derby ward of Liverpool. Listed as a widower, confirmation of his identity
is provided by his age of 32 and Occupation as a Cigar Maker. The next Census to
include his name was in 1891. On that form his district of birth had been given
as St Georges and not St George in the East. He had moved from Turner Street,
London E1 to Carmen Street, Poplar – then regarded as the civil parish of
Bromley St Leonard. His profession was still listed as Cigar Maker.
Sharing
11 Carmen Street
with him were his second wife Sarah, listed as
being 32 years old, and their children
Lydia Lockwood (11),
Mabel Lockwood (4), Harriet Lockwood
(2) and an un-named three-week-old son. Further research revealed that the
infant had been subsequently named
John William Lockwood [2] after his grandfather, who had died the year
before. From the Census details it would appear that William and Sarah had
married around 1878/9 and that their first born had been Lydia in 1879.
Ten years later, the 1901 Census brought further changes. It revealed
that the family had moved once again - this time travelling south of the Thames
to Hall Road, Camberwell. On this occasion William was correctly credited as
having been born in St George in the East. His age was equally accurate at 52,
and his Occupation again entered as Cigar Maker. Sarah had died in 1898 and William had married a third time. Neither
his daughter Mabel, nor son John William were included on the
Census form, but added to
the list of children were Charles
Lockwood (7) and Ellen Lockwood (5). Sadly,
John William Lockwood [2] had died and his death registered in the January-March
quarter of 1892. In the
case of Mabel, however, there is a 1901 Census listing matching her date and
parish of birth that indicates she was a 14 years old servant girl in a
Camberwell household. A London Surrey death record for a Sarah Lockwood, aged
40, in July-September 1898 in the Camberwell registration district suggests that
this was when William became a widower for a second time.
A search for details of William's third marriage revealed that this had taken
place in the Camberwell registration district in the quarter of July-September
1900. His bride had been Lydia Nathalie Neal, 31 years his junior. Research on
persons of this name revealed an extraordinary pedigree. A similarly-named Lydia
Nathalie Neal had been born in 1879 to Shadwell couple Omar Neal and his wife
Sarah J Neal. Census details for this family also highlighted the fact that
Sarah J Neal had been born in the same year as William's second wife of that
name, and that both she and daughter Lydia had birthplaces matching the entries
for Sarah and Lydia Lockwood on the 1881 Census form. Further research indicated
that Omar Neal had died in the Poplar area in 1918 at the age of 65. The only
conclusion to be drawn from these facts is that Sarah had married William
Lockwood following a divorce from Omar Neal, and that the 1881 "daughter" entry
for Lydia applied solely to the mother. Notwithstanding the huge 31-year gap in
their ages, the marriage of William to step-daughter Lydia complicated the
family's genealogy still further with the birth of their son,
George William
Lockwood, in 1900.
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