Introduction

William George Sercombe was the oldest son of Jane Mary Sercombe, who was the headteacher at Hardington School. After leaving school, William worked alongside his father in the printing department at the Western Gazette. In his early twenties, he moved to Bristol and in his early thirties, he emigrated to the United States of America.

Early life at Hardington

William was born at Hardington in 1876, the first of three children born to George and Mary Jane Sercombe. His father was an engineer, and his mother was a schoolteacher. The family home was the schoolhouse next to the churchyard.

By the age of fourteen, William was working as a printer’s office boy, probably at the Western Gazette with his father. The 1891 census recorded him as both living with his parents at Hardington while also lodging with George J. Johns, a compositor, at 6 Mary Street, Yeovil.[1]

William enjoyed sports, playing cricket and football for Hardington.[2]

Move to Bristol

William had left the village by March 1901, and at that time, he was a printer-compositor lodging at 13 Berkeley Road, Bristol.

Marriage

On 14 April 1903, William married Daisy Marie Kate Prigg at Luckington. At the time, William was 26 years old, and Daisy was 23.

Daisy was a schoolmistress who taught at Yeovilton in March 1901. Her mother was also a schoolteacher, and her father had been a signalman in the Royal Navy before his early death in 1894.

Birth of children

Their first child, Kathleen Marie, was born in Bristol in 1904. When she was baptised on 17 August 1904, the family’s address was 25 Queens Road, Bristol. Their son, Ronald George, was born in 1908 and was baptised on 6 May 1908, while they lived at Pentwist, the Avenue, Bristol.

Emigration to the USA

On 27 October 1910, William travelled to Quebec. His wife and children may have joined him later, as the 1911 census recorded them as visitors staying with a family at Stoford.

William and his family settled permanently in the United States. By April 1935, they had made their home in Abington, Philadelphia.[3]

Death

Daisy died at Abington in 1939 at the age of 59. William died in Volusia County, Florida, in 1965 at the age of 89.

References

[1] In the Yeovil census, William’s name is misrecorded as “William G. Percombe,” and his occupation is listed as “Junior Clerk (Solicitor’s).”

[2] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 15 May 1895, p. 7; 6 November 1895, p.7.

[3] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 24 April 1935, p.7.