William John Phillips

[Philldw]

I am trying to trace the death record ( or relevent info) on my great great grandfather.
He was born on 30 Mar 1823 in Portsea island (i believe) married Harriet Hughes !st Apl 1855 (Alverstoke) .She was born 5th Feb 1826 and died in poverty June 1896 in Portsmouth.
They had the following children John,Harry(my great grandfather) Harriet Elizabeth Sarah George and Charlotte. Any information gratefully accepted.many Thanks

[philipsearching]

Greetings, and a warm welcome to Rootschat.

Probably the best place to start is the 1881 census which is free to search.
If you can find out if Harriet was a widow in 1881 it cuts the search from around the date the last child was born up to 1881.
If William was alive in 1881 and Harriet was a widow when she died, that limits the search from 1881 to 1896.

FreeBMD is an excellent site for finding BMD registrations and (if there are not too many William Phillips to search) you may be able to narrow the hunt by checking the age given at death.

Let us know what you find on the 1881 census and we can help with your search.

Good hunting
Philip

[wilcoxon]

Still alive in 1891

1891 Portsea.
William Phillips  68 carter b Portsmouth
 Harriet Phillips  65 b Bishopstoke
 Harriet Collyer  11 gr daughter

[Philldw]

Thank you for your help! Greatly Appreciated.
When Harriott ,his wife, was admitted to the Union Workhouse,In Portsea,in 1896 she was as his 'wife' not 'widow'..assuming she was compus mentus then he was alive then.
The only record of a William John Phillips I can find (i have the cert) is in 1892 for South Chelsea recorded by a G.G Phillips.there several bits dont tie up.
why would a man 69 years old leave his family & move there? His occupation is recorded as House Painter (was carter in Portsea) and he had a son George but not 'G G'..?
The problem is that there are 100's of William Philliips on BMD as it is a common name...a bit of a needle in a haystack!