Birth & early life
Born at Romney, Kent, on the 27th of March 1807, the son of Sergeant John Ennis of the 12th Light Dragoons, and his wife, Susan.
Sergeant John Ennis [father]
His father had enlisted into the 12th Light Dragoon on the 29th of December 1795, was promoted to Sergeant on the 25th of September 1799, and to Troop Sergeant Major on the 25th of July 1816.
He had served in Captain Mark Cramer's Troop in Egypt in 1801, but does not appear to have served in either the Peninsula campaign or at Waterloo, as on each occasion when the regiment left the country he is shown as being "Left at the Depot."
He died at Canterbury on the 24th of February 1816, having been "sick" there for the previous month. At that time he was serving in No. 1 or Captain William Webb's Troop.
William Ennis entered the Royal Military Asylum (also known as The Duke of York's School) at Chelsea on the 4th of March 1820. His father was shown as "Dead," and his mother, Susan, as "Still alive".
Service
The musters for the Maidstone Depot show him for the first time as being "from the Maidstone Depot on the river" on the 24th of September 1823. Exactly what this Depot was is not known. It could be that because the Maidstone Cavalry Depot was full at this time some men were kept in hulks on the river, a large number of men embarking for India just after he joined the Cavalry Depot. He himself embarked for India on the 14th of February 1824.
From Private to Corporal: 20th of August 1827.
Marriage in India, 1830
On the 7th of April 1830, at Cawnpore, India, he married Elizabeth Purville (after banns), the ceremony being conducted by the Revd. James Whiting. He was then 25 years of age and she 14.
Although not shown as such, his bride possibly came from one of the Military Orphanages, it being a common practice for the troops to find wives from these at this period. Strictly speaking, the majority of the children were not orphans, as their fathers were often still alive. But because they were usually the result of unofficial liasons between British men and Indian women, they were removed from the unsuitable environment of the military cantonment.
Little girls were allowed to stay with their mothers until they were four or five, and were then taught to read, write, do simple arithmetic and elaborate embroidery.
When the girls reached marriageable age, non-commissioned officers and private soldiers "if men of character" were allowed in to select a wife, on the strict condition that:
"they must choose by eye alone at a single interview. They are not allowed to pay their addresses to the object which has attracted them, or to transfer their affections from one to another after a selection has been made: no previous acquaintance may be granted, and the bride has only the privilege of rejection."
The bride came with a dowry of 25 Rupees as an incentive. How successful these arranged marriages were can only be speculated upon.
[EJB? RM? PB? The 1851 Census for Norwich, however, show his wife as having been born at Honscot, France. Given her shown age of 34, Elizabeth Ennis could well have been the daughter of a soldier who had served at Waterloo and later gone to India.]
1851 Census
TO BE ADDED.
Corporal to Sergeant: 1st of August 1831.
Appointed to Troop Sergeant Major: 4th of September 1838.
Gazetted as Cornet and Adjutant in the 11th Hussars: 22nd of January 1847.
Lieutenant and Adjutant: 21st of March 1847.
Resigned the Adjutancy: 27th of January 1848.
1851 Census
Pockthorpe Cavalry Barracks, Norwich.
William Ennis, officer, married, 44, Adjutant, Born Romney.
Elizabeth Ennis, officer's wife, 34, born Honscott, France [Honscot, Flanders?].
William Ennis, officer's child, 13 [Note: this entry is crossed out].
Given her age, 34, Elizabeth Ennis could well have been the daughter of a soldier who had served at Waterloo and later gone to India.
Adjutant, Lieutenant William Ennis, in Hart's New Army List, 1854.
"Lieut. Ennis served in the 11th Hussars at the siege and capture of Bhurtpore in 1825-6 (Medal)."
(Click on image to enlarge)
Captain: 20th of June 1854.
Returned to England, "Sick", aboard the S.S. "Hope" on the 8th of August 1854.
Resigned, by the sale of his commission, on the 21st of December 1855.
Campaign service
Captain Ennis served with the regiment at the siege and capture of Bhurtpore. (Medal and Clasp) Also the Eastern campaign of 1854-55, including the battle of Inkerman and the Siege and fall of Sebastopol. (Medal and Clasps.) [He was left at Varna when the regiment embarked for the Crimea proper, but no date is shown for when he rejoined it.
Life after service
1861 Census
17, Gloucester Grove East, Kennington [London].
William Ennis, aged 54, Retired Officer, Civil Service, Adjutant Rifle Volunteers, born New Romney.
Elizabeth Ennis, 43, born France, British Subject.
William Ennis [son], unmarried, 23, 2nd class clerk, Legacy Duty department, born Cawnpore, East Indies.
One Servant is also shown.
William Ennis [son]
His only son, William, entered the 77th Foot as an Ensign (without purchase) on the 3rd of November 1854. He arrived at Malta on the 20th of February 1855, having left England aboard the "Croesus" on the 8th of that month. He was gazetted as a Lieutenant on the 9th.
He later served for a while attached to the 34th Foot and was entitled to the Crimean medal with clasp for Sebastopol.
He resigned his commission on the 9th of November 1855, and on the 14th of July 1864 he married Emma, daughter of John Shute, Esq., of Bedford House, Southampton.
Marriage registered
William Ennis [son] married Alice Snook [sic], September Quarter 1864, Southampton.
Births registered
William John Burville Ennis [grandson], September Quarter 1865, born Kensington.
Charles Fletcher Ennis [grandson], March Quarter 1867, Kensington.
Arthur Frederick Ennis [grandson], December Quarter 1868, Kensington.
Kathleen Mary Ennis [granddaughter], March Quarter 1872, Kensington.
Nora Fannie Ennis [granddaughter], March Quarter 1880, Southampton.
1871 Census
10, Gloucester Terrace, Brompton, Chelsea.
William Ennis, aged 64, retired Capt. 11th Hussars, born Kent.
Elizabeth Ennis, 54, born France.
6, Richmond Road (The Bolton), St Mary Abbotts, Chelsea.
William Ennis [son], 33, 2nd class clerk Legacy duty dept, born Cawnpore, East Indies.
Alice Ennis, 25, Southampton.
William J.B. Ennis, 5, Old Brompton.
Charles F Ennis, 4, Old Brompton.
Arthur F Ennis, 2, Old Brompton.
Two servants are also shown.
Death registered
William Ennis [son], aged 41, September Quarter 1879, Kensington.
1881 Census
10 Gloucester Terrace, Chelsea.
William Ennis, 75, late Captain 11th Hussars, born New Romney.
Elizabeth Ennis, 64, born France.
14 Cranbury Place, St Mary, Southampton.
Alice Ennis, widow, 35, Gentlewoman, born Southampton.
Arthur Ennis, 12, Kathleen, 9, Norah [sic], 1.
incl. 1 servant.
Death & burial
Death registered
William Ennis, aged 75, December Quarter 1882, Lambeth.
From the Army and Navy Gazette, 9th of December 1882:
"11th Hussars. — Captain W. Ennis, formerly of this regiment, died at No 17 Linom Grove, Bedford Road, Clapham, London, on the 2nd inst., aged 75 years."
George Loy Smith mentions him in his "Memoirs" (published in 1987 under the title of "A Victorian R.S.M."):
"The time was soon after the arrival back in England from India in June of 1838: I now belonged to "A" Troop, William Ennis being the troop sergeant-major. He afterwards became Adjutant and received his captaincy during the Crimean campaign; he was always a great friend to me, doing me a good turn whenever he had the opportunity. I often went to see him many years after we had both left the service, and followed him to his grave in December 1882 when he died in his 75th year."
When his will was proved in March of 1883, it showed that he was "Formerly of No. 10 Old Gloucester Terrace, Old Brompton, Middlesex," and having left a personal estate of £3,782/18/1d.
His will was made on the 6th of July 1869, and in it he bequeathed:
"My Waterloo medal [sic] Indian medal, my two Crimean medals and the silver watch which belonged to my father, to my wife, and after her decease I bequeath the same to such grandchild of mine as shall first attain the age of 21 years".
He only mentioned his son William in the respect of "that any money left over after my wife's decease shall be used for the education and benefit of one or more grand-children, he then being accountable for its distribution."
He also left the sum of £400 in trust for his sister, Jane Ennis, the interest to be paid to her "until her decease, or at marriage.".
(If the Waterloo medal mentioned can be presumed to have been his father's, a check of the medal roll for the 12th Lancers does not show his name as being so entitled.)
He was buried in Grave No 89932 Section D. in Brompton Cemetery, following a service held in Clapham Parish Church.
The erected tombstone (of granite, with a raised centre and surrounded by low iron railings) bears the following inscriptions:
On one side: "In affectionate remembrance of Captain William Ennis, late 11th Hussars, who died 2nd of December 1882, aged 75."
At the base: "In affectionate remembrance of Jane Ennis (his sister) who died 13th of August 1877, aged 65.".
The other side: "Also Elizabeth, wife of Captain W. Ennis, who died 24 November 1886, aged 69. 'Her end was peace.'"
Further information
Death registered
Elizabeth Ennis [wife], aged 69, December Quarter 1886, Lambeth.
1891 Census
34, Belle Vue Road, All Saints, Southampton.
Alice Ennis, widow, 45, living on own means, born Southampton.
Kathleen Ennis, 19, Nora F Ennis, 11.
One servant is also shown.
Deaths registered
Alice Ennis [daughter-in-law], aged 45, June Quarter 1892, Southampton.
Kathleen Mary Ennis [grandson], aged 28, September Quarter 1900, Edmonton.
Marriage registered
Nora Fannie Ennis [granddaughter] married Edgar Alfred Stevens, June Quarter 1910, Bath.
1911 Census
Wyndham House, Easton in Gordano.
Edgar Alfred Stevens, 33, Commission Agent, drapery, born Bristol.
Nora Fannie Stevens [granddaughter], 31, Southampton.
Ronald Arthur Stevens, 5, Bristol.
Basil Ennis Stevens, 3 months, Easton.
Two servants are also shown.
Notes
In 1901, Edgar Stevens was unmarried and living with parents as a Wholesale Draper's Assistant. His first marriage was in the September Quarter 1904, Bristol. Ronald Arthur Stevens was born in the March Quarter 1906, Bristol. Edgar's second marriage is as above, Basil being a product of the second marriage.
Deaths registered
Charles F Ennis [grandson], aged 70, June Quarter 1937, Wandsworth.
Arthur F Ennis [grandson], aged 72, September Quarter 1941, Brentford.
William J.B.Ennis [granson], aged 82, June Quarter 1948, Bristol.
Nora F Stevens [granddaughter], aged 83, June Quarter 1963, Bristol.
