William Emms was the second child and eldest son of James Emms and Hannah Beadell. James was an excise – man and at the time of William’s birth in 1825 the family were living in Gravesend, Kent, UK. Hannah Beadell had been born in Kent in 1800 and James Emms b 1791 was the son of James & Elizabeth Emms (nee Cooke) of Kingston upon Thames in Surrey UK. James was a last and patten maker, Elizabeth was for some time mistress of a girls’ charity school in Kingston upon Thames. We have not been able to trace the family back further than James as although he died in 1807 we do not know how old he was at the time of his death.
In 1841 the 15 year old William was working as a grocer’s assistant in Mereworth, Kent. By 1851 he was a partner in a business in Nottingham, describing himself in the census return that year as a “Grocer and Tea Dealer”. In 1852 the partnership was dissolved and on 12th August William left London aboard the “Moselle” which arrived at Port Phillip in December. On 7th December 1853 William married Sarah Hare of Boothby Pagnell, Lincolnshire, UK. The marriage took place at Collingwood Independent Chapel and the certificate shows that William was a store keeper. Sarah had also arrived in Port Phillip in December 1852 aboard the “Bombay”. She had travelled from Plymouth, UK with her brother and sister Ann who was one of the witnesses to the marriage.
