January 2025
William Read 1781 – 1847
My fourth great-grandfather William was the eldest of six children born to John and Susannah in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset. Looking purely at records such as parish registers and civil registration hint at a rather normal life for William. He remained in Sutton Poyntz working as an agricultural labourer and married Mary Croad in 1816 at the age of 35. They had eight children together. A retrospective newspaper article from 1934 about his grandson gives a different insight into William's life. The article explains that William was a prisoner of war in France for 21 years. For him to marry at 35 in England this would mean he left to fight in France when he was 14 at the oldest so the truth is probably that he was indeed a POW but for a shorter time than the story that was passed down. Nevertheless, this shows how records outside of the usual registers should be consulted. He died aged 66 after breaking his neck in a fall.
