William Burnell
(1889-1957)

William Burnell (also known as Bill Burnell) was the fifth of the six children of George Burnell and his wife Mary Ann Barker of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England.

William was his parents only son, but just 18 months into his life, his father died at his pub in Dunstable.

Within just a few months, the family moved north to the fenland village of Littleport in Cambridgeshire, closer to his aunt Louisa Barker, who would no doubt have helped his mother to re-settle her young family, and to help her through her pregnancy without her husband.

When William was about 28 years old, he married to Rachel Elizabeth Emerson, and within a year they had become parents to the first of their eventual two daughters.

William pre-deceased Rachel by 17 years in 1957.

Life Events

Born:

• 13th December 1889 at Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

Baptised

• 6th December 1891 with his sister Florence Ellen Burnell at St. George's Church, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.

Married

• Rachel Elizabeth Emerson (1889-1974) during 1919 somewhere in Cambridgeshire, England.

Children

• Mabel Pearl Burnell (1920-1983) married Albert Morley (19??-?)
• Florence May Burnell (1925-2003) married Patrick Joseph Prendergast (1899-1976)

Census and Residence

• 1891: 1yrs, The Royal Oak Public House, Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.
• 1901: 11yrs, Rose Cottages, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.
• 1911: 21yrs, City Road, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.

Employment

• 1911: General Farm Labourer.
• 1920: Labourer.

Death

• December quarter of 1957 in Cambridgeshire, England.

Burial

• During 1957 at Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England.