Henry John Besford was baptised at Caister, near Great Yarmouth, on 1st December 1850. His parents were John Brown Besford, a blacksmith, and Maria Besford (née Chase). He was a grandson of Leonard Besford of Hoveton.
The 1861 census recorded Henry with his family at Gorleston, Suffolk. By 1871 they were living in Great Yarmouth, where the census recorded Henry, aged 20, as a blacksmith’s apprentice, working in his father’s trade.
In July 1873 Henry married Georgiana Page at St Nicholas’ Church, Great Yarmouth. A son, also named Henry John, was born later that year and died in infancy. Their daughter Julia Maria Besford was born in Great Yarmouth early in 1875. She was named after her grandmothers, Julia Besford (née Brown) and Maria Besford (née Chase).
By 1881 Henry, Georgiana and Julia were living in Lowestoft, where the census recorded Georgiana as Joanna.
A second daughter, Rosa Lanoma Besford, was born in 1882. Her birth was registered at Mutford, the district that covered Lowestoft, with her mother’s maiden name Page.
Georgiana died early in 1885, aged 34. Her death was also registered at Mutford.
We have not yet found a record of Henry’s death. Please get in touch if you can help.
Records not yet confirmed
A marriage of Harry John Besford was registered at Mutford in July to September 1889. The register page holds two brides, Mary Ann Page and Martha Elizabeth Pearson. Three Besford births followed at Mutford with the mother’s maiden name Chilvers: Harry John William (1890), Elizabeth Martha Clara (1891) and Clara Elizabeth (1892). This points to Martha Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Chilvers.
In 1891 the census recorded Elizabeth Besford, aged 31, at Lowestoft in the household of William and Martha Chilvers, with Rosa, aged nine, and a baby, Harry, recorded as Martha’s grandson. Rosa living with Elizabeth suggests that Harry John was Henry, marrying again after Georgiana’s death.