Robert Williams, Senior – Robert C William’s Father
Robert Williams, Senior, was born on September 30, 1787,
in Clayhidon, Devonshire, England to Ellis Williams and
Elinore Jones. 1 He grew up in the Blackdown Hills, a
beautiful part of England. His father died when he was three
years old. As a result of his father being an impoverished
minister and dying young, Robert lived in poverty in his
early years.
He married Mary Solumn on October 25, 1814, in Saint Luke,
Southwark Diocese, England (a part of metropolitan London).
Mary died on June 22, 1819, when Robert E Williams, Junior,
was three years old. 1 Upon his wife’s death, he lived at St
John Street, Pentonville, Islington, with a relative that he
later married, Mrs. Ann Williams Blower, a wealthy
barrister’s (attorney) widow. She was either his father’s
cousin according to Robert E Williams or perhaps his sister
according to Richard Cherrington’s research. 2 Both Robert’s
sister and his second wife share the same death date
according to the IGI. 1 The government would have required
approval to get married as brother and sister.
Robert was a clerk at Mastermans & Company Bank at #35 or
#45 Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, London and was a part of
the middle class when most lived in poverty. The family had
servants. He worked for the bank for forty-five years. Upon
retirement, he received a pension of 100 pounds a year. 2 He
died on May 29, 1852, at the age of sixty-five, from heart
disease in Stafford Hill at St Aubyn, Stoke Damerel, Devon,
England. 3
Sources:
1. IGI, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
2. Robert C Williams Diary transcribed by Richard R.
Cherrington
3. Register of Deaths at the General Register Office, London
Written by Richard W. Thomsen