William Fry was the second child of John Fry & Harriett Brooker christened May 10th, 1840 at Horsted Keynes, Sussex.
In 1851 John was at home with his family at Hunters (Courtland) Farm, Maresfield & in 1861 he was still at home living at Burnt Chimney, Battle.
At the age of 30 (1871) William was still living with his widowed father John at Wind Mill, Battle. His father was a miller & grocer & William & brother George were both millers. His sisters Mary Ann & Harriett were also at home.
William married Esther Blakebrough in Jan-March 1874 at St Saviour Southwark, Surrey. Esther was born Oct-December 1839 at Walworth, Surrey, the daughter of Matilda & Stephen L Blakebrough, an iron plate worker.
By 1881 William & Esther had 5 children – Arthur William B (6), Annie Harriet (5), Alfred Charles (3), William Vallance (2) & Herbert Edward (7 months) – all living at 10 Pemberton Rd, Ashford, Kent where William was a mill grinder (artizan).
In 1891 all the family were living at Mill House, Smarden, Kent, & William was described as a miller & son Arthur was a house boy & Alfred a yard boy.
William died at the age of 60, just before the 1901 census, his death being registered at Battle. Widowed Esther was living at Bexhill, near Battle & with her were children Arthur, a carpenter, Annie, Alfred, an insurance agent & Herbert, a jobbing gardener. Son William had left home to become a waiter at the Alexandra Hotel, Mostyn Terr, Eastbourne. Kelly’s directory of 1905 lists Alfred Charles as a publican at the Crown & Anchor public house in Brighton, his address being given as 20 Margaret St, Brighton. His brother Herbert Edward was an insurance agent at this time, living at 64 Vicarage Rd, Hastings.
In 1911 Esther was lodging at 12 York Rd, Silverhill, St Leonard's-on-Sea, Hastings. She was described as an old age pensioner & was living in the house of Hilda & Frank Hutchinson, a house painter. Esther noted on the census form that she had had 6 children, only 5 of whom were living.
Daughter Annie had married Albert Henry Jeffery in 1907 & at the time of the 1911 census they were living at the Conservative Club, where Albert was a steward, in Hastings, Sussex. Son Herbert Edward had married by 1911 & was working as a commercial traveler in hairdressing sundries. At the time of the census he, his wife Ellen & children Herbert (4) & Edward A (1) were visiting Albert Smith, a perambulator smith, & his family at Eversholt St, N.W. London.
There is a death for Esther Fry, aged 86, in July-September 1926 in Wandsworth, Surrey.
The 1939 register shows daughter Annie, now widowed, living in 50 Chapel Rd, Lambeth, London. Her husband Albert had died on December 19th, 1931 in Lambeth.
The children of William Fry & Esther Blakebrough were:
f.2.1.2.1 Arthur William Blakebrough Fry born December 28th,1874 at Battle; died October 22nd, 1948 in Ontario, Canada
f.2.1.2.2 Annie Harriet Fry born February 1st, 1876 at Battle
f.2.1.2.3 Alfred Charles Fry born Apr-June 1877 at Battle; died June 15th, 1921 in Maidstone
f.2.1.2.4 William Vallance Fry born Jan-March 1879 at Battle; died Oct-December 1914 in Hailsham, Sussex
f.2.1.2.5 Herbert Edward Fry born July-Sept 1880 at West Ashford, Kent
f.2.1.2.6 Esther Maud Fry born christened March 1st, 1885 at Smarden, Kent; died April-June 1886 in West Ashford