Week 3 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Longevity


Both of the photographs above were taken in the 1920s, or possibly later for the first one, as the young girl in the photograph was born in 1924. She is his great grandaughter, Betty Buckle.

Henry WITT,¹ the son of Isaac WITT (1800?-1894) and Mary Ann ELDRIDGE (1812?-1893), was born on 1 April 1847 in Minstead, Hampshire, England.¹

He married Selina GRANT on 2 December 1869 in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England when he was aged 22 and she was 24.²

When the birth of his daughter Elizabeth Ann was registered on 26 November 1870, he was a Garden Labourer living in Minstead, Hampshire, England.³

He witnessed the marriage in Southampton on 31 July 1893 of Joseph Buckle and Elizabeth Ann Witt.⁴

He died of Senile Arteriosclerosis on 10 October 1946 in Southampton.

On each census from 1871, his occupation was shown as a gardener. He started out as a labourer on the 1861 census but appears to have spent some time at school as in 1851 he was shown as a scholar. I will discuss more in a post later this month.

He is buried in Southampton Old Cemetery a map of the cemetery can be found here. I have seen the headstone but need to visit again to take a photograph. Several years ago, when I first looked at this, I discovered that for this cemetery, he was the person to reach the greatest age at burial. 
Reaching the age of 99 is still not that common but he was not the only one of his family to reach a good age. His father died at the age of 93 and his grandfather David Witt was 79 when he died in 1843.
He must have experienced much during his life living through both World Wars. The area of Southampton where he lived experienced a number of air raids in the years just prior to his death.


  1. General Register Office, England, certified copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Births, New Forest Registration District, 12 May 1847, Henry Witt born 1 April 1847, Minstead, County of Southampton, England, New Forest Registration district, Volume 8, Page 191; photocopy certificate, 10 April 2004, General Register Office, Southport, England.
  2. New Forest Registration District Register Office, Hampshire,England [now part of Hampshire], certified copy of an entry of Marriage in a register in the custody of New Forest Registration District Registrar, 2 December 1869, Henry Witt & Selina Grant, Marriage in Lyndhurst Parish, County of Southampton, England, entry no. 245; handwritten certificate, 12 March 2003, Hampshire Record Office, Winchester, Hampshire, England.
  3. New Forest Registration District Register Office, Hampshire, England [now part of Hampshire], certified copy of an entry of Birth in a register in the custody of New Forest Registration District Registrar, 26 November 1870, Elizabeth Ann Witt born 12 November 1870, Minstead, Hants, England, entry no. 340; handwritten certificate, 12 March 2003, Hampshire Record Office, Winchester, Hampshire, England.
  4. The Register Office, Southampton, certified copy of an entry of Marriage in a register in the custody of Southampton Registration District Registrar, 31 July 1892, Joseph Buckle & Elizabeth Ann Witt, Marriage at St  Barnabas Church, Southampton, County of Southampton, England, entry no. 1; handwritten certificate, 28 February 2003, Southampton, Hampshire, England.
  5. General Register Office, England, certified copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Deaths, Southampton Registration District, 10 October 1946, Henry Witt, Minstead, Southampton, England,  Southampton Registration district, Vol. 6b, P. 516; photocopy certificate, 11 March 2010, General Register Office, Southport, England.
Footnote: Hants is an abbreviation used for Hampshire. 
Due to naming changes what was Southampton county is now Hampshire.



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