william appleford
Subject: William Appleford (b ca 1803 – d 1883)
Researcher: Viv Bennett
Bachelor life for Godalming shoemaker
William Appleford was born in Newbury, Berkshire but eventually settled in central Godalming, working as a shoemaker. He remained unmarried, living and working there for probably well over 30 years before being forced into the Guildford Union Workhouse.
Tracing the origins of William has proved inconclusive, with the most likely record for him being a non-conformist baptism at the Northcroft Lane Meeting House in Newbury, Berkshire on 23rd September 1799, having been born on 20th February that year, the son of John and Sarah Appleford 1. However, future records indicate that William was born in about 1803, so it cannot be assumed that this is the correct record.
William was almost certainly born in the Newbury area as later Censuses confirmed, but the first modern Census in 1841 showed that he was an unmarried shoemaker living in Hart’s Lane (now Mint Street), Godalming – his place of birth only noted as not being in Surrey 2. William was lodging with Ann Davis, a 61-year-old widowed laundress, her labourer son Henry and another lodger, stocking maker Charles Woods, both aged 33. What had caused William to move 40 miles (65 km) east from Newbury to Godalming is unknown, although Godalming was a thriving town in the early 1800s, known for its leather, paper and hosiery industries so perhaps William was drawn for work 3.
Somewhat unusually, the quartet were still together in Hart’s Lane ten years later 4. William was noted as a cordwainer – another term for a shoemaker – with his birthplace being confirmed as Newbury. Ann, 71, was ‘receiving widow’s pay’ while her son Henry was a plumber’s labourer. The other lodger Charles was still making stockings – a ‘framework knitter’ – with all three men in their 40s and having remained single.
By the time of the 1861 Census, William was living alone and working as a shoemaker in Cow Lane which adjoins Hart’s Lane, so very close to his previous home 5. His ex-landlady Ann Davis had died in December 1859, aged 80, but her son Henry and lodger Charles were still under the same roof in Hart’s Lane and similarly employed 6, 7.
Traced records for William are few and far between, with the next being the 1871 Census, showing he was still unmarried and living on his own in Cow Lane, but that he was now a ‘Shoemaker unemployed’ 8. He was at least 67 years of age and must have had some money saved, as no record in the Guildford Union Poor Law Accounts (only available between 1864 and 1871) of him receiving assistance around that time has been found 9.
Inevitably though, with no family to fall back on, William would have had no option but to be admitted to the Guildford Union Workhouse, whether due to illness or lack of employment, although no records are available to show exactly when this happened. The 1881 Census confirmed William to be an inmate, listing him to be a 76-year-old unmarried shoemaker 10. He would almost certainly have remained there until he passed away on 14th June 1883, aged at least 79, from ‘decay of age’ 11. He was buried at Godalming’s Nightingale Cemetery four days later 12.
November 2019, updated June 2026
Edited by Mike Brock
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Please contact us by email at spikelives@charlotteville.co.uk, or on Facebook at ‘Tales from Guildford Workhouse’
Sources and References
Surrey parish and Guildford Union records are available at the Surrey History Centre, Woking. Digitised parish records were sourced through Ancestry.co.uk. A complete list of references is at William Appleford references
Spike Lives is a Heritage project that chronicles the lives of inmates, staff and the Board of Guardians of the Guildford Union Workhouse at the time of the 1881 Census. The Spike Heritage Museum in Guildford offers guided tours which present a unique opportunity to discover what life was like in the Casual/Vagrant ward of a Workhouse. More information can be found here