Walter Oxbrow

Walter Rutter Oxbrow was born on 26 July 1850, the 7th child of William Oxbrow and Ann Rolf. An older brother, Alfred, became a watchmaker and jeweller in Canterbury but Walter seems to be the only son who became a watchmaker in Braintree like his father.

Walter married Jessie Golding on 17 July 1877 in Braintree when he was almost 27. Jessie was born on August 31 1853 in Wickhambrook, Suffolk, about 20 miles from Braintree. It seems strange that they married in his church, rather than hers. Jessie's father was a butcher.

Walter and Jessie had 5 children:

..	Born	Christened	Married	Date	Died	Children
Walter Rutter	7 July 1878	1 August 1878	Lilian	1901	1962	1
Arthur	5 Feb 1880	...	May?	1919		None
Polly Fanny	5 Sep 1881	11 Oct 1881	Martin Claude Murrills	30 Sept 1907	1976	3
Harold George	28 Aug 1883	...	May Revett	15 Aug 1910	1960	1
Olive Bessie	7 Oct 1886	11 Nov 186	William Goldsmith	28 Feb 1909	1986	3

Family history relates that Walter went bail for someone who skipped bail and rather than face his wife he committed suicide. The account in the local paper gives a somewhat different version. After his death Jessie went to live in Ipswich where she died in 1932.

Headlined "Sad Death", I found this extract from the local paper of the time.

I am descended from Polly Fanny Oxbrow