Zachariah Wiltshire

[Chris in Sussex]

Name - Zachariah Wiltshire/Willsher

Date and place of birth - c1799 Essex

Names of parents: Unknown
Date and place of baptism - Not found
His baptism is not in the Thundersley Parish register or in surrounding Parishes.
There is one 'Wiltshire' couple baptising children at Thundersley in the right time frame but no proof that Zachariah is theirs.

Details of each of his or her marriages -
Elizabeth Hayhow/Hayho
6 September 1819
St Peters Thundersley Essex

Occupations - Labourer, Beer Seller

Addresses where they lived -
1822 - Thundersley Essex
1839 - Leviathan Convict Hulk Portsea Town, Hampshire
1841 - Leviathan Convict Hulk Portsea Town, Hampshire
1843 - Leviathan Convict Hulk Portsea Town, Hampshire (Pardoned)
1851 - Woodman Thundersley Essex
1855 - Thundersley Essex
1861 - Woodman Thundersley, Essex (The 'Woodman' was a Beer House)*
1871 - Heath Road Thundersley, Essex

Date, place and cause of death -
24 May 1871
Thundersley Essex
Bronchitis 14 days

Date and place of burial - Not found
Zachariah is not buried at Thundersley. There is strong family connections to the 'Peculiar People' but he is not listed in the MI records.

Memorial inscription - Unlikely, see above

Details of will / administration of their estate - None

* The 'Woodman' still exists although in a different building on the same site.
In 1979 a new (souless) pub was built in Thundersley and was named the 'Zach Willsher' after him.

[Nell]

Hi

I have a gt x 3 grandmother called Elizabeth Willsher - though on her marriage cert she signs Wiltshire - from Coggeshall in Essex. If I come across your Zachariah I'm sure I'll remember it!

[Chris in Sussex]

Hi Nell

Apologies for delay in acknowledging your post.

I didn't get out as far as the Coggleshall registers when I was in the Essex RO so I shall bear it in mind the next time I am there. Thanks for the tip.

Chris