yeovil people

william edward willmington

Glove Manufacturer of Hendford

 

William Edward Willmington was born on 9 January 1798 at Yeovil, the eldest of the nine children of wealthy glove manufacturer William Willmington and Martha née Collins.

William married Sarah Sharland of Stockleigh English, Devon, the daughter of Thomas Shorland and Sarah née Spiller. William and Sarah were to have ten children.

On 23 March 1820 William, aged 22, was initiated into the Yeovil Freemasonry Lodge of Brotherly Love, describing himself as a Glover of Yeovil. In Pigot's Directories of both 1822 and 1824 William and his father William were both listed as glove manufacturers in Hendford.

As a sidenote it would appear that from this point forward in time William the father and William Edward the son were confused by more than one eminent local historians and genealogists alike, and much of the father's later achievements were attributed to the son. However, it would appear that William Edward actually left Yeovil in 1840 as follows -

On 31 August 1840, at the age of 42, William arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales, Australia. He had travelled from Bristol to Australia with his wife and family - five sons and three daughters - on board the "Prince Albert".

William died in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia in 1870. The following was recorded in the death notices of the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) in September 1870 "On the 13th instant, at his son's residence, Queensland, in his 72nd year, William Willmington, late of Yeovil, Somersetshire, England."

 

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