The Greens

Green family overview

The Norfolk-based Greens married into the paternal side of my family in 1871 when Sarah Ann Elizabeth Green married my 2nd great-grandfather Benjamin Thomas Wetherall – ancestors on my dad’s mother’s side. Read on to find out more about my Green ancestors – and click the links for additional information.

Sarah Ann Elizabeth Green (1849-1938).
My 2nd great-grandmother

Sarah was born in the English city of Birmingham on 17 May 1849. Her parents were fishmonger William Mark Green and Elizabeth Maria Symonds (see below), who both came from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. Sarah would spend most of her life back in Norfolk, where she married shipwright Benjamin Wetherall and raised a family. She died at a grand age in Essex.

Read more about Sarah’s life.

William Mark Green (1822-1854) and Elizabeth Maria Symonds (1826-1911).
My 3rd great-grandparents.

William Mark Green was born in 1822 and baptised on 20 December at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His parents were William Green and Willoughby Staff (see below).

Elizabeth Maria Symonds married William, a mariner, on 29 September 1846 at the parish church. The couple’s fathers, William Green and Charles Symonds, were fishermen and the groom was living in the area of the town known as The Beach.

Was it marriage and having a family that encouraged a switch in jobs? For we next find William working as a fish curer and living in various parts of the country. While their eldest son William Robert was born in Great Yarmouth, their daughter Sarah Ann Elizabeth was born in 2 Court House, Bartholomew Row, Birmingham, Warwickshire, in 1849. The 1851 census shows that the family had moved south with William Snr living and working as a herring curer at 4 Ann Street, Camberwell, London. By 1853 they were back in Great Yarmouth, where daughter Mary Ann was born. Her baptism record shows that he was again working as a mariner.

William died in the Workhouse in Great Yarmouth on 27 January 1854, the death certificate giving the cause as cerebral disease. Had he moved home for work or because he was ill? Was he in the Workhouse in its capacity as a hospital or a home for the poor? William, described as a fisherman, was buried in the town on 31 January.

This photo is thought to be of Elizabeth Symonds.

His wife Elizabeth was born in Great Yarmouth in 1826 and baptised in St Nicholas’s on 24 November. Her parents were Charles Robinson Witchingham Symonds and Susanna Waters. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth married widower, basket maker and Norfolk resident Robert William Abel in 1855 and had a second family but the couple would bury all their children. They lived at West Bermondsey Place and Ordnance Road in the town and census records show that Elizabeth worked as a beatster, who was a mender of fishing nets.

She wasn’t living with Robert at the time of the 1891 census – he was a boarder at a house in Stanley Road, Fulham, London, while she was at home with lodgers in Ordnance Road, Great Yarmouth. Robert died in 1892, the event registered in Fulham. But why he’d been living so far from his wife is a mystery. In 1901, widow Elizabeth was living alone in Ordnance Road on her own income. She was staying with her son-in-law Benjamin at 115 Lichfield Road, Great Yarmouth, at the 1911 census and his grandson Leslie remembered her in her later years sitting in the front room watching cattle being driven down the street on the way to the nearby market. She died a few months later, the death registered in West Ham, London, where her daughter Mary Anne was living.

William Green and Elizabeth had at least three children:

  • William Robert Green (1847-1882), my 2nd great-grand uncle. William died young and in similar circumstances to his father.
  • Sarah Ann Elizabeth Green (1849-1938), my 2nd great-grandmother. She married into the Wetherall family.
  • Mary Ann Green (1853-1918), my 3rd great aunt. She married a fisherman, who died young during a terrible storm.

Elizabeth’s family with her second husband Robert Abel:

  • Charles Henry Abel (1856-1857), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Charles was born on 7 May 1856, baptised at St Nicholas’s in Great Yarmouth on 13 September 1857 and died just weeks later. He was buried on 3 December.
  • Emmeline Lasthenia Abel (1858-1889), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Emmeline was born on 21 May 1858, baptised at St Nicholas’s on 1 August 1858. At the 1881 census she was a dressmaker and visitor at the home of Horace and Ellen Earle in Forest Gate, East London. She died in April 1889 and was buried on 1 May in Newham, East London.
  • Helen Maria Abel (1862-1862), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Helen was born on 5 March 1862, baptised at St Nicholas’s on 2 May and was buried on 10 June.
  • Arthur Robert Abel (1863-1863), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Arthur was born on 24 May 1863, baptised at Great Yarmouth on 1 June and buried on 10 June.
  • Charles Arthur Abel (1863-1863), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Charles was born on 24 May 1863, baptised at St Nicholas’s on 1 June and buried on 10 June.
  • Arthur Charles Abel (1864-1868), my 2nd great-grand uncle. Arthur was born on 5 August 1864, baptised at St Nicholas’s on 4 September and buried on 5 November 1868.
  • Helen Maria Abel (1867-1886), my 2nd great-grand aunt. Helen was born on 16 May 1867 and baptised at Great Yarmouth on 16 June. She died in 1886 and was buried on 4 May.

William Green (1799-?) and Willoughby Staff (1803-1886).
My 4th great-grandparents.

William may have had a reasonably traditional life in Norfolk but the same could not be said for his wife Willoughby, who ended up as a member of the Mormon church in the American state of Utah.

William Green was born on 14 September 1799 in Norwich, Norfolk, and was baptised two days later at St Paul’s Church. His parents were Edward Green and Mary Bustom or Bustard (see below), the spelling of her surname varying with the record. William married Willoughby Staff on 15 July 1822 at St James with Pockthorpe Church in Norwich.

Willoughby’s birth is a mystery. Census records suggest it was Hickling in Norfolk, on the broads. She would’ve been born in about 1803 assuming she was being truthful about her age and it’s most likely that her parents were John and Susanna Staff (nee Saunders), but proof has been hard to find. Read more about Willoughby’s life.

After their marriage, William and Willoughby moved to Great Yarmouth and it was there that they had children. The 1841 census shows William as a beachman, a job that could be dangerous and potentially lucrative, and living with his family on North Quay.

Beachmen were a familiar sight on the coast of East Anglia, often organised into companies that saved people from ships in distress. They made money from salvage and often lived by the beach so they could react speedily to events. Watchtowers dotted the coast, from where the beachmen looked out for struggling vessels, rowing out in longboats in often rough seas to rescue people and goods. At other times they earned a living ferrying fish to the shore from trawlers anchored in the Yarmouth Roads. The need for beachmen declined with the advent of modern vessels powered by steam, better lighthouses and improved navigation aids. In Yarmouth the building of an improved harbour meant vessels could transfer their cargo directly ashore, resulting in even less work. Their rescue duties were ultimately taken over by the RNLI. Quite a few of my Norfolk ancestors worked as beachmen and some lost their lives as a result.

By 1851 William was working as a fish curer, living among the Yarmouth Row Houses in Row 112. Quite what happened to him is a mystery but unless his wife was lying he must’ve died before the 1861 census because by then Willoughby was describing herself as a widow. I’ve found no death or burial records for him in the Yarmouth area but quite a few men of the name did die in the county in the 1850s and it’s possible he was one of them. Quite a few people online have William living on until 1864 but this does not fit with his wife’s description of herself in 1861.

Willoughby’s life changed dramatically in the wake of her husband’s death for she converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and emigrated to Utah in the USA, where she died in 1886. Read more about her life here.

William and Willoughby had at least nine children:

  • William Mark Green (1822-1854), my 3rd great-grandfather. A fish curer (see above).
  • Edward Green (1824-1876), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Edward was another fish curer in the family, who married and settled in East London.
  • Robert Green (1826-????), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Robert was born in Great Yarmouth in 1826 and baptised in St Nicholas’s Church on 19 December. I’ve not found him in the 1841 census but by 1851 he was living with his older brother William and his family in Camberwell, South London, listed as a basket maker and fish curer. Ten years later he was living in St James’s Place, Bermondsey, South East London, with his widowed mother Willoughby and sisters Eliza and Susannah and was a fish salesman. A few years later Willoughby and Susanna emigrated to Utah in the USA but Robert’s trail goes cold. I’ve yet to find a death, travel or marriage record for him.
  • Sarah Ann Green (1829-1902), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Born in Great Yarmouth, Sarah married a fish curer and fisherman.
  • Frederick Green (1831-1836), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Frederick was born in Great Yarmouth and baptised in St Nicholas’s on 20 January 1831. He was buried on 10 April 1836.
  • Eliza Green (1834-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Eliza was baptised on 3 February 1834 at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth. By 1861 she was living with her widowed mother Willoughby, her brother Robert and sister Susannah in St James’s Place, Bermondsey, London. Willoughby and Susannah later emigrated to Utah in the USA and some sources suggest Eliza followed but I’m yet to be convinced. However, I’ve not been able to find any other records that match her.
  • Harriet Green (1836-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Harriet was baptised on 14 November 1836 at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth and is recorded as living with her parents in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. However, her trail then goes cold. There are several women of this name who married in Norfolk who are potential candidates, but none of the surviving records have enough proof.
  • Mary Hannah Green (1838-????), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Born on 20 October 1838 and baptised on 5 November at St Nicholas’s Church, she crops up in the 1841 census but not the 1851 version so she may be the Mary Anna Green who was buried in the town on 17 July 1845.
  • Frederick Green (1840-1892), my 3rd great-grand uncle. Frederick worked as a pharmacist and publican in London and Norfolk.
  • Susannah Green (1844-1920), my 3rd great-grand aunt. Susanna travelled to Utah in the USA as a convert to the LDS church.

Edward Green (c1760-1843) and Mary Bustard (c1760-1838).
My 5th great-grandparents.

Edward Green was born in about 1760. I’ve yet to pin down a baptism record but his age given at burial suggests it, as does the age he gave at the 1841 census. The latter also pins his birth to Norfolk and describes him as a beachman. It was a job that involved rescuing passengers and crew from ships in trouble, salvaging goods lost at sea and ferrying goods to and from vessels to the shore.

Did Edward come from Great Yarmouth? Perhaps but the records are vague. However, he did marry there in the parish church of St Nicholas on 1 March 1785. His bride was Mary Bustard, whose name is also spelt Bustom, Bustin, Bristard and Bastard depending on the record. I’ve not been able to pin down a birth record for her either.

At first the couple lived in Norwich, where their first children were baptised. However, by 1799 they were baptising son William in Great Yarmouth and it looks as if this is where they remained. Mary was buried in the town on 30 July 1838 and William was buried there on 23 February 1843. Two years earlier he’d been recorded in the census staying with daughter Sarah, her husband John Gilbert and their offspring.

Edward and Mary had at least six children:

  • Lydia Green (1786-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Lydia was born on 3 February 1786 and baptised two days later at St Paul’s Church, Norwich. I’m not sure what happened to her but she may have been the Lydia Green who married Charles Watts in Great Yarmouth on 20 January 1812. However, there are other women by the name in the area so I cannot be sure.
  • Robert Green (1788-1864), my 4th great-grand uncle. Robert was born on 15 April 1788 and baptised on 20 April at St Paul’s Church, Norwich. He married Frances Symonds on 27 April 1818 at St Nicholas’s Church, Great Yarmouth. She was born on 30 September 1792 in Winterton, Norfolk, a village eight miles north of Yarmouth, and was, incidentally, the sister of my 4th great-grandfather Charles Symonds. Robert was a fisherman according to the 1841 census, which showed him at St John’s Buildings in Yarmouth with his wife. Ten years later they were at 5 St John’s Place, the record listing their grandson Charles Saunders, mariner Samuel Goodwin from Yarmouth and James Bowing, a Ramsgate-born fishing smack proprietor. The latter two were visitors and it’s possible Robert worked with or for them. The 1861 census records Robert and Frances with their daughter Elizabeth Saunders and her children at Napoleon Place in Yarmouth. By 1864 Robert was in the Fisherman’s Hospital in the town, where he died in the summer. He was buried on 4 July. Frances died the following year at Row 109 in Yarmouth and was buried on 20 June 1865. They had two known children:
    • Elizabeth Green was born in 1819 and married beachman Charles Larn Saunders in 1839. He died in 1886 but I’ve not found a record for her death.
    • Robert Green was born in 1821 but I’ve not been able to track him down with any confidence.
  • Mary Green (1790-????), my 4th great-grand aunt. Mary Green was born on 20 April 1790 in Norwich, Norfolk, and baptised on 30 April at St Paul’s Church, Norwich, on the 30th. I’ve yet to track her down after that – there are too many Mary Greens in the records.
  • Edward Green (1795-????), my 4th great-grand uncle. He was born on 13 December 1795 and baptised on the 20th at St Paul’s Church, Norwich, Norfolk. Some online sources suggest he became a tailor in London but there are too many candidates to pin him down firmly.
  • William Green (1799-????), my 4th great-grandfather. He was the first of the children to be born in Great Yarmouth. See above.
  • Sarah Green (1804-1854), my 4th great-grand aunt. Sarah was baptised at St Nicholas’s Church in Great Yarmouth on 30 July 1804 and grew up in the town. She married Great Yarmouth man John Gilbert, who had also been born in 1804, at St Clement and St Edmund in Norwich on 30 May 1827. In Yarmouth John worked as a policeman and the couple raised a family. However, it appears that John changed his jobs frequently. In 1851 he was a ropemaker and living on Regent Road, by 1861 he was a fisherman and 10 years later he was a labourer. The Norfolk News of 5 September 1868 reported that he and another boatman James Gilbert had been sentenced to three months hard labour for stealing 23 pairs of soles from the carrier-cutter Silver Cloud when it docked at Yarmouth. Sarah had died by this point and was buried in the town in 1854. John survived her by 20 years and was buried on 15 March 1874. Their children were:
    • Sarah Gilbert (1830-????). She does not appear in the records after her baptism so probably died before the 1841 census.
    • John Michael Gilbert (1832-1915). A sailmaker by trade, he married Harriet Leech of Palling in Norfolk and raised a family in Yarmouth. They lived in the town all their lives. Harriet died the year after her husband, in 1916.
    • James Gilbert (1834-1869). He worked as a bricklayer’s labourer and then a fisherman.
    • Joseph Gilbert (1836-1838).

Sources. All data has been gathered from Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.co.uk, the British Newspaper Archive and Norfolk Family History Society.

The Greens haven’t been the easiest of families to trace because, like Smith or Brown, it’s an incredibly common surname. That means I’ve taken a number of wrong turns over the years. It eventually took some distant cousins of mine, who have some knowledge of the Greens, to put me right!