Valda Shrimpton (see the Links page), who has been undertaking a study of all the Shrimptons, has provided an interesting insight into the family of William Shrimpton. The following is taken from the notes she has provided.

William Shrimpton was baptised on 20th September 1778 at Watford Hertfordshire and married four times.

His first marriage was to Sarah Mills circa 1778-buried 10th October 1825 St Leonards Shoreditch. They married on 14th March 1799 at Bovingdon Hertfordshire by licence.

William married secondly Jane Waterson, circa 1799- buried 9th September 1830 St. Leonard's Shoreditch. They married 2nd December 1829 St Matthew Bethnal Green.

William married thirdly Mary surname unknown as the marriage has still not been found. Mary's dates were circa 1779- buried 19th October 1835 St. Leonard's Shoreditch.

William married fourthly Elizabeth a widow, maiden name unknown but married name Ledgley. Elizabeth's dates were circa 1782/6- 2nd Febraury 1850. She died St. Brides West London. They married 28th December 1835 Christchurch Greyfriars Newgate.

There appears to have only been children from his first marriage.

The evidence for William marrying four times comes in the trial of his son Matthew at the Old Bailey in 1846 when he was accused of stealing a pocket book. He was found not guilty. It was in this year that Matthew's brother Thomas pulled the plug on the partnership they had run when they inherited their father's business (Actually I have no proof for that assertion. However the fact is the partnership was dissolved in that year and the business sold). At the trial for some reason, as the testimony doesn't seem particularly relevant to the trial, Matthew mentioned the fact his father was married four times.

Thomas the middle brother's trial was in 1856 for which he was found guilty and served 18 months hard labour in the House of Correction Holloway. He was charged with forging a receipt to the Commissioners of the City Sewers for work done by his brother. It was claimed he had impersonated his recently deceased brother Matthew to defraud his widow (Again completely unproven on my part. I think Thomas probably got involved as a favour to Matthew's widow). Matthew's widow Emily (nee Hems) was the main prosecutor's witness against Thomas. The Times also followed the case.

Ructions between Thomas' family still continued and caused a subsequent Chancery case between Thomas' widow and second wife Margaret Swaney (who remarried after his death) and his children by his first wife and the surviving children in this country of Matthew. It was this case that caused the selling of the final properties acquired by William senior and still in the family's keeping at Charlotte Street in 1862.

William's PCC will caused endless amounts of paper work in Chancery and there are also various cases amongst the sons that went to the Old Bailey, the most serious of which was by Emily (the widow of Matthew), whose accusation was against her brother-in-law Thomas for forging a receipt. Thomas went to prison over it.

Reading between the lines I think Thomas was the one brother who took after his father and continued the business, propping up his younger brother Matthew (elder brother William was obviously always a disappointment to his father) in the process. I imagine what happened between Emily and Thomas split the family with repercussions down to the next generation and the dissipation of the money built up by the William senior.

So far the only part of this family's story I have written up concerns the family of Thomas' eldest son, but the rest is just as interesting and colourful.