William Webster, son
of Thomas Webster and Mary Goward, was born January 21st, 1836, in Norwich,
Norfolk, England. He was the youngest of a large family. He had three olders
sisters, Ann, Mary and Elizabeth who were spinsters....two married sisters,
Ellen and Emily, and four brothers; one brother died when a child.
William grew up with
this large family in Norfolk County, but when he became a man, he grew
discontented and after a fuss with his father, he left home and went up into
North Riding in Yorkshire. Work was plentiful and he found a way of life to
his liking.
It was in North
Riding that he met Caroline Burdett. William was now 30 years of age.
Caroline was born in Brigstock, North Hamptonshire on March 6th, 1844. Not
much is known about her family. Her parents were Avrey Burdett and Sarah
Sophia Shepphard. She had three brothers, George, William and Thomas.
Caroline and William
were married on December 22nd 1866 and made their home in Marske-by-the-sea.
There first children were born there. Later they moved a few miles south to
Loftus and spent the remainder of their married life there.
William had never
been to school a day in his life, and when he met Caroline he could not
read. Caroline had had a little education, so she taught him to read. Mostly
from newspapers.
Caroline and William
had eleven children, five boys and six girls. Four of them died in infancy,
Elizabeth (1), Thomas, an infant son, and an infant daughter, the last two
being twins. Their living children were William, Emily, Mary who was always
called "Polly", Francis, Elizabeth (2),
Ernest and Annie. William named all four of his girls after his sisters.
William and Caroline
had a happy life in Loftus. William worked in the coal and iron stone mines.
He held a very responsible position as superintendent of the mine. One of
his many duties was to check the safety locks on the miners lamps. Loftus
was 1/2 mile from the shore of the North Sea on the east coast of England.
As the water receded at low tide when the moon was full, the children would
find great sport in gathering oysters, winkles, shrimps, and flithers. They
would take these fish home for the family to eat.
The dictionary says
that Lofthouse (Loftus) is a parish in the Union of Guis-borough and is
bounded on the north and east by the North Sea. It comprises 3775 acres,
including 383 of common wastelands called Moors. Near the coast, the ground
is elevated but declines gradually from the cliffs toward the village,
whence it rises gently and commands a good view of the ocean. The surface is
diversified with richly wooded dales. The sub-stratum is chiefly free-stone
of good quality for building homes and the rocks abound with alum.
Processing the alum, mining, gathering the bark from the oaks in the forest
to be used in tanning of leather all afforded much employment for the people
of that area. Loftus was on the Coast Road that went from Guis-borough to
Whitby, and the town consisted mainly of one row of houses, each connecting
with the other. The Webster family lived at No. 31 Dundas Street. Their home
was large and beautifully furnished. William was a proud and successful man.
The older boys, Will and Frank, were also working in the mines.
Then on the 12th of
August 1888, their beautiful mother died after 20 years of married life.
Caroline was called in the middle of the night to come and assist with a
birth. In the excitement she failed to put on her vest, the night was chilly
and she caught a cold which developed into pneumonia and caused her untimely
death. She was buried in the East Loftus Methodist cemetery.
The next four years
were hard ones for the family. In 1892 the big strike closed down all the
mines and industries. Ern remembers when they brought the horses out of the
mines. Some had never been out of the mines since they were born and all
were blind. Some were huge and some were as small as Shetland ponies.
It soon became
evident that the family would have to leave England, and after much
indecision they decided togo to Australia where they thought Uncle Israel
was. Emily wrote a tracer letter to Australia, but when it came back it had
been around the world. About this time, John Godson Webster, Francis
Webster's son was on a mission to England. He was preaching the gospel and
gathering genealogy for his father. When he went up to Loftus he stayed with
William and his family....John and his mother, Ann Elizabeth (Aunt Betsy)
who was visiting in England, were leaving to catch a ship at Liverpool to
sail for home. William and his family decided to go along with them.
Emily was married by
this time and had one child. Tom Leyborne, her husband, played in the
Queen's band. Her brother Will did too, and they both had a great deal of
pleasure in playing in the Queen's Jubilee. Polly decided to stay in England
because she was wanting to marry Alfred Robson who was a sailor, so both
girls remained in England.
William and his
family had a lot to do to get enough money for the trip. Nine hundred
dollars was needed for the boat fare, so Will and Frank went down to the
Labor Union and drew out the money that they had saved over the years. They
were able to get 95 dollars out of every 100 dollars they had coming. They
sold their furniture at a public auction, piece by piece. All they saved was
two old family bibles and a sewing machine. Ern was 16 and Annie was 11
years old, so they needed only half-fare tickets.
William his three
sons and two daughters left Loftus on Annie's birthday on August 12th, along
with Aunt Betsy, John Webster, John Middleton, and Mr. and Mrs. Jakes. They
boarded the train, and in half a day were in Liverpool.
The ship was large
and the trip was very exciting. There were three passenger decks. Steerage
was at the bottom of the ship, and when they saw how the people were eating
raw fish and bread and were jammed together, all nationalities and colors,
and were not allowed to mingle with the other classes, they were very
grateful that they had been able to pay for better accommodations.
They had 2nd class
cabins because they were nearer the center of the boat and didn't rock so
much. They had 1st class eating rates and enjoyed watching all the
activities, and they long remembered their three-weeks on board the ship.
The look-out on the ship would test the temperatures of the water that he
would draw up from the ocean in a bucket. One day he said there would be a
gale that would blow in from the West Indies before morning. Sure enough,
there was a storm and it was terrible. The ship very nearly went down.
When they landed in
New York, they immediately boarded the train and traveled day and night with
only a short stopover in Salt Lake City, Utah. While waiting for their train
to leave for Milford, William went into a store to get more food for their
traveling basket, and someone stole the basket....It was found later thrown
into the back of the store and was returned to the hotel where they were
staying. They boarded the train for Milford and arrived there at 7 o'clock.
Andrew Rollo met them
in Milford with his covered wagon and brought them to Cedar City. They
arrived the 2nd day of September 1892.
Everything was very
different here in Utah. William and the boys tried to do everything possible
to make a living for the family. William and his sons farmed a little,
hauled freight, herded sheep, and mined coal, but times were hard and they
made very little more than their food. Lissie was the mother of the
household until her marriage to Sam Heyborne. Then Annie took over and did
the housekeeping for the family. Will worked at the saw mill for lumber, and
he and the other boys put up the new home on north 100 East street.
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William Webster's
Home |
Although
they were very poor, William gave food and wood to those he knew needed it.
Once he took food, wood and flour to Dave Edward's father. The Bishop got
after him explaining that he should have turned this over to the church for
distribution. William said, "By Gox, they would have starved to death if
they had waited for all that."
William belonged to
the Church of England, and he never could be persuaded to join the
Latter-Day-Saint church. Will would never join either, but Ernest, Lizzie,
Frank and Annie were all baptized....
William's family
remember him as a handsome man 6 ft. 2 in. in his stocking feet. He had grey
hair and a short beard and claimed to have never had a razor to his face. In
later years he stooped a little and walked with a cane. He smoked a pipe and
wore bib overalls.
He loved his children
and grand children. They have memories of going to his house at 4 o'clock on
Christmas morning to sing carols to him and to fill his big boot sock that
he hung on the gate for Santa. They took him tobacco, overalls, and shirts.
William was a man who
kept his troubles to himself. He always appeared in good humor and had a
witty come-back for all his friends. He didn't lose his temper often, but
when he did he didn't care who heard him. His favorite expression was "By Gox". He loved music, but he wouldn't take part in musical groups that
entertained in Cedar City.
He didn't have his
heart in his work for he still mourned for his wife who was buried in
England. He was very disillusioned about Utah for he was never able to earn
enough, and being so proud it hurt him that his family who were so well
fixed in England had to live in such humble circumstances. He didn't have
the faith in the Church that would have made this sacrifice worth while, and
he would have gone back to England immediately if there had been enough
money. In later years he felt he could get money to go back, but when he
wrote Emily she advised him not to come as World War I had started and
conditions in England were not good.
He never saw his
daughters in England again. Polly wrote several times during the years, and
in one letter she said that Emily had died about 1921. Polly's husband
deserted her and she was very poor and was living on the dole.... William
spent his later years visiting around with his children and their families,
but he spent most of his last years in Beaver, Utah with Annie. He died
April 22, 1922 in Cedar City at the age of 82 years. He was buried in the
Cedar City cemetery.
Generations of Websters, Amy L. Van Cott and Allen W.
Leigh, Thomas Webster Family Organization, Cedar City, Utah, 1960, pp. 68-72.
Minor changes made.
