William Robert DEAKIN
(1862 - 1943)
William Robert DEAKIN was the eldest son of Samuel Pownall DEAKIN and Sarah Ann SIDEBOTTOM (also SIDEBOTHAM). William was born on 1 September 1862 in Wigan, Lancashire[1].
In the 1881 Census, William's occupation is recorded as 'Grocers Assistant', address 13 Wignall Street, Wigan, living with his mother, Sarah and his seven brothers and sisters.
In 1885, William firstly married Betsy HODSON (1861-1892) in Wigan[2]. William and Betsy had the following children:
- Samuel Wesley DEAKIN, b. 1886, Wigan, d. 1956, London.
- John Bertram DEAKIN, b. 1887, Wigan, d. 1977, Melbourne, Australia.
- May Elizabeth DEAKIN, b. 1889, Wigan, d. 1893, Wigan.
- William George DEAKIN, b. 1890, Wigan, d. 1954, Altrincham, Cheshire.
- Bessie DEAKIN, b. 1891, Wigan, d. 1973, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
In the late 1880s William set up a partnership with John Hartley HODSON and his father Samuel Pownall DEAKIN to manufacture marmalade and preserves in Wigan. The partnership was amicably dissolved in the 1890s and William went on to set up his own jam manufacturing business, W.R. Deakin, manufacturing jam and other preserves at the Eclipse Preserve Works, Bradford Place, Wigan.
Following Bessie's birth, his wife Betsy died in 1892[3] at the age of 31, at 9 Lethbridge Road, North Meols, near Southport and was buried in Wigan Cemetery (Lower Ince) in plot A356.
William secondly married Mary Jane HARTLEY in 1894 in Blackburn (at Blackburn Registry Office or Registrar Attended). William and Mary had the following children:
- Robert Hartley DEAKIN, b. 1895, Wigan, d. 1917, France.
- George DEAKIN, b. 1896, Wigan, d. 1943, Lancashire.
- James Stanley DEAKIN, b. 1899, Wigan, d. 1974, Lancashire.
In the 1901 Census, William is listed as living at 14 Bridgeman Terrace, Wigan, occupation 'Jam Manufacturer' with his family and widowed mother-in-law, Peggy HARTLEY (b. Darwen, Lancashire), aged 76 and one 'General Servant/Domestic' Annie Dowd, aged 22. The family later moved to 14 Park View, Wigan.
With the expansion of Deakin's Jams, William purchased land surrounding Hampton Park near Evesham and The Hall, Mount Pleasant, Pershore, Worcestershire. The Hall, also known as The Mount or Pershore Hall (below left), is now a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1862 by Mr Samuel Whitfield Dawkes (Daukes) for the Humphries family on the site of a former farm. The Hall had extensive grounds including a large pond in front of the house and a tennis court. William planted the surrounding acres with fruit adding to the several hundred acres of fruit he already owned at Hampton.
William's sons and their families were all involved in running the family business but son Samuel Wesley Deakin spent time in the United States studying Theology at Drake University and later joined the Church. Several members of the family travelled to Iowa; on 18 November 1911[2], William travelled with his daughter, Bessie DEAKIN on the SS Lusitania from Livepool to New York (arriving 24 November 2011) and then on to Alexander, Iowa to visit Sam DEAKIN.
William's business expanded further in 1917 after the purchase of the Stoulton Estate[5] between Pershore and Worcester and William moved to Norton Hall, Norton Juxta Kempsey, Worcestershire (above right) where he lived with his wife Mary until the mid 1930s. The large lake in front of Norton Hall is no longer there and the treelined driveway leading off the Worcester Road has gone - today the house is a nursing home.
William and his sons continued to run the family business, which included the many acres of fruit and jam manufacturing and canning factories in Wigan, Toddington (Naunton Fields Jam Factory) and Norton (opposite Norton Hall) until the liquidation of the business in 1936.
William's wife, Mary died on 8 January 1935 (aged 75) at Norton Hall. Mary is buried in Wigan Cemetery (Lower Ince), plot A355, 11 Januar 1935. Probate was granted in Gloucester on 6 February 1935 to Bessie Deakin, George Deakin and James Stanley Deakin. Total effects £32,690 8s 2d.
After the liquidation of the family business William continued to live at 14 Park View, Wigan. William died on 21st April 1943, aged 81, at 12a Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Probate was granted in Birmingham on 14th August 1943 to: Rev Samuel Wesley Deakin (Clerk), John Bertram Deakin (Farmer) and William George Deakin (Major HM Army). Total effects £11,076 11s 2d. His estate was handled by March & Edwards, 15 Foregate Street, Worcester.
William is buried at Wigan Cemetery (Lower Ince), plot A355 with wife Mary and daughter Mary Elizabeth (1889-1893).
[1]: Source: Register of Births registered in July, August, September in 1862. Wigan, Vol 8c page 52.
[2]: Source: Register of Marriages registered in July, August, September in 1885. Wigan, Vol 8c page 130.
[3]: Source: Register of Deaths registered in October, November, December in 1892. Ormskirk, Vol 8b page 518.
[4]: Image kindly supplied by Mr R.C. Jaynes, Worcestershire & further information from Ms. C. Missen.
[5]: William R. Deakin purchased the Stoulton Estate from Lady Henry Somerset part of the Eastnor Castle Estate on 18th July 1917. Lands included 2,800 acres across the parishes of Stoulton, Pershore, Norton-juxta-Kempsey (Norton Hall) and Kempsey, Worcestershire. The land was later sold in the mid-1930s.