The Edwards Crew
Ancestors › William Wilbraham Edwards

William Wilbraham Edwards

1875 – 1924

Direct ancestor Edwards & Bruce line

See William in the family tree

Born
23 Feb 1875
Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, England
Died
15 Aug 1924
Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Married
23 Jun 1900, St Andrew, Eccles, Lancashire, England
to Anne Bruce

From Eccles to the Pennsylvania coalfields

William Wilbraham Edwards was born on 23 February 1875 at Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, and baptised on 7 March at All Saints Catholic church. The Latin register names his parents as Isaac Edwards and Elizabeth, formerly Brennan. His death certificate gave 1876, but the register is clear about 1875. Anne Bruce was born in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in early 1879.

They married in 1900 and by 1905 were living at 2 Renshaws Buildings, Church Street, Eccles. In April 1907 William sailed from Liverpool on the Majestic and landed in New York on 12 April, bound for a friend in Shire Oaks, Pennsylvania. Anne followed with their three children in July on the Carmania, arriving on the tenth, listed as going 'to husband at Coal Bluff', with her brother Joseph Bruce of Blackburn named as her contact at home.

The family settled in the coalfields of Washington County, Pennsylvania, where the censuses place them in 1910 and again in 1920 in East Bethlehem Township. They had seven children in all. William worked as a laborer and miner. He fell ill at Millsboro and died at Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh, on 15 August 1924, and was buried at Millsboro.

Anne spent her last years in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she had lived since 1945, and died there on 25 April 1950 at a daughter's home. She is buried at Fredericktown Cemetery in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

How we know

  • All Saints Catholic baptism register, Barton upon Irwell, 1875
  • Passenger lists, Liverpool to New York, April and July 1907
  • 1905 electoral register for Eccles; US censuses of 1910 and 1920
  • Pennsylvania death certificate, 1924
  • Palm Beach Post obituary, 26 April 1950

Timeline

  1. 1875Born in Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, England
  2. 1875Baptized in Barton upon Irwell
  3. 1881Lived in Barton Upon Irwell, Lancashire, England
  4. 1891Lived in Eccles, St Mary, Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, England
  5. 1900Married in Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire, United Kingdom
  6. 1901Lived in Barton and Eccles, Eccles, Lancashire, England
  7. 1905Lived in Lancashire, England
  8. 1906Event
  9. 1907Event in England
  10. 1907Event
  11. 1910Lived in Union, Washington, Pennsylvania
  12. 1913Lived
  13. 1920Lived in East Bethlehem, Washington, Pennsylvania
  14. 1924Died in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
  15. UndatedEvent in New York
  16. UndatedEvent in Liverpool, England
  17. UndatedLived in England