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William Thomas Parsons married Lucy Emily Bennett 1924 In Lewisham London.From this marriage certificate his father also a William Thomas Parsons.Other information on the certificates states that he was a widower.
Death certificate 1932 Greenwich, London
I am trying to find out where he was born, my mother always stated that he was a Canadian, if I could find his previous wife maybe this would in my search. Thanking you in advance.

there are Parsons-Bennett births in Lewisham starting in 1919, I see you have that one in your tree although with slightly different info (middle name/initial) from what is in the births index

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

this could suggest that William's wife had died only very recently before he married Lucy, his first wife's death leaving him free to remarry

are you in touch with the other person who has the 1919 person in their tree, or with any descendants of other children?

... there is a Parsons-Bennett birth in Lewisham in 1937 so perhaps they are not all related ...


for info because it can help to know everything you know

Name: Lucy Emily Parsons
Birth Date: 18 Sep 1892
Date of Registration: Mar 1977
Age at Death: 84
Registration district: Greenwich
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 12
Page: 0945

Births Dec 1892
Bennett Lucy Emily Woolwich 1d 1185

(so she didn't remarry)

there we are Reggie, that's what I was saying ................... :-)

I suspect perhaps the age on the marriage certificate is not perfectly consistent with the age on the death certificate ...


also, because of the large age difference between him and Lucy, he might have understated his age at marriage and she might not have even known his true age


sending a PM to Angela who has only 1 previous post so may not know about replies

... as my sig line now says (unfortunately belatedly as one has to see replies to see it ...!): to get email notifications of replies, click WATCH THIS at the top of the thread :-)

Hopefully Angela will come back to here soon.
marriage cert may just have said age "full"
please let us have occupations and witness names etc

well this time Angela will know how to get back here to see replies

... unless she never changed her email address in her account after 2008 and it isn't likely the same as it was then so she doesn't get notice of my PM to her ...

aha, my PM has been read, so maybe Angela will favour us with a reply ;)

from the thread linked by Reggie


'Trying to find relatives of Thomas james Parsons born about 1929,and killed in a car crash in 1963 in Woolwich.'

with his birth and the Parsons-Bennett marriage and one possible sibling added to the thread by Linda (freebmd may not have transcribed later births at that time)


I was interested in a William Thomas Parsons divorce in 1924

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C8038874

but that WTP was born in 1862 and married in 1887


I would think this is our WTP's death

Name: William T Parsons
Birth Date: abt 1876
Date of Registration: Mar 1932
Age at Death: 56
Registration district: Greenwich
Inferred County: Greater London
Volume: 1d
Page: 1202

What did you think Reggie?

It's fairly obvious that Angela is a new member with just 2 posts to her name.



Hello Angela, and welcome to the Community boards.



I will let Angela know that she has replies to her query............. :-)

Cynthia as you see I did that yesterday and she has read my PM :-)


(just to avert demurrals, Angela joined in 2006 but had only that one previous post and may never have understood that to see replies she had to go back to her thread)

Marriage certificate
Marriage 22nd March 1924
William Thomas Parsons age 46 Widower Occupation Cable Maker
His father is also William Thomas Parsons (deceased) a stonemason
On his death certificate dated 3rd Jan 1932 his age is 56.Occupation Borough Council Laborer. Registration district is Greenwich, London.
I know also that he worked at Woolwich Arsenal.
William Thomas Parsons and Lucy Bennet are my grand parents.They had four children Joyce born 1919 (my mother) Doris,May and Thomas Thanks for your help.
Regards Angie Smith

Witness names on marriage certificate are a bit difficult to decipher
H C May and G W B Charles
Thank you for your help

Grand mother seems to have been a bit of a dark horse.She did have another child after William died on the 26th Jan 1937 George Frederick Parsons no name as to the Father on the certificate, but I have more information on this subject.The information relating to her death in 1977 in Greenwich is correct.
My Mum was Joyce Emily Parsons born 12 th Jan 1919.
Thanks Angie

your mum is recorded as 'Joyce N' in the births index ;)


this is the only match in 1911 for a William Parsons occupation 'cable'
but Amelia Parsons died in Oxfordshire in 1957
and this William Parsons died in the same place in 1953

for info, for ruling him out ...

1911 census

Name: William Parsons
Age in 1911: 33
Estimated birth year: abt 1878
Birth Place: Peppard, Oxon, England
> Occupation: Electric Cable Jointer for Electric Light Company
Civil Parish: Reading
County/Island: Berkshire
William Parsons 33
Amelia Parsons 32 married 8 yrs, 1 child born and living
Fredrick Parsons 3
Robert Halfacre 24 lodger


in 1881 there is this family in Camberwell

William Parsons 26 born Lambeth c1855 >> stonemason
Sarah J. Parsons 30 born Lambeth c1851
William E. Parsons 7 born Battersea c1874
Eliza E. Parsons 4
Sarah J. Parsons 2


no matching birth for a William E in Wandsworth reg dist

Marriages Sep 1875
AVES Sarah Jane Wandsworth 1d 890
PARSONS William Wandsworth 1d 890


could we be looking for a child born before marriage?

closest match would be

Births Dec 1873
Aves William Herbert Wandsworth 1d 555

but if that was the case he could have been registered in his father's surname ...


Births Sep 1851
Aves Sarah Jane Lambeth 4 283

Sarah's family in 1861 in Bethnal Green - father Thomas - surname corrected to AVES by Ancestry user in 2010

Thomas Avis 34
Sarah Avis 31
Elizabeth Avis 7
Sarah Avis 10
Thomas W A Avis 5
Emily Avis 2
Arthur Avis 3/12

I can't find her in 1871 ... unless she was a servant in Marylebone negligently recorded as aged 25 by the lodging house keeper (place of birth 'London') ... there being no matching birth for such a Sarah Aves

I can't identify that young William Parsons after 1881 ... just too many born around the same time and place ...

not with the family in 1891 in Plumstead

William Parsons 39
Sarah J Parsons 40
Eliza E Parsons 15
Sarah J Parsons 13
Alfred L Parsons 7
Lily A Parsons 4

that is in Woolwich reg dist ... we could be in the right area



there is this interesting one in 1891 >> checking the image there is a middle name 'Thomas' that has been crossed out ...

Name: William Parsons
Age: 15
Estimated birth year: abt 1876
Relation: "B" Coy. O. S. Corps O. S. Corps
Gender: Male
Where born: Woolwich, Kent, England
Civil Parish: Woolwich
County/Island: London
Registration district: Woolwich
Sub-registration district: Woolwich Dockyard
ED, institution, or vessel: Red Barracks
boy, Ordnance Store Corps

could be

Births Dec 1875
Parsons William Woolwich 1d 978

Thanks for all your help I will look into the infor provided, particularly the ordance storecorps

Thanks for all your help. I have just come across some further information regarding William Parsons born 1875/6 he and Lucy both worked at the Woolwich Arsenal.Would this be where he was a cable maker?

Still searching for William Thomas Parsons born 1878/6. Cable Maker.
Marriage certificate 1924 age 46 Widower living at 15 barbette Ave, Well Hall, Eltham
District Lewisham.
Spouse Lucy Emily Bennett also of the same address.age 30.
His father is William Thomas Parsons a stonemason (deceased)
Her father is Edwin Bennett also deceased.
Witnesses are H May and G W B Chambers.
My mother Joyce Emily Parsons was born in 1919 five years before her parents marriage so I assume that he was already married but to whom I have no idea.
Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

looking back at this birth

Births Dec 1875
Parsons William Woolwich 1d 978

the new GRO index gives more info

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp

PARSONS, WILLIAM mother's surname GREEN
GRO Reference: 1875 D Quarter in WOOLWICH Volume 01D Page 978

unfortunately there were numerous Parsons+Green marriages

the best bet looks like (if they married each other)

Marriages Sep 1864
Green Caroline Lewisham 1d 1166
PARSONS Thomas Lewisham 1d 1166

1881 in Greenwich

Thomas Parsons 45 - army pensioner born Warwickshire
Caroline Parsons 37 - born Suffolk
Jane Parsons 11
Annie Parsons 13
Arthur W. Parsons 10
Joseph A. Parsons 9
Wm. Parsons 5 - born Charlton, Kent, England

Here is a 1901 possible

Name: Willm Thos Parsons (it probably says Will'm Jno Parsons)
- occupation Turner Electrical [something] Maker
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: abt 1875
Spouse: Alice Jane Lillian Parsons (died 1948)
Birth Place: Deal, Kent, England
Town: Chesterton
County/Island: Cambridgeshire
Registration district: Chesterton

Marriages Mar 1895
Drury Alice Jane L Gravesend 2a 599
Parsons William John Gravesend 2a 599

and in 1911 he is William John Parsons, scientific instrument maker, living with wife Alice and son Cyril who is aged 15.5 (not 0 as Ancestry says).


so that seems to rule out that William Parsons definitively.

In my research I found a Helen Susan Adams married William Thomas Parsons in Oct 1906. in Bromley. Volume 2a, page 1029. I do not think he was Canadian