Wicks of Worthing
William Wicks was born on 19 February 1844 in Worthing, Sussex, the son of William Wicks and Anne Searle. He was christened on 24 March 1844 in Broadwater, Sussex.
William’s father died just before his second birthday and young William was raised by his mother Anne, who took in laundry to support herself and her children. By 1861, William had left school and taken up work as a painter and decorator. He was living at home, with his mother Anne at 15 Field row, Worthing, Sussex. Anne Wicks married George Wicks on 10 August 1862 in Brighton, Sussex. George was also a painter and decorator and he and young William Wicks may have worked together.
William’s father died just before his second birthday and young William was raised by his mother Anne, who took in laundry to support herself and her children. By 1861, William had left school and taken up work as a painter and decorator. He was living at home, with his mother Anne at 15 Field row, Worthing, Sussex. Anne Wicks married George Wicks on 10 August 1862 in Brighton, Sussex. George was also a painter and decorator and he and young William Wicks may have worked together.
William married Eliza Barnett on 21 September 1865 at the Parish Church in Broadwater, Sussex. Eliza was the youngest of seven children born to William Barnett and Jane Barnes. Her father was a sawyer from Coldwaltham, Sussex. Her mother, Jane, died when Eliza was about five years old.
In April 1871, William and Eliza Wicks were living at 11 Field row with his mother Anne and stepfather, George. William and Eliza had two young sons, William and Arthur. Eliza Wicks assisted her mother-in-law in the laundry business with the ironing. William was a professional journeyman painter. His son, William died soon after in about June 1871 at the age of four years. |
William Wicks earned himself the nickname “Nelson” because he had a withered arm and only partial sight in one eye. There are several family stories about what happened to his arm, but the most likely one is that he was waylaid on his way home after an altercation at a local pub and was badly beaten up. His arm was so badly broken that is never fully mended and he lost the sight in one eye. William also was a shooter and took part in competitions at Bisley Shooting Ground in Surrey. An alternative family story is that he fell over and shot himself in the arm.
William also owned a horse and cart which he kept in a yard on the corner of Portland and Shelley roads in Worthing, Sussex. He would hire himself out to cart and deliver goods such as coal, paraffin and firewood. In 1881, William and Eliza were living with his mother, Anne, who had now been widowed for the second time, at 32 Chapel street, Worthing. William was working as a coal merchant and Eliza worked as a laundress with her mother-in-law. |
Eliza Wicks died on 12 August 1887 at 32 Chapel street, Worthing, Sussex from hepatitis. She was 43 years old. On 18 September 1887, just over a month after his mother’s death, Arthur Wicks was married in the Parish Church in Heene, Sussex. Arthur married Harriet Caroline Virgoe, the third child of William John Virgoe and Elizabeth Denyer.
William Wicks was lodging in the home of Emily Parsons of 18 Chapel street, Worthing in 1891. Emily’s husband was in the Army Reserves and he was also a plasterer. William, still working as a house painter at that time, may have known Cuthbert Parsons through the building trade. William continued to lodge with Emily Parsons and her family when they moved to number 18, back of Portland road in Worthing, Sussex before 1901.
At the time of his death, on 18 July 1907, William Wicks was living in the East Preston Workhouse. The workhouse was, in most cases, the only alternative for the homeless or destitute. It was a harsh and regimented environment with strict rules and regulations. William must have had trouble getting regular work as a house painter or fallen too ill to work. The cause of death was noted as general haemorrhages and convulsions by the certifying doctor, the informant being the master of the workhouse. William was 63 years old. |
Descendants of William Wicks
William (Nelson) Wicks was born on 19 February 1844 in Worthing, Sussex, was christened on 19 February 1844 in Broadwater, Sussex and died on 18 July 1907 in East Preston, Sussex at age 63 years. William married Eliza Barnett on 21 September 1865 in Broadwater, Sussex. Eliza was born in about 1845 in Watersfield, Sussex, was christened on 20 April 1845 in Coldwaltham, Sussex and died on 12 August 1887 in Worthing, Sussex at age 42 years. They had two sons: William and Arthur Sidney.
- William Wicks was born in about 1867 in Worthing, Sussex and died in June quarter 1871 in Worthing, Sussex at age 4 years.
- Arthur Sidney Wicks was born on 30 January 1869 in Worthing, Sussex, was christened on 28 March 1869 in Broadwater, Sussex and died on 8 January 1929 in Worthing, Sussex at age 59 years. Arthur married Harriet Caroline Virgoe on 18 September 1887 in Heene, Sussex. Harriet was born on 9 November 1866 in Worthing, Sussex, was christened on 23 December 1866 in Broadwater, Sussex and died on 28 May 1950 in Worthing, Sussex at age 83 years. They had six children: Ellen Louisa, Arthur Sydney, Elsie Elizabeth, Gladys Mabel, George and Marjorie Winifred.