William James WEBB

1839 -

• Name	William James WEBB
  Birth	1839	27, Austin St., Bethnal Green, Middlesex   [1]
  Gender	Male
  1841 Census	Splidt's Terrace, Stepney, Middlesex   [1]
  	At 1841 Census, he is 2
  1851 Census	3, Coventry St., Bethnal Green, Middlesex   [2]
  	At 1851 Census, he is 11
  1861 Census	4, Popes Hill, Shadwell, Middlesex   [3]
  	At 1861 Census, he is 21, occ "Fellowship Porter"
  1881 Census	28, Earnest St., Tower Hamlets, Middlesex   [4]
  	At 1881 Census, he is 42, occ "Fish Porter", a widower
  1891 Census	28, No 1 Block, Lion Buildings, Newington, Surrey   [5]
  	At 1891 Census, he is 51, occ "Fish Porter"
  Occupation	Fellowship Porter, or Porter, or Fishmonger  [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
  Individual Note	A possible birth is Jan qtr 1840, vol 2, p24, Bethnal Green.
  Person ID	I30	Webb
  Last Modified	1 Jun 2025

  
  

  Father	William WEBB,   b. Abt 1818   d. 6 Nov 1842, 17, John St., Bethnal Green, Middlesex (Age 24 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Mary Ann LOVELL,   b. 17 Mar 1819, Harlow Place, Mile End, Middlesex
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1 Apr 1839	Shadwell, Middlesex   [12]
  Family ID	F9	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sarah Elizabeth STEVENSON,   b. Abt 1841, Shadwell, Middlesex
  Marriage	5 Oct 1857	St. George in the East, Tower Hamlets   [6]
  Notes	After 1861 the story of William and Sarah becomes less clear. In the 1871 Census, Sarah is married to Alfred, a joiner from Suffolk, living in West Ham. This clearly is the right Sarah as her mother is there too. But in 1881 Alfred appears back in Suffolk, unmarried, with his Aunt and Uncle. There is no complete evidence for Sarah anywhere after 1871, in Census or in BMD indices, but it might be presumed that she had died and Alfred then went back to his roots. I can find no record of Sarah WEBB (or STEVENSON) marrying Alfred WEBB. Slightly less likely is that they were not living together in 1871, Alfred was just lodging, and for convenience went in as head, or that this was his property and Sarah and some of her children, and her mother, were lodging with Alfred. Robert(2), Susannah(1 wk), are also there but without the birth certificates do not know who their father is. I have not found Robert or Susannah later than this but they are with none of the possible parents in 1881. Lastly, there is a Sarah WEBB who died in Shoreditch Jan qtr 1870. This means that Alfred just reported her (by mistake, or for simplicity or public perception?), but she was not actually alive. William meanwhile appears in 1881 and 1891 Censuses, in 1981 as widowed, with Harriet HALL (married) as a housekeeper. There are likely children, James(1y 8m) and Emma(3m), born to Harriet and William, so again they either married or were treated as such. The key indicator here is that William is a Fish Porter, so I am fairly sure we have the right person, given age, place of birth and children. Church records have John George born to William and Harriet 10/12/1882 (bapt 2/10/1888), then James Walter and Harry Charles, twins born 28/7/1879 (bapt 21/9/1879) to William and Harriet. James and John appear in School lists in 1892 (living at 24, Elstead St., father a fish porter), but there is no Harry. Then in 1891 William is married to Emma. Again there is no BMD evidence for Harriet's marriage or death (there is no Harriet Hall in death indices), nor for any marriage to Emma. Perhaps most likely is that Emma and Harriet are the same person and that one of the names (probably Harriet) was written down incorrectly. There is possible death evidence for both Emma (Lewisham Q1 1898, aged 42, which matches the Census) and William (Southwark Q4 1895 aged 55, giving DOB of 1840, which is close enough).
  Children	1. William James WEBB,   b. 1860, 4, Newcastle Place, Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Sarah Elizabeth WEBB,   b. 9 Nov 1858, 4, St Annes Row, Mary St., Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Leonard Richard WEBB,   b. 1863, Stepney, Middlesex d. 1909, London (Age 46 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Harry Stevenson WEBB,   b. 1865, Stepney, Middlesex  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F57	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Jun 2025

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1839 - 27, Austin St., Bethnal Green, Middlesex  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  William's spouse is the most likely from the evidence available, and the only possible problem is that Benjamin his (step) father is a WEBB not FREEMAN, but this is probably in the interests of keeping things simple and maybe not everything was told to the clergyman!!!!!!!

  
  

• Sources

  [S2] 1841 Census :- Splidt's Terrace, Stepney, Middlesex. [S6] 1851 Census :- 3, Coventry St, Bethnal Green, Middlesex. [S256] 1861 Census :- 4, Popes Hill, Shadwell, Middlesex. [S266] 1881 Census :- 28, Earnest St., Tower Hamlets, Middlesex. [S267] 1891 Census :- 28, No 1 Block, Lion Buildings, Newington, Surrey. [S250] Marriage register entry :- William James Webb - Sarah Elizabeth Stevenson (1857). [S252] Baptism register :- St Thomas, Stepney (1860). [S253] Baptism register :- St. Thomas, Stepney (1858). [S254] Baptism register :- St. Thomas, Stepney (1863). [S257] Marriage register entry :- Leonard Richard Webb - Emma Sadler (1881). [S402] Baptism register :- St Thomas, Stepney (1865). [S58] Marriage Certificate :- William Webb - Mary Ann Lovell (1839).