William Binks

Born November 18, 1810 in Woolwich and Christened at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Woolwich on December 16, 1810. William was the son of James Hume Binks and Lucy.

William married Ann Albany (born 1809-1810 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne) in East Wickham, Kent on January 12, 1834 and had at least the following 4 children, probably all born in Woolwich, Kent:

Eliza Jane Binks (born November 21, 1834)
Ann Lucy Binks (born Bet. 1836 - 1837)
Emily Dorcas Binks (born September 19, 1839)
Eliza Isabella Binks (born August 5, 1844)

He was a carpenter by trade and the 1851 census tells us he had a Chandler’s Shop in Woolwich High Street. A Chandler makes and sells Candles, though cheese and tobacco were apparently also available according to a record of a crime involving counterfeit coins. The case was heard at the Old Bailey, and William's wife, Ann, was a witness to the events...

Transcript from 'The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913'
MARIA CRONIN, JOHN BROWN, THOMAS JONES, MARGARET THOMPSON, Royal Offences > coining offences, 26th November 1849.
 

150. MARIA CRONIN , JOHN BROWN , THOMAS JONES , and MARGARET THOMPSON were indicted for unlawfully uttering counterfeit coin. MESSRS. BODKIN and DAWSON conducted the Prosecution.

SARAH HAGGERTY . I am the wife of James Haggerty, and am servant to Mr. West, at the Marquis of Granby, High-street, Woolwich. On 18th Nov., about half-past eight o'clock, the prisoners came and had a pot of porter, and some bread and butter—I served them; they gave me 1s.—the two women went out, and returned again in about ten minutes—they stopped till ten, and all went away together.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. Did you know them? A. No; I did not notice the womens dress.

SARAH HARRISS MURRAY . I am the wife of John Money Murray, tobacconist; of Woolwich. On 18th Nov., between eight and nine o'clock at night, Cronin came for half an ounce of tobacco, it came to 1 1/2 d.—she gave me a crown-piece, which was bad—I told her so—she said she was not aware of it, a man gave it her, and she would leave a mug which she had and fetch him—I allowed her to go, and kept the crown-piece—a policeman came, I marked it, and gave it to him.

ANN BINKS . I am the wife of William Binks, a chandler, of High-street,

Woolwich. On 18th Nov., Brown came in without his jacket or hat, and asked for a quarter of a pound of Dutch cheese, and a quarter of an ounce of tobacco—I gave them to him—he threw down a crown-piece—I gave him 4s.6 1/2 d. change—he took it up very quickly, and ran to the door—I followed him with the crown-piece, and saw him take his jacket and hat from Cronin—the two other prisoners joined them opposite my shop, and all four went up the street together—I marked the crown-piece, and gave it to the policeman.

Cross-examined. Q. Had you ever seen Brown before? A. No; but I could not keep my eyes off him—he seemed so agitated—I picked him out the same night at a lodging-house where the four were.

JOHN GRIFFIN (policeman, R 229). I received this bad crown-piece (produced) from Mrs. Murray.

Cross-examined. Q. Have you kept it ever since? A. Yes; she marked it before she gave it me.

JOHN WALKER (policeman, R 298). On Sunday, 18th Nov., I was called to Mrs. Birch's—she gave me this crown-piece (produced)—I took her to Mr. Muskett's lodging-house, and found two men and three women—she pointed out Brown—he said he knew nothing about it—I told Cronin that I should take her from her description, and told her what for—she said, "I have not been in the shop at all"—I took them to the station, sent for Mrs. Murray, and she pointed out Cronin—I found on Brown five shillings, five sixpences, and sixpence, in copper all good.

HANNAH MANN . I am servant to William Muskett, who keeps a lodging-house at Woolwich. On 18th Nov. the prisoners came, and Brown asked for a lodging—they sent for a pot of porter—I fetched it, and on my return found a policeman there—he took Brown and Cronin—Cronin pointed to Jones, when the policeman's back was turned to the back of the table, and Jones took something black or brown from under the table, and made towards the door; I collared him, and he threw it over the adjoining fence.

Cross-examined. Q. Did he clench it in his hand? A. After looking at it—I collared him because he was going to leave a drunken female in the house.

ROBERT GREEN . I keep a lodging-house, two doors from Mr. Muskett's; on the morning of 19th I found four counterfeit crown-pieces in my back garden, tied up in this piece of black silk—I took them to the station—a person can throw anything there from Mr. Muskett's.

JAMES PARRY (police-sergeant, R 8). I received these four crown-pieces and this piece of silk from Green—Walker brought Jones to the station—I searched him and found this piece of silk, which corresponds with the other in texture, and by some stitches—also five shillings, three sixpences, and fivepence in halfpence.

Cross-examined. Q. Where did you take Jones? A. He was in custody when I was sent for—he was waiting outside the police-court, which is next to the station, to hear the result of the other prisoners' examination, and was taken.

JOHN KEMPSTER . These crown-pieces are all bad, and are of the reign Geo. III., 1820—I believe they are all cast in one mould, by three indentations on them.

CRONIN— GUILTY . Aged 18.— Confined Four Months.
BROWN— GUILTY . Aged 24.— Confined Nine Months.
JONES— GUILTY . Aged 29.— Confined Nine Months.
THOMPSON— NOT GUILTY.

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I could not find any more references to William & Ann Binks in either the later censuses or other sources. It should also be noted that until 2008 I also didn't know Ann's maiden name.

Then, one day, I received an e-mail from Grantley Hutchens in Australia who was researching his own ancestry. Of particular interest were his ancestors William Binks and wife, Ann Kell who had emigrated to Australia. Grantley's William Binks had also been born in Woolwich, Kent. I wondered if this was the same William Binks in my family tree, and if his wife's maiden name was 'Kell'.

But Australian sources relating to Grantley's William Binks and Ann Kell appeared to indicate a completely different family.

To complicate things, The information found in Australian sources was inconsistent and full of contradictions. But all agreed that Grantley's William was born in Woolwich, Kent, England.

The 1851 England census shows two occurrences of a Woolwich born Carpenter by the name of William Binks with a wife named Ann. The first, which is clearly William Binks the Carpenter and Chandler shows the following:

1851 - Parish of Woolwich, Borough of Greenwich, Town of Woolwich, Enumeration Schedule page 93 - 79 High Street
Number of Householder's
Schedule		 Name Relationship to
Head of Family		 Condition Sex Age Occupation Where Born
12 William BINKS Head Married Male 39 Carpenter & Chandlers Shop Woolwich, Kent
" Ann BINKS Wife Married Female 41 Shopkeeper's Wife Newcastle on Tyne
" Ann BINKS Daughter Unmarried Female 14 Assistant Greenwich, Kent
" Emily BINKS Daughter Unmarried Female 12 Scholar Woolwich, Kent
" Eliza BINKS Daughter Unmarried Female 6 Scholar Woolwich, Kent

But it's the second occurrence of a William Binks & Ann that seems more likely to be Grantley's ancestors who went to Australia...

1851 - St. Margaret, Ecclesiastical District of All Saints, Borough of Westminster, Town of Knightsbridge, Middlesex, Enumeration Schedule page 21 - 20 Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge
Number of Householder's Schedule Name Relationship to Head of Family Condition Sex Age Occupation Where Born
128 Thomas WATERS(?) Head Married Male 42 Packer Wilts, Homertown(?)
" Sarah WATERS Wife Married Female 51   Norfolk, Yarmouth
129 William BINKS   Married Male 38 Carpenter Kent, Woolwich
" Ann BINKS   Married Female 24   Kent, Deptford
130 Louisa HALE(?)   Married Female 23   Suffolk, Great Gorgeham
" Charles HALE(?) Son   Male 5 months   Woolwich, Kent

It was clear from Grantley's sources that his William Binks and Ann Kell had arrived in Victoria, Australia sometime between the 1851 Census and October 1856, at which time a son, William Stephen Binks was born . But no other references to Grantley's William Binks appear in British sources.

I'd already searched the St Mary Magdalene baptism records for 'BINKS' entries and found all that have not been included in the I.G.I. Indeed, the baptism record of William Binks (the Carpenter/Chandler) had been found, and it was this that confirmed his parents to have been James Hume Binks and Lucy. No other William Binks of the same generation was found. Likewise, only William Binks (the Carpenter/Chandler) can be found in the 1841 census. The other William Binks is not there.

Evidence from Australian Sources

Several children were born to William Binks and Ann Kell in Australia, and after studying the information that was given by William at the preparation of each new birth registration, it was clear that not only were there inconsistencies, but William was not being entirely truthful. Examples include...

- William's birth year was recorded ranging from 1807 to 1811
- His marriage date was recorded, ranging from 1834 to 1849
- Ann Kell's birth year was recorded, ranging from 1814 to 1819

There were also things that were recorded by his children that (in the light of what we now know) turned out to be completely wrong. For example...

- Ann's name was recorded as KELBERN on the Marriage Certificate of son James BINKS,
- On William's death certificate, the informant was his son, William who stated that William's father and mother had been 'William BINKS, carpenter' and 'Catherine'.

All the evidence suggested that there were two Williams and two Ann's. As it transpires, this is exactly what William wanted us to believe, because the truth was scandalous - particularly so in the 1850s.

The Truth

In fact, there was actually only one William. He was married to Ann (Albany) and they lived together at his shop premises in Woolwich High Street. On the night of the 1851 census, though recorded as being home, he was actually with his mistress, Ann Nisbett Kell; some 15 years his junior, at an address in Knightsbridge.

Ann Kell was born in Charlton, Kent in 1825 to parents Stephen Kell and Catherine (Née Mitchell). Stephen was a Shipwright, and lived with his family in Woolwich. Shipbuilding may have given both Stephen and William employment* and it's possible that they knew each other well; thus leading to opportunities for William to meet Stephen's daughter.

*...In the mid nineteenth century - apart from warships and
munitions - shipbuilding and repair dominated employment
at Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich...

The economy of Kent, 1640-1914 by Alan Armstrong - 1995

Working at the shipyard may also have sewn the seeds for William's ultimate plan - to elope with Ann Kell to Australia to begin a new life together.

Note: There is no actual evidence that William worked with Ann's father or that he worked at the shipyard. However, both would seem to be likely.

Solving the Puzzle

William left a trail of deception - beginning with his dual presence in the 1851 census - which due to the unlikely location of Knightsbridge for both him and Ann Kell, (both living in Woolwich), may have actually been intentional.

A record of their migration to Australia has not yet been found. They may have landed in another state & then moved to Victoria. Their migration coincided with the gold rush when so many people arrived, that they could not all be recorded

The first documented evidence of William and Ann Kell in Australia is contained in the birth record of their first child, William Stephen Binks on October 29, 1856 in Brunswick, Victoria. The 'Stephen' middle name was undoubtedly a reference to Ann's father. However, Ann's maiden name (though she never actually married William) is given falsely as 'Stevens'.

Inconsistencies and lies litter the various Australian sources. However, William left a vital clue. On three separate occasions in Australian sources he had recorded his marriage date as the 12th January 1834 and the location as Wickham, Kent. It had long been known that the I.G.I. contained a record of a marriage with the same date and location for a William Binks and Ann Albany. But, it should be noted that at the time of the research, we didn't know that the maiden name of William's true wife was Albany. If it could be shown that this was the case, then there could only be one William. But how could it be proved?

The answer was contained in the birth certificate of Emily Dorcas Binks, a daughter of William Binks and his true wife. The mother's maiden name is always indicated on British birth certificates, and indeed Ann's maiden name is recorded as 'Albany'.

Nothing is known about the fate of Ann (Albany).

William Binks and Ann Nisbett Kell lived as man and wife in Victoria for the rest of their lives, though there is no evidence that they ever married.

William and Ann Kell had at least six children. Little useful information can be gleaned from the children's birth certificates regarding William and Ann due to the inconsistencies. Nor can the indications of the number of surviving and dead children. The figures vary and may or may not include William's children in England. However, the birth dates and locations of William and Ann Kell's children themselves are in no doubt.

William Stephen Binks (born October 29, 1856 - Brunswick, Victoria)
James Binks (born September 18, 1859 - Pentridge (now Coburg), Victoria)
Lucy Catherine Binks (born December 24, 1861 - Ditto)
Joseph Thomas Binks (born June 25, 1863 - Ditto)
Eliza Ann Binks (born November 23, 1865 - Ditto)
Mary Ann Binks (born February 20, 1868 - Ditto)

William died at Sydney Road, Coburg, Bourke County, Victoria at 3:30am on April 11,1884 and was buried at Coburg Cemetery on April 13,1884. He is buried in Methodist Compartment: A, Grave No: 42.