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). |