Peter Hunnisett

John & Philadelphia Catt of Willingdon

John Catt, son of William and Mary, was baptised in Willingdon, Sussex, on 11 December 1785.

Philadelphia Verrall was probably born in Berwick, Sussex ca. 1783.

John married Philadelphia in Berwick on 26 December 1806 and they had 10 children baptised in Willingdon:

In 1841 John, an agricultural labourer, was in Willingdon with his wife, shown as Phillis, two of their children, Harriett and Phyllis, and 2-year-old Robert Catt, the illegitimate son of Emma who was a servant in Eastbourne. Also occupying rooms in the same house were John jnr. with his wife, Mary, and Edward Climpson, widow of Elizabeth, with their two daughters.

In 1851 John and Phillis were still in Willingdon with daughter Harriett and grandson Robert.

John died in 1860, aged 75, and Philadelphia in 1867, aged 85.

Of their children:

• Harriett did not marry but lived with her parents until they died. After that she continued to live in Willingdon, next to the post office, until she died in 1897 aged 91.

• Elizabeth married Edward Climpson in Willingdon on 17 July 1828 and they are known to have had two children baptised:

  Elizabeth

  14 Jun 1829

  Willingdon

  Ellen

  26 May 1833

  Willingdon

  Elizabeth had died by the time of the 1841 census, possibly in 1839. In 1841 Edward and his two daughters were living in rooms in the same house as John and Philadelphia.

• Ann married Thomas Wickens in Willingdon on 16 February 1833 and their children were:

  Ann

  1834

  Westham

  Trayton

  1836

  Westham

  Mary

  1838

  Westham

  Sarah

  1841

  Westham

  Tamar (a daughter)

  1842

  Westham

  Emma

  1844

  Westham

  Hannah Louisa

  1847

  Westham

  Thomas William

  1850

  Westham

  Thomas was a farm worker and they lived in the Langney area of Westham parish until the 1860s. By 1871 Thomas and Ann had moved into Eastbourne where they were living in Meads Street and working for Thomas Archer who was farming 1400 acres. In 1881 and 1891 Thomas and Ann were staying with their daughters Sarah and Tamar who were running a lodging house at 13 Sussex Gardens. Ann died in 1896, aged 84.

• Mary married Jonathan Douch in 1834.

• John, an agricultural labourer, married Mary Breedon in 1840 and they lived in Willingdon but had no children. Mary died, probably in 1854 and in 1855 John remarried to Rhoda Allen (20 years his junior) with whom he had eight children, mainly baptised in Surrey:

  William Henry

  ca. 1855

  born in Rotherhithe

  Mary Elizabeth

  28 Feb 1858

  Kingswood

  George Jasper

  1 Jul 1860

  Chipstead

  Charles Robert

  20 Dec 1863

  Chipstead

  Rosa Charlotte

  30 Dec 1866

  Chipstead

  Ernest Allen

  26 Dec 1869

  Kingswood (died 1871)

  Herbert John

  19 May 1872

  Redhill

  Frederich James

  24 Jul 1881

  Redhill

  In Surrey John worked as a nurseryman and gardener and probably died in 1899.

• Sarah married a farm worker, Robert Jasper, in Seaford on 3 December 1836 where they had six children baptised:

  Ann

  29 Oct 1837

  Seaford (born 1 Oct)

  Mary

  29 Sep 1839

  Seaford (born 25 Aug)

  Thomas

  28 Feb 1841

  Seaford (born 9 Jan)

  Ellen

  8 Sep 1844

  Seaford

  Robert

  15 Oct 1848

  Seaford (born 28 Jul)

  John

  11 Aug 1850

  Seaford (born 7 Jul)

  In 1851 Robert was a farm bailiff in Seaford and in 1861 he was a cow keeper in Eastbourne. However, by 1871, he and Sarah were back in Seaford running a lodging house in Pelham Place, as they were in 1881 and 1891. Sarah died in 1908, aged 92.

• Emma had an illegitimate son, Robert, baptised in Willingdon on 24 February 1839, who was brought up by his grandparents. She married Thomas Allchorn, an Eastbourne fisherman, in 1844 and had a daughter, Sarah Ann, in 1846.

• George was working for Henry Mockett, innkeeper of the Kings Arms in Seaside, Eastbourne, in 1841. He married Ruth Mewett, from Willingdon, in Newhaven on 23 November 1844 and they appear to have had four children:

  Alfred James

  ca. 1845

  Willingdon

  Phyllis Elizabeth

  7 Nov 1847

  Willingdon

  Emily

  5 Aug 1849

  Willingdon

  William George

  1853

  Willingdon

  In 1851 he was still in Eastbourne working as a maltster. However by 1861 he was an agricultural labourer in Arlington and by 1871 he was back in Eastbourne at 3 The Goffs. In 1881 and 1891 he was a gardener living at 2 Spring Terrace, Star Lane, Eastbourne, but by 1901 he was widowed and living with his married daughter Emily. He died in 1904, aged 84.

• Charlotte was a servant in Wilmington in 1841 where she married John Page, a farm worker, in 1845. They had six children, at least 4 of whom were baptised in Wilmington:

  Phillis Ann

  1846

  Wilmington

  Sarah

  1848

  Wilmington

  Stephen

  12 Jan 1851

  Wilmington

  Caroline

  6 Feb 1853

  Wilmington

  Martha

  22 July 1855

  Wilmington

  George

  13 Sep 1857

  Wilmington

  John and Charlotte lived all their married life in Wilmington village. Widowed by 1891 Charlotte died in 1894, aged 73.

• Phillis married George Hewlett (16 years her senior) in Willingdon on 6 March 1856 and in 1881 they were in Reading with their 22-year-old daughter, Alice, born there in 1858.