The marine who drowned his sorrows

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William Robert WINDEATT 1839-1887

Born 1st November 1839 in Butcherow, St George's in the district of St. David, Exeter, Devon, he died in Plymouth aged 47 (in 1887). His father, William, was a Plasterer in 1839, 1844 and 1854, but appears as a Porter in the 1851 Census. He had a brief brush with the law aged 18 when he was fined 2/6d. for using obscene language in the street.  However he and his companion were described as a "respectable young men" (Link to Court Report). In 1851 the family were living at Summerland Terrace, St Sidwell, Exeter and William Robert appears in the Census as the eldest son, aged 11.. William Robert grew up and joined the Royal Marines. He was a Sergeant in 1863 (aged 23) when his first son was born. He was still a Sergeant in 1865, but the following year he had been demoted to a Private! He had regained his Corporal's stripe in 1869 . . .but did he ever regain his Sergeant's stripes?

During the eighteen sixties he was living in Plymouth, although they moved around a bit: 39 Adelaide Street in 1863; 93 Admiralty Street in 1865; 89 Admiralty Street in 1866, 6 East Street in 1869 and 2 Garrison Green in 1887.  He died, aged only 47, of "Alcoholism 3 months". I can't help wondering what his problems were? And whether the drunkenness was also the reason for his demotion back in 1866?  His eldest son William Robert was present at the death and is registered as the informant and living at the same address.  Link to page about the Royal Marines barracks, East Stonehouse.

Parents & Siblings

• William Philip Greenaway WINDEATT and Selina JARMAN - more about William and Selina and their twelve children

He was married twice

1. To Philippa BOWDEN in 1862.

   Marriage solemnized at the Register Office in the District of East Stonehouse in the County of Devon

   READ FIRST

   Date	Name & Surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at the time of Marriage	Father's Name and Forename	Rank or profession of Father	Witnesses
   18/05/1862	William Robert WINDEATT	23	Bachelor	Corporal Royal Marine Light Infantry	Royal Marine Barracks, East Stonehouse	William WINDEATT	Mason	E.J. THURLOW Ann THURLOW (MARK)
   	Phillippa BOWDEN	22	Spinster		39 Adelaiade Street, East Stonehouse	Edward BOWDEN (Deceased)	Carpenter

   The groom signed and one of the witnesses signed but the bride and the other witness both made their marks.  The certificate itself was signed by both the Registrar AND the Superintendent Registrar.

   The witnesses, Edward THURLOW and his wife Ann are living at 39 Adelaide Street, East Stonehouse in the 1861 census.  Edward Thurlow is 26, from Chatham in Kent and a Sergeant in the Royal Marines.  His wife, Ann, a milliner of 25 and born in Cornwall and they have a two year old son, also Edward J.   Phillippa doesn't seem to be living with them then but we might guess that Edward was William Robert's sergeant and that he met Phillippa through them.  There were other BOWDENs living in Adelaide Street in 1861 who could have been relatives of Phillippa.

   I have not been able to find any trace of Phillippa BOWDENs birth or birthplace or that of her father. She gave birth to his eldest son, also William Robert ,on 23rd March 1863 but then died of Phthisis Pulmonalis on 31st October the same year. He was present at the death and reported it.

Children with Phillippa BOWDEN

1. 23.03.1863 - William Robert. His mother, Philippa, died when he was only six months old. Who looked after him then I wonder? When he had a daughter, himself, in 1898, he called her Philippa. Tragically, she herself died aged only two.  [More . . .]

 

 

 

2. To Elizabeth SOUTHERTON in 1864.

   William married again a year later.  I wonder who looked after little William in the meanwhile?

   Marriage solemnized at the Register Office in the District of East Stonehouse in the County of Devon

   READ FIRST

   Date	Name & Surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at the time of Marriage	Father's Name and Forename	Rank or profession of Father	Witnesses
   6/12/1864	William Robert WINDEATT	25	Widower	Sergeant Royal Marine Light Infantry	Royal Marine Barracks, East Stonehouse	William WINDEATT	Mason	James ALLEN Edward SOUTHERTON (MARK)
   	Elizabeth SOUTHERTON	20	Single	-	39 ?Leigham Terrace,  Plymouth	John SOUTHERTON	Agricultrual Labourer

   Both bride and groom signed as did James ALLEN but Edward SOUTHERTON made his mark.  The certificate was signed by both the Registrar AND the Superintendent Registrar.He died of alcoholism in August 1887, aged 47 and she married again a couple of years later

READ FIRST

Date	Name & Surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at the time of Marriage	Father's Name and Forename	Rank or profession of Father	Witnesses
23/02/1889	William Greenslade MEDLON	58	Widower	Naval Pensioner	13 Emma Place, East Stonehouse	John MEDLON (deceased)	Tinman	George ?DUDLEY (Mark) Emilie TREDINNICK
	Elizabeth WINDEATT	48	Widow	-	27 George Street  Plymouth	John SOUTHERTON	labourer

All signed except Annie JACKETTS and the Deputy Superintendent Registrar signed as well as the Registrar.

Children with Elizabeth SOUTHERTON

• 01.08.65 - John Henry, a son who sadly died of Pneumonia when he was only 11 months old (29.06.1866).
• 19.07.69 - Beatrice Maud. She married John COCHRANE a bandsman in Plymouth in 1887 only a few months after her father's death.  Her half-brother William Robert was a witness. 

Marriage solemnized at the Register Office in the District of Plymouth in the County of Devon

READ FIRST

Date	Name & Surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at the time of Marriage	Father's Name and Forename	Rank or profession of Father	Witnesses
20/11/1887	John COHRANE	28	Bachelor	Bandsman 80th Regiment	The Citadel Plymouth	Henry James COCHRANE	Mason	William Robt WINDEATT Annie JACKETTS(MARK)
	Beatrice Maud WINDEATT	19	Spinster	-	2 Garrison Green Plymouth	William Robert  WINDEATT (deceased)	Pensioner Royal Marines

All signed except Annie JACKETTS and the Deputy Superintendent Registrar signed as well as the Registrar.

 

• 02.02.1879 - Alfred Edward Seatherton. He would have been only eight when his father died but he followed him into a military career and became a corporal in the Royal Garrison Artillery and later a caretaker.  He married Rosa Olive  RICHARDSON in 1904 and they had one son some four years later and adopted a daughter.  Given the length of time before the birth of the first child, it may be that their son was also adopted.  He died aged 51 in 1931 of stomach cancer - a condition that occurs more than once among the middle-aged men in this branch. A relative tells me that they were Catholics and I am curious where this came from as, as far as I can tell, there were no other Windeatts who were Catholics - apart from the author Mary Fabyan Windeatt who must be a rare convert from the otherwise staunchly non-conformist Totnes tree.

 

1861 Census transcription

Living on St. Nicholas Island, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, Devon along with many other privates in the Marines.

Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Sex	Occupation	Birthplace	Possible DOB
WINDEATT, W. R.	-	U	21	M	Private 'Marines'	Devon: Exeter	1840

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Phthisis: A term which was often used in the last century. It is often used to describe TB but also used of other wasting diseases.

Lists: A list of all the Births, Marriages and Deaths of Windeatts from 1837 to the present day. This list was originally compiled by a Rhoda (Wingett?), but has been added to, edited and further researched by Peter Windeatt who sent it to me and sparked off the initial interest.