William Beavis 1847-?

Parents:     John and Susannah Beavis (1)
Born:           6th May 1847 at France Lane(?), Haverhill. (1,2)    
Baptised:   28th May 1848 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill.(1,2)                    
Married:      Amelia Whiting, 19, spinster of Haverhill, daughter of John Whiting, labourer, on 6th November 1869 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill. Witnessed by William ? and Emily Shaw(3,4)       
Children:    None
Died:            ?  

Bio:              John was born in 1847 the son of John Beavis, labourer, and Susannah ?, who were originally from Helions Bumpstead.

William features on the 1851 census living in Burton End with his parents and older brother John, who is a shepherd. On the 1861 census, William is the only child living with his parents who are now in the High Street.

In 1869 William married Amelia Whiting and on the 1871 census we seem them living together in Burton End, without children. By the next census, in 1881, the couple have relocated to Chauntry Row and Amelia's father John Whiting has moved in with them as a boarder. Although married, unusually for this time it appears that John and his wife Martha chose to live apart, and this is how we find him, Amelia and William again on the following census in 1891. They are at 3 Chauntry Row and Amelia is a 'trousers finisher' and William a brewery labourer. By the 1901 census Amelia's father has died and she is living alone with her husband at 3 Chauntry Row. She is working as a jacket tailor, and he as a brewery drayman.

Again they are at 3 Chauntry Row for the 1911 census. Amelia's nephew Arthur Porter, 16, son of Mary Ann and Henry Porter, is staying with them. He works as a shop assistant and was born in Portsmouth.

Amelia was to die the next year, in July 1912. She was buried at Haverhill Cemetery. It's unclear from available records when William died, but it is likely that he survived Amelia by several years. 

Sources:      

(1) Birth Register. 2nd Quarter 1847, Risbridge district, Vol 12 Page 414
(2) Suffolk Baptism Index, SFHS, Clare Deanery 1813-1900
(3) Marriage Register. 4th Quarter 1869, Risbridge district, Vol 4a Page 773
(4) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p27 of 37