Profile: Robert Westwell 1868-1911

Ancestor Profile: Robert Westwell (1868–1911)

Warehouse boy, soldier, Boer War veteran, and labourer of Blackburn, Lancashire.

Born: 3 July 1868, Blackburn, Lancashire Died: 19 November 1911, Blackburn, Lancashire

At a Glance

• Parents: Robert Westwell (1838–1893) and Elizabeth Glover (c.1839–1884)
• Baptism: 2 August 1868, St Mary-the-Virgin, Blackburn
• Spouse: Ellen Ward (m. 13 May 1894, Furthergate Congregational Church)
• Child: Rhoda May Westwell (b. 1898)
• Key Occupations: Warehouse boy, soldier, steam motor driver, labourer, bricklayer’s labourer
• Military Service: East Lancashire Regiment, including Second Boer War (South Africa, 1900–1902)
• Burial: 23 November 1911, Blackburn Cemetery, Grave C/N/2790

Early Life in Industrial Blackburn

Robert Westwell was born on 3 July 1868 in Blackburn, Lancashire, a town defined by its cotton mills, dense terraced streets, and the rhythms of industrial life. He was baptized a month later at St Mary-the-Virgin in Blackburn, as recorded in the parish register: “Baptism Record – Robert Westwell 1868.”

He was the son of Robert Westwell (1838–1893) and Elizabeth Glover (c.1839–1884), a working-class family rooted firmly in the town’s textile economy. In 1871 the family lived at 42 Chester Street, and by 1881 they had moved to 21 Dewhurst Street. At thirteen, Robert was already working as a warehouse boy in the cotton industry, a common path for Blackburn boys who entered mill work in their early teens.

A Soldier at Fifteen

On 23 June 1886, at just fifteen years old, Robert enlisted in the East Lancashire Regiment. His military file describes him as a slight youth—66¼ inches tall and weighing 124 pounds—but fit enough for service. He was given the regimental number 1693 and began what would become a long and eventful association with the British Army.

His early years in uniform were marked by both routine duties and frequent hospital admissions. Between 1887 and 1894 he was treated for a range of conditions, including wounds, contusions, influenza, bronchitis, and several venereal diseases. The medical ledger records entries such as admissions for “Influenza” in August 1889 and “Bronchitis” in April 1890.

Despite these setbacks, Robert progressed in his career. On 13 March 1889 he was appointed to a new role within the regiment, and by 21 August 1889 he had earned promotion to Corporal. His advancement, however, was short-lived. In October 1890 he was tried by Regimental Court Martial and reduced in rank, though the sentence was later remitted. Further disciplinary notes appear in early 1891, when he spent time in confinement and faced another trial.

Marriage and Family

Amid the turbulence of military life, Robert established a family. On 13 May 1894 he married Ellen Ward at Furthergate Congregational Church on Artillery Street, Blackburn. The marriage register notes that the ceremony was “performed at the Furthergate Congregational Church, Artillery Street, Blackburn.”

At the time of his marriage, Robert was living at 32 Chester Street and working as a warehouser in a cotton factory. The couple later welcomed a daughter, Rhoda May Westwell, born in 1898. By the late 1890s the family had settled at 16 Abbott Street, a detail that appears both in civil records and in Robert’s military next-of-kin information.

Service in the Second Boer War

Robert returned to military service during the Second Boer War, serving in South Africa from 1900 to 1902. His campaign record notes participation in South Africa during those years, and he received the King’s South Africa Medal with clasps, awarded on 1 October 1902: “He received the King’s South Africa Medal and Clasps… Service Date: 1899–1902.”

This campaign would have exposed him to harsh conditions, long marches, and the guerrilla tactics that defined the later stages of the war. For a man who had enlisted as a teenager, it marked the culmination of years of intermittent service with the colours and in the reserve.

Re‑enlistment and Final Military Years

After his earlier period of service and time in the Army Reserve, Robert re-attested on 12 November 1903 at Fort Purbrook. Now thirty-four years old, he was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 133 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. His civilian trade at this stage was listed as “Steam Motor Driver,” reflecting the growing mechanization of the early twentieth century.

This later enlistment placed him once again in the East Lancashire Regiment, now under the regimental number 9503 in the 3rd Battalion. His total service included 7 years and 289 days with the colours, followed by 4 years and 76 days in the Army Reserve. His final discharge came on 3 August 1905, marking 1 year and 265 days of service in this last period.

Later Years and Final Residence

After leaving the army, Robert returned to civilian labouring work. By 1911 he was recorded as a labourer while visiting his sister Eleanor in Blackpool, residing temporarily at 1 Sheppa Road. Later that year, he was back in Blackburn working as a bricklayer’s labourer and living at 124 Cleaver Street.

Robert died on 19 November 1911 in Blackburn. He was buried four days later, on 23 November 1911, in Blackburn Cemetery, grave C/N/2790. The burial entry notes that “He was buried at the Blackburn Cemetery in Blackburn, Lancashire, England on 23 Nov 1911. Grave: C/N/2790.”

A Life Shaped by Work, War, and Family

Robert Westwell’s life reflects the experiences of many working-class men in Victorian and Edwardian Lancashire. Born into the cotton economy, he entered the workforce early, sought opportunity in the military, and returned repeatedly to service—perhaps out of duty, perhaps out of necessity.

His story is one of resilience: a young warehouse boy who became a soldier, a husband, a father, a Boer War veteran, and finally a labourer navigating the demanding realities of industrial Blackburn. Though the surviving records offer only glimpses of his personality, they reveal a man whose life was marked by movement—between homes, occupations, and military commitments—and who remained deeply connected to his family and his hometown until his final days.

X00393 What happened to Robert Westwell (b. 1868) after 1891 - Solved!

Tracing the Military Life of Robert Westwell (born 1868)

Every so often, a familiar name in my family tree resurfaces with just enough mystery to pull me back in. One such figure is Robert Westwell, born in 1868 [X00393]. I had written previously about finding him listed as a soldier in the 1891 census, but after that, the trail went cold. With no obvious civilian records to follow, I turned my attention to military sources in hopes of discovering what became of him.

My first promising lead was a medal index entry for an “R. Westwell”, awarded the King’s South Africa Medal for service in the Second Boer War, dated 1 October 1902. This soldier served with the East Lancashire Regiment under regimental number 9502. It was an intriguing match, but the medal card alone did not provide enough detail to confirm whether this was my Robert.

The breakthrough came when I searched deeper into the military collections on Find My Past. There, I found a full service record for a Robert Westwell, also of the East Lancashire Regiment, and crucially bearing the same regimental number, 9502. The question now was whether I could confidently link this soldier to the Robert Westwell from my family.

Several clues aligned neatly including the age shown throughout the military papers, which matched the birth year of 1868. As well his occupation given in 1886 was a warehouseman, the same occupation that Robert Westwell held in the 1881 census.

But the decisive evidence came from the names he listed as his next of kin. His original contacts were:

• Ellen Hill, married sister, living on Riley Street, Blackburn
• Elizabeth Jane, sister
• Martha, sister

These names correspond perfectly with what I already knew about the siblings of my Robert Westwell. With that, I felt confident that the soldier in the records and the man in my family tree were indeed the same person.

As his military career progressed, the next-of-kin information changed. Later entries list a wife named Ellen and a daughter named Rhoda May, both living at 16 Abbott Street in Blackburn. The marriage date is given as 21 May 1894.

Armed with this information, locating the marriage record was straightforward. The certificate confirmed and to further verify the connection, the father is listed as Robert Westwell, and one of the witnesses is listed as Martha Westwell.

From there, the remaining pieces of his life fell into place with much more ease. What began as a missing chapter in the 1890s has now expanded into a fuller picture of a man who served abroad, maintained close ties to his sisters, married, and raised a family back home in Blackburn.

It is always satisfying when a long-standing mystery resolves itself through a combination of persistence, pattern recognition, and a bit of luck. Robert’s story is another reminder of how military records can illuminate the lives of ancestors who might otherwise slip through the cracks of the historical record.

X00317 Ernest Ashton after 1916 - Solved!

I have posted in the past about X00317 and trying to find out what happened to Ernest Ashton after 1916. The Ashton Family bible lists his date of death as 23 January 1953, but I had not been able to find anything definite to cooberate the date in the Fmily Bible.

I had found him in the 1931 census and in the Toronto City directories for 1952, but not 1953, which was consistent with him dying in 1953.

Recently, the Ontario Death record for 1953 were released and I was able to find his death record

The death record gives a date of death of 24 January 1953, one day different from the family bible, but otherwise everything else matches.

An interesting thing that I had not known about is that his spouse is listed as Ruth Foot, so he evidently remarried. I managed to find their marriage record and it appears that they married in 1938.

And another thing that the death record give me was the burial place of Park Lawn Cemetery and I was able to find a corresponding entry at Find a Grave.

So, with that, I am now considering this X-File to be solved.

X00392 Eleanor Westwell after 1882 - solved!

In an earlier post, I shared that I had been able to follow Eleanor Westwell’s trail only up to 1882, when she appeared as a witness at the marriage of Lawrence Ashton and Mary Ann Westwell. After that, she seemed to vanish from the records, and I wasn’t sure what became of her.

Some time ago, I came across a possible lead: an 1883 marriage entry for an Eleanor Westwell. I ordered the certificate, hoping it might finally shed light on her fate. When it arrived, the details aligned so neatly that it became clear I had indeed found the same Eleanor.

The marriage took place on 25 December 1883 between Edwin Hill and Eleanor Westwell. Several key pieces of information confirmed her identity:

• Eleanor is recorded as 18 years old, matching a birth year of 1865.
• Her occupation is listed as cotton weaver, consistent with earlier records for “my” Eleanor.
• Most importantly, her father is named as Robert Westwell, a cotton spinner - a perfect match.

With these points lining up, I’m confident this marriage record belongs to the Eleanor I had been tracing.

Once this connection was made, the rest of her story came together more easily. Eleanor and her husband Edwin appear in later census records, continuing to live in Blackburn, Lancashire, where she spent her entire life. The couple had at least one child, John Robert Hill, born around 1886.

Eleanor Westwell Hill died on 25 December 1937 at the age of 72, her cause of death recorded as myocardial degeneration.

It’s satisfying to finally follow Eleanor’s life beyond that 1882 marriage entry and to restore her place in the family’s story.

Death dates for John Westwell and Ann Ashworth - Part 3

In the previous two weeks, I have talked about finding the death information for my 4x Great-grandparents, John Westwell and Ann Ashworth Westwell and how the burial record for Elijah Westwell also showed the two of them buried in the same plot:

The question then remains, who are the other two names in the plot: Alice Westwell (died 1904) and Ethel Lomax (died 1905)?

Finding Alice Westwell (died 1904) was a little easier; the burial record for her lists her age at death of 53 years and describes her as the wife of John Westwell. Doing a little more research, I was able to place her as Alice Butterworth, 1850-1904, the wife of John Thomas Westwell, son of John and Ann.

Finding Ethel Lomax was a little bit more challenging. Her burial record puts her age at death as two years and and describes her as the daughter of "George Edward and Maggie".

A little bit more research and I was able to find a marriage record between a George Edward Lomax and a Margaret Ann Westwell, daughter of John Thomas Westwell.

So, it all fits with the rest of the Westwell family.

Death dates for John Westwell and Ann Ashworth - Part 2

Last week I talked about how I managed to find the death information for John Westwell. Next on the list is to find the death information for Ann Ashworth Westwell.

As mentioned last week, we know that Ann Ashworth Westwell died after 1891, and we managed to find a burial record for the Westwell family:

This record shows an Ann Westwell who was buried 12 January 1894 in Blackburn, Lancashire. I managed to find a corresponding death record for an Ann Westwell who died 9 January 1894, widow of a John Westwell, a cotton spinner

So, all looks good, except for one slight problem - the age at death. The age of death is given as 75 years, which would correspond to a birth year of about 1819, much later than the expected birth year of about 1811.

So I had a look at the informant, a Thomas Harrison, son-in-law and that checks out because Ann's daughter Mary married a Thomas Harrison. So it would appear that this is the correct record and that the age given for the death record might be inaccurate.

Death dates for John Westwell and Ann Ashworth - Part 1

John Westwell and Ann Ashworth are my 4x Great-grandparents. They were married 26 February 1832 in Blackburn, Lancashire. John Westwell was born around 1809 and Ann Ashworth was born around 1811.

I've been trying to find their dates of death and death information. John appears in the 1871 census and I have found Ann in the 1891 census living with her daughter and son-in-law and is listed as a widow, so John would have died between 1871 and 1891 and Ann would have died after 1891. I wasn't able to find either of them in the 1881 census to narrow the time down further.

I first had a look at John Westwell. Unfortunately, John Westwell is not an uncommon name, and the twenty year span from 1871 to 1891 is tough to narrow down. But looking at Blackburn in particular as a location, I was able to narrow the death record possibilities to two names:

The first was a John Westwell who died in Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire, 1 December 1880, aged 82.

This would have put his birth year about 1798 and his profession was listed as a stone mason, which doesn't quite fit, when every other record that I have found lists him as either a cotton spinner or cotton piecer.

The second option was a John Westwell who died 20 January 1874 in Blackburn, aged 63 and is listed as a cotton piecer:

As well, the informant is an Ann Westwell, which also fits. The age is off a bit, suggesting a year of birth of 1811, rathern than 1809, however the rest of the rest of the information matches

I had set aside this query for a while, but when I was gathering information on another member of the Westwell family, Elijah Westwell I found some more information. I managed to find Elijah Westwell's burial record, and then checked the other names of individuals buried in the same plot

In the same plot as Elijah, is a John Westwell who was buried 24 January 1874, and looking at the full burial record it appears to be the same John Westwell as in the second option - the one who died 20 January 1874. So, I'm confident in determining that this is the correct death record for John Westwell.