Walter Family of Babcary, Somerset, England, UK

A genealogical account of the family of Ann and Walter Walter

Walter Walter (1804-1877) lived at the 110 acre Greenhill Farm, Lower Foddington (Farrington), Babcary, Somerset (see right hand side of a more detailed map). He was married to Ann Leach Penny (1814-1889) who was born in the neighbouring village of Charlton Mackrell, Somerset.

Walter's parents were William Walter (1779-1864), born in Babcary, who married in 1803 Mary Halyear (or Halyer or Hillier) (1771-1865), a widow born in Bayford, Somerset. The marriage was witnessed by Jane Walter(s). Walter was baptised on 18 September, 1804. William and Mary were farmers who retired to Garston Street, Babcary

Williams's parents (Walter's grandparents) were possibly William Walter and Mary Whittle (1756-1834) who married in 1779.

Walter Walter and Ann had 11 children:

1. Mary (1838-?1864)
2. Albert (1840-1863)
3. Caroline (1842-1896)
4. David (1843-1903)
5. Hugh Penny (1844-1927)
6. Robert Leach (1846-1919)
7. Benjamin (1848-    )
8. Edward Jacob (1849-    )
9. Susanna (1851-    )
10. Phillip (1853-    )
11. Gaius Penny (1857-    )

1. Mary Walter aged 21 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm; nothing further is known. A Mary Walters (Walter and Walters are used interchangeably in official records, and sometimes by family members) died in June 1864 in Langport district which includes Babcary.

2. Albert Walter aged 11 is listed in the 1851 census at Greenhill Farm. He emigrated to the USA, and died in the Civil War. More about Albert Walter - Illinois and the Civil War.

3. Caroline Walter aged 9 is listed in the 1851 census at Greenhill Farm. In 1861 she was living in Broad Street, Somerton where she was a draper's assistant at the shop of Joseph Williams (?on the corner of New Street - click the red New Street link on the Somerton Virtual Tour). Her grandmother Lucy Penny lived next door and is described as a 'proprietor of house(s)'. By 1881 Caroline was living with her mother in Somerton and is described as a draper/grocer. She is believed to have married William Whittle (1837-1903) in 1885.

4. David Walter aged 18 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. In 1871 he was working as a general servant in the household of William John, clerk to the commissioner of taxes, at Bryn Teg House, Llantrisant, Glamorgan, South Wales. By 1881 he was described as a widower, lodging with Caroline Williams in St Hilary, Glamorgan and her family and working as a labourer. By 1891 he was employed as a gardener at Waunarlwydd House, Waunarlwydd near Pontardulais, Swansea, the home of John Powell, J.P. (c.1835-1910) and his wife Ann Powell. In 1901 he is named as Daniel Walter at 27 Brunswick St., Swansea - ironically, off Walter Road. He was a boarder in the house of Rosa Jeffree (a widow) and employed as a domestic coachman - equivalent to a modern chauffeur but with responsibility for the horses and the coach itself - perhaps for John Powell as he was within easy walking distance to his then home in Brynmill Crescent, Swansea. The age is correct at 58, he is listed as a widower, born Babcary (there is no Daniel meeting these criteria). A David Walter died in Swansea in 1903 aged 60.

5. Hugh Penny Walter aged 5 is listed in the 1851 census at Greenhill Farm. In the 1861 census he is working as a baker for Henry and Annie Priscilla Harris at Kilmington village (Mere District). Annie Priscilla was born in Foddington, Babcary and her mother was a Mary Walter (c.1798-1870) who married Edward Ings (1793-1850). By 1871 Hugh had moved to Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales - near his brother David. He was working as an iron miner and lodging with Mary Ann Knight (born in Bath, Somerset), a dressmaker at Tymawr. He emigrated to the USA (after his brother Robert) and settled in Barber County, Kansas. (More about Hugh and Robert Walter in America).

6. Robert Leach Walter aged 15 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. He emigrated to the USA in the early 1870s, landing in Philadelphia and moving to Illinois, then Missouri and finally Barber County, Kansas. (More about Hugh and Robert Walter in America).

7. Benjamin Walter aged 13 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. By 1881 Benjamin was living in Upton-cum-Chalvey, Buckinghamshire and working as a labourer for a corn merchant. He was married to Martha Street from Maidenhead, Bucks in March 1876 and had two children, Annie M (1877- )and Harry Albert H. (1881- married Ruth Herridge in March 1903). By 1901 he was living at 5 Belgrave Road, Stokefield Estate, Slough, Bucks and was working as a railway navvy. Harry was still at home aged 21 and working as a groom domestic. They had five other children: Gaius John (1882- ) an apprentice mechanical engineer; Ada (1884- , married Arthur E. Seden in December 1911) a dressmaker; Frank (1887- ) a railway clerk; Jesse (1888- , married Maud Stainer in June 1912) and Grace (1892- , married ? Newbury in December 1912) still at school.

Jesse and Maud had a daughter Gwyneth in September 1912. Ada and Arthur Seden had a son John B. Seden in June 1917. The Newburys had a son Harold G. Newbury in June 1920.

Edward Jacob Walter

8. Edward Jacob Walter aged 12 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. Edward Jacob married Eliza Gillett (1840 or 1843- ) at the Presbyterian Church, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on July 21 1874. He was described as a grocer's assistant and they moved into what was probably a house owned by Eliza's family, 11 Albert Place, Cheltenham (subsequently re-numbered 16 and now a listed building). By the 1881 census they had moved to 429 High Street, Cheltenham (Jacob's shop was at 430). Witnesses at the wedding were: Robert Scuse Gillett (Eliza's older brother), Susanna Walter (Jacob's younger sister), William Allen Walter (Jacob's second cousin?), and Ann Elizabeth Walter (?). Jacob and Eliza had one child, Edward Ernest (1878-1938). At some point between 1881 and 1901 they moved to Oxford Road, Reading, Berkshire. In 1901 Edward Ernest was working as a draper in Fulham, living in a boarding house owned by Aberdonian George Mearns at 9 Upper Porchester Street, Paddington. Edward Ernest married Elizabeth Horne on September 12 1905 at St Stephen's, Careby, Lincolnshire (her father, Henry Horne was butler to the rector). Edward Jacob was a witness. Edward Ernest and Elizabeth lived at 80 Silver Crescent, Gunnersbury, London, W4 and had two sons: Edward Henry (1908-1982) and Kenneth Gillett (1911-1996). Following the First World War, when he joined the Royal Flying Corps, Edward Ernest returned to the drapery trade in London. He died in St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex in 1938. Edward Henry married Katherine Bath in 1937 and had no children. Kenneth Gillett married Kathleen Prossl in 1947 and had two daughters, Elizabeth Clare (Price) and Jane Marian (Nutley).

9. Susanna Walter aged 20 is listed in the 1871 census in Babcary described as a governess and living with Ann and Walter Walter and brother Gaius.

10. Phillip Walter aged 8 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. By 1881 he was living with his mother in Somerton and is described as a grocer. He is believed to have emigrated to Australia.

11. Gaius Penny Walter aged 4 is listed in the 1861 census at Greenhill Farm. He was a draper in New Street, Somerton and Overseer of the Poor in the 1880s. In 1897 he had a shop in Broad Street. In 1914 he is described as a draper (Broad Street) and a tailor (New Street). He married Mary Adelia Carter (1870- ), daughter of Alfred Carter (1841- ) (a Sergeant Instructor of Volunteers) and Annie Bella McLeod (born Fredericton, Canada 1851) from South Petherton in March 1891. They had seven children: Mary Dorothy (1891- ), Elsie Ada (1892- ), Lillian Katherine (Lily) (1894- ), Caroline Eveline (1896), Christina Irene (1900 - ), Hugh Penny ?William (1901- ), and James William ?Gaius (1904-1905).

New Street, Somerton - Broad Street is at the end

Last updated April 2008. Queries or comments? Please email Clare Price through editor@hrmguide.net

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