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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Cheshire => England => Cheshire Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Heather58 on Wednesday 04 May 16 22:30 BST (UK)
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Good evening, I have a William Dobson born about 1899 in Handbridge, Chester and in 1927/28 he was accused of the murder of Hannah White in Greenway Street, Handbridge. He was married with a couple of children and a bit slow. He was sentenced to death but the people of Handbridge got up a petition and there was 17,000 signatures for his release because some of the witnesses lied at the trial. I think his parents were Peter Dobson and Sarah Ann nee Pay what I would like to know is who did he marry and who were the children? I did find in 1939 register a William Dobson in a mental institution. I have found a William Dobson's death in 1988 wonder if that was him?
kind regards
Heather
:)
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Possibles found on freebmd:
Sep qtr 1898 Chester vol 8a p414 William Dobson birth
Mar qtr 1919 Chester vol 8a p608 William H Dobson married Polly Ledsham
Mar qtr 1922 Chester vol 8a p587 William Dobson married Ethel Welch
Chester - 6 births of Dobson with mother's name Ledsham (1920-28)
Chester - 1 birth of Dobson with mothjer's name Welch (1927)
Hope this helps
Philip
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1901 census has William as born 1897
HOUSEHOLD
ROLE
GENDER
AGE
BIRTHPLACE
Peter Dobson Head M 32 Chester, Cheshire
Sarah A Dobson Wife F 34 Wrexham, Denbighshire
Thos Dobson Son M 12 Chester, Cheshire
John Dobson Son M 10 Chester, Cheshire
Ellen Dobson Daughter F 8 Chester, Cheshire
Barbara Dobson Daughter F 6 Chester, Cheshire
William Dobson Son M 4 Chester, Cheshire
Martha Dobson Daughter F 2 Chester, Cheshire
Sophia Dobson Daughter F 0 Chester, Cheshire
is this the correct family ??
Williams entry
William Dobson
England and Wales Census, 1901
Name William Dobson
Event Type Census
Event Date 31 Mar 1901
Event Place Chester, Cheshire, England
County Cheshire
Civil Parish Chester
Ecclesiastical Parish St Mary Without The Walls Chester
Sub-District Chester Cathedral
Registration District Chester
Residence Note Broad Entry
Gender Male
Age 4
Relationship to Head of Household Son
Birth Year (Estimated) 1897
:)
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Re Peters info
a William Dobson married Ethel Welch in 1922 at St Marys church , Chester - if you note the census parish of 1901 they are in St Mary without the Walls - so - same church
the 1919 marriage is William Henry Dobson to Polly Ledsham in St John church,Chester
I would lean towards the Ethel Welch marriage - but if they only had 1 child ??...your post says a couple of children ?...do you know the childrens names of William Dobson ??
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Having read newspaper reports on this incident I'm inclined to think it is a very sad story for all concerned.
William Dobson was born on 13th August 1898, the son of James Dobson, fisherman, of Greenway Street, Handbridge and Sarah Hannah Thornley.
James and Sarah married at St Mary's-on-the Hill, Chester on 12th August 1876. The parish register states that James' father is also named James and a fisherman, Sarah is illegitimate.
The 1911 census states that James and Sarah Ann (she is not using the name Hannah now ) have been married for 36 years and have had 9 children but only 7 are still living.
The newspaper reports state that William had two children. He was sentenced to death but as you said, there was a huge reaction to this by the people of Chester and the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. He served his sentence in Maidstone Prison but was released in 1936, after serving only 8 years.
Newspapers reports from 19th June 1936, state that on his release, his wife, children and 80 year old father met him in Liverpool.
'He is now in the Liverpool district with his wife and two children, where he has been found work. His son Jimmie, being only a few months old at the time of the crime. It his birthday this month and he is celebrating it with his father, who he does not remember.'
I agree with Philip and Garstonite that the marriage of Ethel Welch to William Dobson in 1922 is highly likely to be the right match.
Trying to find a match for children born to a Welch/Dobson marriage I think these are a match.
Alice Dobson born 1923 Chester - mothers last name Welsh
James Dobson born 1927 Chester " Welch
John J Dobson born 1925 Chester (died 1925) " Welsh
Sarah A Dobson born 1939 Chester (died 1939) " Welsh
James Dobson senior died in 1939. There is no mention in the newspaper report of his funeral of William or his wife attending but it does say his grandchildren, A Dobson and J Dobson attended.
James Dobson Senior made his last will and testament on 7th December 1936. He appointed his sons, James Dobson of 7 Greenway Street, Chester and William Dobson of 7 Greenway Street, Chester (presently residing in Birkenhead) to be his executors.
He left no. 9 Greenway Street to James and no. 7 Greenway Street to William.
I think there is a possible death for William in the Chester and Ellesmere Port district - quarter 1 - 1980.
A couple of interesting links concerning William Dobson below (I hope they work)
http://goo.gl/YWmLxK
http://goo.gl/6lLrcR
Regards
Trish
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Hi -
There's a marriage on familysearch.org on 27th March 1922 (Chester) for a William Dobson 9 Greenway Street to Ethel Welch. William's father is James.
The newspaper reports mention William's sister Mary Jane Davies-a Mary J Dobson is christened in St Mary's Chester in 1889(parents James and Sarah Anne familysearch) On Free BMD there's
a marriage for Mary J Dobson to Thomas Davies in 1910.
A daughter Mrs W. White is mentioned at the funeral of James Dobson senior - Elizabeth Dobson marries William White in 1901(Free BMD).
Some reports mention his son 'Jimmie' and that William may be released on 29th June 1939 which would be his son's 9th birthday.
In 1939 in Chester a William Dobson is with his wife Ethel and James whose birthday is 29th June 1927.
Also a daughter Sarah Ann born 1939.
Unfortunately I think some of William and Ethel's children died and seem to be buried with James Dobson (William's father in Overleigh cemetery Chester). You can search by surname or grave number. Interestingly Hannah White and John James White are also buried there.
http://archivedatabases.cheshire.gov.uk/cms/LacOverleighCemetery/home.aspx
I would tend to agree with what everyone has found and that William probably married Ethel Welch and his father is James.
Hope this helps
Regards
Neptune
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Sorry for the delay in replying to you all. Thank you everyone for helping me with this given a lot of food for thought.
thank you
:)
Kind regards
Heather
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Hello Heather,
I've not been on here in a good while due to bad health.
I'm a direct descendant of the family through my mom & thought you maybe interested in this piece of news also, that the family for over 300yrs have suffered from one form or another of Porphyria which is genetic, it's the 2nd largest family to have the disease and these murders etc plus behaviour was found out by many doctor's getting involved.
I think you would find the book very informative on the family & other members who carry the same line as myself.
This link opens the book up below.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wOIoumC_aOcC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=the+dobsons+of+chester+with+porphyria&source=bl&ots=voSjwF6gMV&sig=F5y7vurS55jAMNxW8IE3B7gw614&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMq_KK8JbRAhUJK8AKHXOgAJYQ6AEINzAF#v=onepage&q=the%20dobsons%20of%20chester%20with%20porphyria&f=false
http://shop.rcplondon.ac.uk/products/dobsons-complaint-the-story-of-the-chester-porphyria?variant=6337298245
Happy new year everyone for 2017 :)
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thank you for getting back to me, I have heard of that I went many moons ago to a talk in Handbridge I think someone in the Royle family had it. Do you know what happened to William?
Regards
Heather
:)
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thank you for getting back to me, I have heard of that I went many moons ago to a talk in Handbridge I think someone in the Royle family had it. Do you know what happened to William?
Regards
Heather
:)
Hello Heather,
The family line is what trish 18 stated, which is my family line and hopefully the one your looking for :)
As trish stated this is what happened to William :)
Having read newspaper reports on this incident I'm inclined to think it is a very sad story for all concerned.
William Dobson was born on 13th August 1898, the son of James Dobson, fisherman, of Greenway Street, Handbridge and Sarah Hannah Thornley.
James and Sarah married at St Mary's-on-the Hill, Chester on 12th August 1876. The parish register states that James' father is also named James and a fisherman, Sarah is illegitimate.
The 1911 census states that James and Sarah Ann (she is not using the name Hannah now ) have been married for 36 years and have had 9 children but only 7 are still living.
The newspaper reports state that William had two children. He was sentenced to death but as you said, there was a huge reaction to this by the people of Chester and the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. He served his sentence in Maidstone Prison but was released in 1936, after serving only 8 years.
Newspapers reports from 19th June 1936, state that on his release, his wife, children and 80 year old father met him in Liverpool.
'He is now in the Liverpool district with his wife and two children, where he has been found work. His son Jimmie, being only a few months old at the time of the crime. It his birthday this month and he is celebrating it with his father, who he does not remember.'
Heather if your able to access the book as it's sold on Amazon and by the author who was involved in the Dobson cases as a Gastro specialist & yes a member in the Royal family also had it.
The Dobson family have alot to answer for including my mom, the Diseases which stem from their lineage...if my mother was here another murdered would be committed by me personally ;)
Kind Regards
Ruby :)
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Hello Everyone and thanks to you all for the extra info and putting in the time to look :) but now i'm finally able to start at my tree again finally ::) I shall be printing this extra info off tomorrow and can't thank you all enough :-[ :-[
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Hi i am 1000% certain that this William Dobson is the 2nd cousin of my great great grandfather Peter Dobson-(b.1866 in Handbridge, Chester). Peter is the illegitimate son of Ellen Dobson -(b. June 1839 in Handbridge, Chester)