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This section gives stories of William Webster and his family. Margaret M. Webster wrote the following history of William Webster.
William Webster, son of Thomas Webster and Mary Goward, was born January 21st, 1836, in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He was the youngest of a large family. He had three olders sisters, Ann, Mary and Elizabeth who were spinsters....two married sisters, Ellen and Emily, and four brothers; one brother died when a child.
William grew up with this large family in Norfolk County, but when he became a man, he grew discontented and after a fuss with his father, he left home and went up into North Riding in Yorkshire. Work was plentiful and he found a way of life to his liking.
It was in North Riding that he met Caroline Burdett. William was now 30 years of age. Caroline was born in Brigstock, North Hamptonshire on March 6th, 1844. Not much is known about her family. Her parents were Avrey Burdett and Sarah Sophia Shepphard. She had three brothers, George, William and Thomas.
Caroline and William were married on December 22nd 1866 and made their home in Marske-by-the-sea. There first children were born there. Later they moved a few miles south to Loftus and spent the remainder of their married life there.
William had never been to school a day in his life, and when he met Caroline he could not read. Caroline had had a little education, so she taught him to read. Mostly from newspapers.
Caroline and William had eleven children, five boys and six girls. Four of them died in infancy, Elizabeth (1), Thomas, an infant son, and an infant daughter, the last two being twins. Their living children were William, Emily, Mary who was always called "Polly", Francis, Elizabeth (2), Ernest and Annie. William named all four of his girls after his sisters.
William and Caroline had a happy life in Loftus. William worked in the coal and iron stone mines. He held a very responsible position as superintendent of the mine. One of his many duties was to check the safety locks on the miners lamps. Loftus was 1/2 mile from the shore of the North Sea on the east coast of England. As the water receded at low tide when the moon was full, the children would find great sport in gathering oysters, winkles, shrimps, and flithers. They would take these fish home for the family to eat.
The dictionary says that Lofthouse (Loftus) is a parish in the Union of Guis-borough and is bounded on the north and east by the North Sea. It comprises 3775 acres, including 383 of common wastelands called Moors. Near the coast, the ground is elevated but declines gradually from the cliffs toward the village, whence it rises gently and commands a good view of the ocean. The surface is diversified with richly wooded dales. The sub-stratum is chiefly free-stone of good quality for building homes and the rocks abound with alum. Processing the alum, mining, gathering the bark from the oaks in the forest to be used in tanning of leather all afforded much employment for the people of that area. Loftus was on the Coast Road that went from Guis-borough to Whitby, and the town consisted mainly of one row of houses, each connecting with the other. The Webster family lived at No. 31 Dundas Street. Their home was large and beautifully furnished. William was a proud and successful man. The older boys, Will and Frank, were also working in the mines.
Then on the 12th of August 1888, their beautiful mother died after 20 years of married life. Caroline was called in the middle of the night to come and assist with a birth. In the excitement she failed to put on her vest, the night was chilly and she caught a cold which developed into pneumonia and caused her untimely death. She was buried in the East Loftus Methodist cemetery.
The next four years were hard ones for the family. In 1892 the big strike closed down all the mines and industries. Ern remembers when they brought the horses out of the mines. Some had never been out of the mines since they were born and all were blind. Some were huge and some were as small as Shetland ponies.
It soon became evident that the family would have to leave England, and after much indecision they decided togo to Australia where they thought Uncle Israel was. Emily wrote a tracer letter to Australia, but when it came back it had been around the world. About this time, John Godson Webster, Francis Webster's son was on a mission to England. He was preaching the gospel and gathering genealogy for his father. When he went up to Loftus he stayed with William and his family....John and his mother, Ann Elizabeth (Aunt Betsy) who was visiting in England, were leaving to catch a ship at Liverpool to sail for home. William and his family decided to go along with them.
Emily was married by this time and had one child. Tom Leyborne, her husband, played in the Queen's band. Her brother Will did too, and they both had a great deal of pleasure in playing in the Queen's Jubilee. Polly decided to stay in England because she was wanting to marry Alfred Robson who was a sailor, so both girls remained in England.
William and his family had a lot to do to get enough money for the trip. Nine hundred dollars was needed for the boat fare, so Will and Frank went down to the Labor Union and drew out the money that they had saved over the years. They were able to get 95 dollars out of every 100 dollars they had coming. They sold their furniture at a public auction, piece by piece. All they saved was two old family bibles and a sewing machine. Ern was 16 and Annie was 11 years old, so they needed only half-fare tickets.
William his three sons and two daughters left Loftus on Annie's birthday on August 12th, along with Aunt Betsy, John Webster, John Middleton, and Mr. and Mrs. Jakes. They boarded the train, and in half a day were in Liverpool.
The ship was large and the trip was very exciting. There were three passenger decks. Steerage was at the bottom of the ship, and when they saw how the people were eating raw fish and bread and were jammed together, all nationalities and colors, and were not allowed to mingle with the other classes, they were very grateful that they had been able to pay for better accommodations.
They had 2nd class cabins because they were nearer the center of the boat and didn't rock so much. They had 1st class eating rates and enjoyed watching all the activities, and they long remembered their three-weeks on board the ship. The look-out on the ship would test the temperatures of the water that he would draw up from the ocean in a bucket. One day he said there would be a gale that would blow in from the West Indies before morning. Sure enough, there was a storm and it was terrible. The ship very nearly went down.
When they landed in New York, they immediately boarded the train and traveled day and night with only a short stopover in Salt Lake City, Utah. While waiting for their train to leave for Milford, William went into a store to get more food for their traveling basket, and someone stole the basket....It was found later thrown into the back of the store and was returned to the hotel where they were staying. They boarded the train for Milford and arrived there at 7 o'clock.
Andrew Rollo met them in Milford with his covered wagon and brought them to Cedar City. They arrived the 2nd day of September 1892.
Everything was very different here in Utah. William and the boys tried to do everything possible to make a living for the family. William and his sons farmed a little, hauled freight, herded sheep, and mined coal, but times were hard and they made very little more than their food. Lissie was the mother of the household until her marriage to Sam Heyborne. Then Annie took over and did the housekeeping for the family. Will worked at the saw mill for lumber, and he and the other boys put up the new home on north 100 East street.
William belonged to the Church of England, and he never could be persuaded to join the Latter-Day-Saint church. Will would never join either, but Ernest, Lizzie, Frank and Annie were all baptized....
William's family remember him as a handsome man 6 ft. 2 in. in his stocking feet. He had grey hair and a short beard and claimed to have never had a razor to his face. In later years he stooped a little and walked with a cane. He smoked a pipe and wore bib overalls.
He loved his children and grand children. They have memories of going to his house at 4 o'clock on Christmas morning to sing carols to him and to fill his big boot sock that he hung on the gate for Santa. They took him tobacco, overalls, and shirts.
William was a man who kept his troubles to himself. He always appeared in good humor and had a witty come-back for all his friends. He didn't lose his temper often, but when he did he didn't care who heard him. His favorite expression was "By Gox". He loved music, but he wouldn't take part in musical groups that entertained in Cedar City.
He didn't have his heart in his work for he still mourned for his wife who was buried in England. He was very disillusioned about Utah for he was never able to earn enough, and being so proud it hurt him that his family who were so well fixed in England had to live in such humble circumstances. He didn't have the faith in the Church that would have made this sacrifice worth while, and he would have gone back to England immediately if there had been enough money. In later years he felt he could get money to go back, but when he wrote Emily she advised him not to come as World War I had started and conditions in England were not good.
He never saw his daughters in England again. Polly wrote several times during the years, and in one letter she said that Emily had died about 1921. Polly's husband deserted her and she was very poor and was living on the dole.... William spent his later years visiting around with his children and their families, but he spent most of his last years in Beaver, Utah with Annie. He died April 22, 1922 in Cedar City at the age of 82 years. He was buried in the Cedar City cemetery.
Generations of Websters, Amy L. Van Cott and Allen W. Leigh, Thomas Webster Family Organization, Cedar City, Utah, 1960, pp. 68-72. Minor changes made.
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