William Bones and Connie Merritt

The wedding of Connie Merritt to William Bones took place in 1913

Wedding photo for William Bones of Devizes and Connie Merritt of Market Lavington

William was a Devizes lad. His father was a watchmaker on Maryport Street. William was born in about 1882. By the time of the 1901 census, when William was 19, he worked at a tobacco factory in Devizes.

By 1911. William was a correspondence clerk for a dairy company.

Constance Emily Merritt was born in 1891. Her father, John Hampton Merritt was a blacksmith who moved into the growing field of the bicycle. The 1891 census enumerator may have got in a muddle, for he has the baby’s name as Mary Ann. Or maybe John and his wife Annie changed their minds about the  name for Constance was less than a month old.. The family lived on High Street in Market Lavington.

By 1901 Constance had been joined by her two sisters and the family had moved to Church Street. Dad was now a cycle agent, but he is best remembered in the village as leader of the Prize Band – a position he held for more than 60 years.

In 1911 Constance was aged 20, living with her parents on Church Street, Market Lavington, and working as a Lady’s Help.

We do not know where the Bones family moved to, but an Arthur Bones was born in the Melksham area in 1924. His mother’s maiden name was Merritt.

William’s death was registered in the Trowbridge district in 1969. Constance lived until 1974. Her death was also registered in Trowbridge.

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Tags: Devizes, genealogy, Market Lavington, Museum, photograph, wedding