Records show that William Phillips was baptised in 1797 in the parish of Chapel Hill close to the village of Tintern, Monmouthshire; Tintern, of course, famous for its Abbey ruins that were burned down on the orders of Henry VIII.
However, William’s parents and family moved to Bristol which is where this narrative begins – with William’s first marriage in 1822 to Elizabeth Simlett who was also born in Wales.
The couple had four children and everything in their life was working very nicely until, after ten years of marriage, Elizabeth died in 1832 at the age of 39.
Widowed: what was William to do?
William was left with their four children still young enough to be living at home. As it was vital that he continued his job in order to provide for his family he turned to Ann Cook for help. She was a spinster who lived next door with her elderly parents. Fortunately Ann kindly agreed and at such an unhappy time it
