Husband
of W.P. 'Bill' Richardson's Great Aunt, Elizabeth
Gilliland
William is proving
to be quite elusive in his early years. William Robinson
was a very common name in Durham at that time! He was
born around 1863 and I have no idea who his parents
were. The first conclusive record I have
for him is the 1891 census where he was recorded as
being a visitor in Gladstone Terrace, Crook at the home
of David Gilliland and his family. The record says he
was 26 was a coal miner. I think
he must have come a courting as later that year he
married Elizabeth Gilliland, David's daughter.
William and Elizabeth were married in the second quarter
of 1891, their marriage was registered in the Auckland
Registration District. William was 26 and Elizabeth was
22. The 1901 census recorded William as a
37 year old Coal Miner - Hewer, his wife Elizabeth was
33 and they had 5 children, Ernest (8), Edith (9),
Lenora (5), Ethel (3) and Doris (1). Ten
years later they were counted in the census at 18
Ravenside Terrace, Chopwell. William was 48, still
working in the pits but now he was listed as a Coal
Miners Deputy.
Elizabeth was 42 and the census return (completed and
signed by William) states that they had been married for
19 years and in that time had 5 children, all of whom
were still alive. Four of those children were listed as
being in the household, Ernest was 18 and a coal miner
like his father, Lenora was 15 and working as a post
office assistant, the two younger girls Ethel (13) and
Doris (11) were at school. William (mistakenly)
included their oldest daughter Edith, on the census
form, but the enumerator crossed her name off the list,
probably because she was not in the house at the time of
the census, she worked as a domestic servant and I
assume 'lived in'. I don't yet have a
record of William's death. |
