John Whiting c.1814-1866

Parents: John Whiting and Mary Scotcher (1,5)
Born: c.1814, birthplace listed as Kedington on 1861 census. (4)
Baptised: 17th April 1814 at St Peter & St Paul's Church, Kedington, Suffolk. (5,7)
Married: Elizabeth Poole, spinster, of Beggars Row, daughter of Thomas Poole, Weaver, on 12th May 1838 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by Charles Bryant and Sophia Poole. (1)
Children: William Whiting b.1839 and Moses Whiting b.1844. Stepson John Poole Whiting b.1830
Died: September 1866. Buried 15th September 1866 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill, aged 56 (2,6)

Bio: John appears to have been baptised in Kedington in 1814. The entry in the baptismal register ties in with his age and the fact he is listed as having been born in Kedington on the 1861 census. Interestingly, John's father is referred to as a corporal in the West Suffolk Militia.(5) John had a sister, Elizabeth Whiting, who was baptised in Kedington on 30th June 1816.(7) By this time John's father's profession is listed as labourer, which would tie in with the Militia having been disembodied after the end of the Napoleonic War.

John lived in Burton End, Haverhill, at the time of his marriage, and worked as a weaver. At the time of the 1841 census he is living in Burton End with wife Elizabeth, son William and stepson John Pool (listed on the 1851 cenus as their son, but most likely is Elizabeth's illegitimate child as John would be a bit too young to be his father). By the 1851 census they had moved to Chauntry Croft with another son, Moses, 7 (who as an adult would end his days in Broadmoor after committing the murder of his young son). On this census he is listed as being 38 years old.(3)

On the 1861 census they are back in Burton End, and he is working as a cotton weaver. Sons William and Moses are still with them. (4)

His death in 1866 seems most likely as the John Whiting who died in Haverhill in that year lived in Burton End, and was listed as being aged 56 which is very close to his estimated age. Also, there is no trace of him on censuses later than 1861.

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p22 of 37
(2) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p37 of 37
(3) 1851 Census. Class: HO107; Piece: 1787; Folio: 108; Page: 1; GSU roll: 207436.
(4) 1861 census. Class: ; Piece: 1124; Folio: 104; Page: 30; GSU roll: 542758
(5) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Peter and St Paul's Church, Kedington. Fiche 595/4 of 18
(6) Death Register. 3rd Quarter 1866, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 278
(7) SFHS, Suffolk Baptism Index, Clare Deanery 1813-1900.