William Thompson

William was the son of Henry Thompson and his second wife, Mary Ellen formerly Vines, nee Fitzjohn. Henry Thompson married his first wife, Johanna Fitzjohn, in 1875. Johanna was the daughter of George and Elizabeth Fitzjohn and was born in Wood Newton, Northamptonshire, in 1848. She was baptised at Wood Newton on 25 June 1848; the baptismal register gives her name as 'Joanna', the death index 'Johannah' and she was named 'Hannah' on the 1861 and 1871 census when she was living with her parents in Wood Newton. Henry, an agricultural labourer, and Johannah lived at Water Lane, Carlton in Lindrick, Nottinghamshire. They had two children, Jemima born in 1877 and George born 1879. Johanna died in 1880 age 32. At the time of the census the following year (1881) the widowed Henry was still living at Water Lane with his two young children, Jemima (4) and George (2). In 1883 Henry married Mary Ellen Vines, a widow. It seems that Henry Thompson's first wife, Johanna (nee Fitzjohn), and Mary Ellen (formerly Vines nee Fitzjohn) were sisters - they were both born in Wood Newton, Northamptonshire, to George and Elizabeth Fitzjohn. However, marriage with a deceased wife's sister was forbidden under the Deceased Wife's Sister Act 1835 (repealed, Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act 1907) although it would appear the 1835 Act was not infrequently ignored. Thus, Mary's children by her first husband, John, (Hannah, Elizabeth, Frank and John) were half-brothers and half-sisters to her children by her second husband, Henry Thompson, (Emma, Robert and William). Emma, Robert and William were half-brothers and half-sisters to Henry's children by his first wife Johanna (Jemima and George). All the children were cousins! Mary Ellen was born in 1850 and baptised at Wood Newton on 26 May 1850. She married John Vines (b. abt 1843) in 1873 (marriage registered A/M/J, Oundle, Northamptonshire). They had at least four children; Hannah (b. abt. 1875, Wood Newton) Elizabeth (b. 1874, Oundle), Francis Henry (Frank) (b. abt. 1877, Carlton in Lindrick) and John (b. 1880, Carlton in Lindrick). John Vines died in 1880 (death registered J/A/S, Worksop) and in 1881 his widow, now head of household and whose occupation was given as 'housekeeper', was living on Water Lane, Carlton in Lindrick, with her four children, Hannah (9), Elizabeth (7), Frank (3) and John (7 months). In 1891 Henry and Mary were still living on Water Lane, Carlton in Lindrick, and had three children; Emma in 1884, Robert in 1889 and an unnamed son who was just three days old at the time of the census. Henry's two children by his first wife, Jemima (14) and George (12, agricultural labourer) were still living at home as were his stepsons, Frank (13, labourer) and John (10). Mary's two daughters by her first marriage, Hannah and Elizabeth, have not yet been traced on the 1891 Census. William was born the following year in May 1892 and his mother died two years later in 1894 aged 44 (death registered Oct/Nov/Dec). Henry's stepdaughter, Elizabeth Vines, married William Henry Popple in 1893 and in 1901 was living at 12 Sand Hill Street, Worksop, with her husband and two sons, Oswald Harry (3, d. 1919 aged 21) and Frederick William (1). Also in the household was her brother, John Vines (20) who was a miner. Their brother, Frank, also a miner, had married Agnes Scurrell in 1899 and in 1901 they were living at 4 Sand Hill Street, Worksop; they later moved to Balby, Doncaster. In 1901 the widowed Henry (57) was still living on Water Lane; only three of his children were at home the night of the census; Emma (17), Robert (12) and William (8). Henry and Mary's son who was born in 1891 and not named at the time of the census may have died in infancy or childhood as he was not included with the family on the 1901 census. Henry Thompson predeceased his son, William. The newspaper report of William's death records that he had lived with his sister (sic), Elizabeth Popple, at 26 Devonshire Street, Worksop, for nine years before joining the Royal Navy in 1912. William named his half-sister as his next of kin as she was the person the Royal Navy notified of William's death. William's stepbrother, Frank (Francis Henry), served with the 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment (35218 Private) and was killed in action on 9 April 1917, aged 39.