Bristol Potters - W
Research by Reg Jackson
WILKEY James
Born c1838 in St Philip’s parish (61C).
| 1861 | Prospect Place, St Philip’s parish (23), living with his wife Elizabeth (24) and son John (1) both born in St Philip’s parish (61C). |
WILKEY Martha
Born c1832 in Goodleigh, Devon (51C).
| 1851 | 5 Prospect Place, St Philip’s parish (19), living with her parents William and Maria Wilkey, a mason (51C). |
WILKINS Edward
| 1731 | 23 Sep. ‘Henry Jones agst. Edwd. Wilkins potter at Mr Weavers potthouse’ (C). See also John Weaver. |
| 1739 | ‘John Plomer late Joan Baily holds several tene. under and at ye South side of Brandon Hill in poss. of Edward Wilkins, potter, ye rest granted to Joan Baily, 17 March 1723’ (BRO 04240(1)). |
WILKINS Eliza
Born c1879 in Bristol, the daughter of James Wilkins II, the granddaughter of James Wilkins I, and the sister of James Wilkins II.
| 1901 | Transferer (pottery), 17 Aberdeen Street, St Silas parish (22), living with her widowed mother and siblings (01C). |
WILKINS Ethel
Born c1891 in Fishponds (11C).
| 1911 | Painter on biscuit ware, 2 Wharfe Road, Fishponds (20) (11C). |
WILKINS James I
Born c1820 in Temple parish, the father of James Wilkins II and the grandfather of James Wilkins III.
| 1847 | 7 Nov. Harris’s Yard, Little Avon Street, Temple parish, the son of John Wilkins, a labourer, he married Sarah Crees, a potter, of 1 Tower Street, Great Gardens, the daughter of John Crees, a labourer (TPR). |
| 1848 | 16 Jan. Potter, Temple parish on the baptism of his son James. Wife Sarah (TPR). |
| 1851 | Labourer, 12 Brisk Yard, St Mary Redcliffe parish (31), living with his wife Sarah (23) and children James (3) and Mary Ann (1), all born in Bristol (51C). |
| 1860 | Probably his wife, Sarah, whose death is recorded (Ancestry website). |
| 1861 | Labourer, widower, 9 Gough’s Buildings, Temple parish (41), living with his children James (13), Mary Ann (11), Sarah (9), John (7) and George (3), all born in Bristol (61C). |
| 1864 | 6 Feb. Possibly the Mr Wilkins whose son John, aged 10 years, was brought before the magistrates charged with stealing a pair of iron dogs, the property of the Midland Railway Company. ‘The case had been remanded for the attendance of the father, as in addition to the child being almost naked, the police officer stated that four other children of Wilkins’s were neglected and ill clad, in consequence of the drunkenness of the father, a labourer at Messrs Price and Sons pottery. In reply to the magistrates the father said he earned about 15s per week. The police said the boy was naked when he went to the house to fetch him and at present he was without shoes, stockings and shirt … His children seemed in a shameful condition, and the magistrates did not know when they had a worse case before them … The children had no mother to look after them. she being dead, and the father got drunk and left them. The man promised amendment … the magistrates also told Wilkins that if the boy were found about the streets in such a condition he would be sent to an industrial school for several years and he (the father) would have to pay something for his support there’ (Bristol Mercury). |
| 1873 | 21 Sep. Noted as a potter when his son John (21), a brickmaker of Jacob Street, St Philip’s parish married Sarah Ann Blackmore (PPR). |
WILKINS James II
Born c1848 in Temple parish, the son of James Wilkins I and the father of James Wilkins III and Eliza Wilkins (61C, 91C, 01C).
| 1848 | 16 Jan. He was baptised, the son of James and Sarah Wilkins (TPR). |
| 1851 | He was living with his parents and siblings at 12 Brick Yard, St Mary Redcliffe parish (51C). |
| 1861 | He was living with his father and siblings at 9 Gough’s Buildings, Temple parish (61C). |
| 1871 | Labourer, brick yards, 13 Pipe Lane, Temple parish (24), he was living with his wife Sarah (26) and son James (4 mths), all born in Temple parish (71C). |
| 1881 | General labourer, 15 Beam Street, St Luke’s parish (34), he was living with his wife Sarah (26) and children James (10), Florence (8) and Eliza (2), all born in Bristol (81C). |
| 1891 | Potter’s labourer, 59 Victoria Street, St Philip’s parish (43), living with his wife Sarah (49) and children James (20), Florence (18), Eliza (12), Sarah (9), William (9) and Kate (6), all born in Bristol (91C). |
| 1899 | Probably the James Wilkins who died in Bristol (Ancestry website). |
| 1901 | His wife was a widow, living with her children, including Eliza (22), a transferer (pottery) (01C). |
WILKINS James III
Born c1871 in Bristol, the son of James Wilkins II, the grandson of James Wilkins I and the brother of Eliza Wilkins (91C, 01C).
| 1871 | 5 Jan. He was baptised, the son of James and Sarah Wilkins (TPR). |
| 1871 | He was living with his parents at 13 Pipe Lane, Temple parish (71C). |
| 1881 | He was living with his parents and siblings at 15 Beam Street, St Luke’s parish (81C). |
| 1891 | General labourer, 59 Victoria Street, St Philip’s parish (20), living with his parents and siblings (91C). |
| 1891 | Probably the James Wilkins who married Jane Webb in Barton Regis (Ancestry website). |
| 1894 | 4 Feb. Potter, Marsh, St Philip’s parish on the baptism of his son James (born 19 Dec 1893). Wife: Jane (PPR). |
| 1894 | Probably his wife, Jane, born c1870, whose death is recorded (Ancestry website). |
| 1901 | Stoneware potter, widower, 28 Stanhope Street, St Silas parish (3), living with his son, William W. (8), born in Bristol (01C). |
| James Wilkins moved to America during the first decade of the 20th century and continued to work as a potter at the Muncie Pottery in Indiana and at Boystown, Nebraska. He was well known for creating dips and glazes throughout his career in the States. A photograph taken in October 1940 shows him and his wife Mary Ann (Smalldridge) outside the Wisconsin Ceramic Corporation in Pittsville. Their gravestone shows that he died in 1950 and his wife in 1953. It also records that his wife was born in 1875. It is possible that she was the Mary Ann Smalldridge baptised in St Philip’s parish, Bristol, on 7 Feb 1875, the daughter of the potter John Smalldridge (information from Lesli Long). |
WILLIAMS ——- (christian name illegible)
Born c1833 in Bristol (61C).
| 1861 | Pile Street, St Mary Redcliffe parish (28), living with his wife Caroline (27) born in Bristol and children Alfred (5) and (name illegible) (2) both born in Bristol (61C). |
WILLIAMS Benjamin
The son of Richard Williams, late of Pembroke, now of Bristol (A).
| 1761 | 13 May. He was apprenticed to Michael and Elizabeth Edkins, with £10 the gift of the Society of Ancient Britons (A). |
WILLIAMS Charles
| 1896 | 6 Jan. Noted as a potter, deceased, though not necessarily of Bristol, when his son John Francis Williams (65) a widower and tradesman of Old Bread Street, St Philip’s parish married Mary Ann Mallett (PPR). |
WILLIAMS Daniel I
The father of Daniel Williams II (JBPR).
| 1856 | 3 Oct. Noted as a potter when his son Daniel (29) a widower of Somerset Street married Caroline Elizabeth Morris (JBPR). |
WILLIAMS Daniel II
Born c1827, the son of Daniel Williams I (JBPR).
| 1856 | 3 Oct. Somerset Street (29) a widower, the son of Daniel Williams, a potter, he married Caroline Elizabeth Morris (28) of Somerset Street, the daughter of William Morris, a coppersmith (JBPR). |
WILLIAMS David
| 1739 | 19 Oct. He became a free potter because of his marriage to Ann, daughter of John Tyley, tiler and plasterer (F, G). |
| 1739 | Potter, St James’s parish (P). |
| 1740 | Anne, wife of David Williams of St James’s parish, potter, received £1 from John Whitson’s Charity for poor women in child bed (JW). |
WILLIAMS Elizabeth I
Born c1811, not in Bristol, sister of Martha Williams (41C).
| 1841 | Swan Court, Temple parish (30), living with her sister Martha Williams (25) (41C). |
WILLIAMS Elizabeth II
Born c1830 in Temple parish (51C).
| 1851 | 3 Cart Lane, Temple parish (21), a widow, living with the family of Henry James Grimes, a potter, and probably their married daughter (51C). |
WILLIAMS George I
Born c1847 in Bedminster parish, the husband of Margaret Williams (71C).
| 1871 | Whiteware potter, 45 Grafton Street, St Philip’s parish (24), living with his wife Margaret (23), transferer in pottery, born in Swansea, South Wales, and son George (1), born in Swansea (71C). |
WILLIAMS George II
Born c1879 in Hereford (11C).
| 1899 | He married May Arthur in Bristol (Ancestry website). |
| 1901 | His wife May (24), was living with her father Edwin Arthur and her children George and Kate (5 mths) at 13 Gloster Avenue, Stapleton. George Williams is not recorded in the census (01C). |
| 1911 | Furnace stoker at pottery, Sunny Bank, 1 Mayfield Park, Fishponds (32), living with his wife May (33), born in Clifton, and children George (12) and Dorothy (10), both born in Easton, and Henry (3), James (2) and Edwin (1 mth), all born in Fishponds (11C). |
WILLIAMS Hector Joseph
Born c1886 in Bristol (11C).
| 1911 | Potter dish maker, 8 Drummond Road, Fishponds (25), living with his wife Florence (23), born in Bristol, and children Mary (1) and Harold (6 mths), both born in Fishponds (11C). |
WILLIAMS Henry I
| 1837 | 25 Nov. Great Gardens, the son of John Williams, a gardener, he married Eliza Wildgoose of Great Gardens, the daughter of Richard Wildgoose, a mariner (PPR). |