Lawrence, William

Singer

Collection date: Sept 1911

Area: Cambridgeshire

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William Lawrence at Ely: age 57, 1 song ‘British Man o’War’ FT2647 on 8 Sept 1911: William had been a Royal Marine, so his choice of song was appropriate (Roud 372). He was born c1854 in Queen Adelaide, a small village just outside Ely. In 1871 his mother Mary Ann was a widow, his older brother Seth was a brickyard labourer and William was an agricultural labourer aged 16.

He enlisted with the Royal Marines and married Catherine Sloggett on 6/3/1883 at Brompton, Kent. They had 10 children, 3 of whom died young. He left the Navy in 1895 and returned to Ely. He became a market gardener and perhaps started a small family business – the Ely Fruit Preserving Company, because his 3 eldest daughters put that down as their occupation in the 1901 census (RG13/1545 f48 p2). William probably died April qr 1918 (Ely 3b 554) aged 64.