1. Benjamin WILLIAMS was baptised on 16 Aug 1788 in St. George’s Church in Arreton, IOW. He died at the age of forty and was buried on 19 May 1829 in Newport, IOW. Jane FELLOWS and Benjamin WILLIAMS were married on 7 Jun 1813 at St Thomas-a-Becket Church in Newport, IOW.
Benjamin’s Parentage
Benjamin Williams died at age forty in 1829 so his birth year can be estimated as 1788. According to the IOW card index, there was only one Benjamin Williams who was baptised in the 1785 to 1795 time period. This baptism took place at St. George’s Church in Arreton and the entry reads: “1788 Aug’t 16 Benj + Ann d + son of George and Hestor Williams”. George and Hestor Williams of Arreton baptised seven children in total, all at St. George’s Church. In the various baptismal entries, the mother’s name is sometimes written Hestor, other times Hester and once as Esther. According to wikiname.com, Hester is a variant of Esther and the two were often used interchangeably. The baptisms for the Williams family begin in January of 1786 so it is most likely that George and Hestor or Esther married prior to this date. The IOW card index shows only one marriage for a George Williams to a bride Hestor or Esther during the preceding decade and this occurs at Northwood on 13 December 1782. The parish register reads: “George Williams of the parish of St Helens Batchelor [sic] and Esther Catcott of this Parish were Married in this church by Banns this thirteenth day of December in the year one Thousand seven Hundred and eighty two by me John Pattinson Curate. This marriage was solemnized between us {George Williams, Esther Catcott In the presence of Thomas Buskell and Ja? Buskell”.
From this analysis, it seems quite certain that Benjamin William’s parents were George Williams of St. Helens and Esther (Hester) Catcott of Northwood.
2. Jane FELLOWS was baptised on 10 Aug 1800 in Newport, IOW. Her death and burial information is unknown.
Jane Fellows Parentage
According to the admission records from the House of Industry in Newport, Jane Williams was forty years old when she entered the workhouse on 14 August 1830. Her birth date can be estimated from this as about 1790. From the record of her marriage to Benjamin Williams at Newport, we know that she was a spinster with the maiden name of Jane Fellows. According to the IOW card index, there were two Jane Fellows baptised on the Isle of Wight. One of these is Jane Fellows, daughter of John Fellows, baptised 11 Feb 1781 at Newport. The other Jane Fellows was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Fellows, baptised 10 Aug 1800, also at Newport.
If Jane was the daughter of John Fellows, she would have been at least forty-nine years old when she was admitted to the workhouse and at least forty-seven years old when her youngest child Charles was born in 1828. It is, therefore, very unlikely that Jane was the daughter of John Fellows.
If Jane was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Fellows, and was baptised soon after her birth, then she would have been only thirteen years old when she married Benjamin Williams and only thirty years old when she entered the workhouse. However, the baptismal records recorded at Newport on 10 Aug 1800, show that Thomas and Sarah Fellows baptised two daughters on that day; Jane and Rebecca. Thomas and Sarah Fellows baptised five children in total: William in 1783, Ann in 1784, Elizabeth in 1787 and Rebecca and Jane in 1800. Since the parish registers do not indicate that Rebecca and Jane were twins and since there is a thirteen year gap between the baptism of Elizabeth and the baptism of the two girls, it seems reasonable to conclude that either Jane or Rebecca or both were not baptised as infants. If Jane was ten years old when she was baptised, then she could be the same Jane that entered the workhouse in 1830 at age forty.
There is only one marriage in the IOW card index for Thomas Fellows prior to 1800 and that entry shows that Thomas Fellows of Arreton married Ann Joliffe at Newchurch in 1771. Ann Fellows died and was buried at Newport on 21 Aug 1782. There are no further marriage records for Thomas Fellows in the IOW card index but on 30 Sep 1782, there is a marriage, by license, recorded in Portsmouth, just across the Solent on the mainland, at St. Thomas Church between Thomas Fellows, widower and Sarah Hilliers, a spinster.
From this analysis, it seems most likely that Jane Fellows is the daughter of Thomas Fellows and Sarah Hilliers and was born about 1790.
Benjamin WILLIAMS and Jane FELLOWS had the following children:
i. Ann WILLIAMS was baptised on 7 Jan 1816 in Carisbrooke, IOW. She died and was buried on 19 Jan 1817 in Newport, IOW.
ii. Jane WILLIAMS was baptised on 28 Feb 1819 in Carisbrooke, IOW. She died and was buried on 30 Dec 1819 in Newport, IOW.
iii. Henry WILLIAMS was baptised on 4 Feb 1821 in Carisbrooke, IOW. His death date is unknown.
iv. George WILLIAMS, baptised on 2 April 1823 at St. Thomas Church in Winchester; died 19 Dec 1907, Ryde, IOW.
v. Charles WILLIAMS was born about 1828 in IOW. He died at the age of two at the House of Industry and was buried on 8 Sep 1830.
