William Rogers (1783-1866) & Richard Rogers (1829-1901). Licensees of the King’s Arms PH, Martham

William Rogers was born in about 1783 at Horsham St Faith north of Norwich where he was also baptised on 12th January that year.  On 1st December 1825 he married Elizabeth Read the daughter of Edward Read & Mary, nee Benstead at St Mary the Virgin, Martham.
William & Elizabeth had a son called Richard in 1829 and he would go on to become the licensee of the King’s Arms following his father – see below.

King’s Arms, Martham c1896

William was the licensee of the King’s Arms between 1836–1858 which was confirmed by the 1841 & 1851 census returns when he was also a wheelwright. He was also recorded as being the landlord of the pub in business directories for the years 1836, 1845, 1846 and 1850.

Elizabeth died on 16th July 1850 and her gravestone is at St Mary’s section G plot E7. William died on 17th December 1866 and his grave is next to Elizabeth’s at section G, plot E6.

Elizabeth’s gravestone at St Mary’s section G, plot E7
William’s gravestone at St Mary’s section G, plot E6
Graveyard section 'G'
St Mary the Virgin, graveyard section ‘G’

Richard Rogers (1829-1901)

Richard was born in 1829 in Martham and baptised at St Mary’s on 7th June that year. His father became the licensee of the King’s Arms in 1836 where the family lived so young Richard grew up there from aged about seven. This is reflected in the 1841 census when he was 11 and recorded as living there with his parents.

He had an interesting excursion when he was 21, in 1851, and lived in London with the highly successful William Garnham and family who were silk drapers of Itteringham and Martham. Richard was an assistant draper but this seems to have been a short-term career.

On 14th October 1857, when he was 28, Richard married Agnes Simpson Fairhead, the daughter of William Fairhead and Ann, nee Smith. The wedding was at St Mary’s.  A year later Richard took over as licensee of the King’s Arms and he remained as the landlord until 1877.   In 1861 and 1871 he was also a census numerator for part of the village. Richard & Agnes had the following children who were all born in Martham quite probably at the Inn:

  1. Thomas Sherrard Rogers was born on 2nd July 1858. He married Frances Frankland Watson from Martham in 1895. He died on 23rd January 1934 in Hertfordshire.
  2. William Rogers was born on 27th September 1859. He married Alexandra Wilhelmina Whittington in Islington in 1894 and died there in 1926.
  3. Annie Agnes Rogers was born on 25th May 1861 and died, aged 3, on 26th April 1864. She has a gravestone at St Mary’s section G, plot E8.
  4. Richard Walter Rogers was born on 13th October 1862. Emigrated to Canada in 1883 and died at  Wentworth, Ontario, Canada on 16th September 1935.
  5. Lewis Harry Rogers was born on 23rd February 1864 and died, aged 2, in 1866. He has a gravestone at St Mary’s section G, plot E9.
  6. Annie Agnes Rogers was born on 8th July 1865. She married Robert Bowles on 19th May 1884 at St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth. They emigrated to Canada in 1910 where she died on 30th July 1948 in Ontario. .
  7. Agnes Elizabeth Rogers was born on 27th October 1866. She emigrated to Canada in 1882 and died in Ontario in 1950. She has a gravestone there.
  8. Lewis Thomas Rogers was born on 22nd March 1868. He emigrated to Colorado, USA and died at Denver, USA on 5th February 1940.
  9. Elizabeth Ann Rogers was born on 7th December 1869. She emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1882 where she married James Buchanan Jardine. She died at Wentworth, Ontario sometime after 1940 when her husband died.
  10. Ida Rogers was born on 7th May 1871 and sadly died at birth. The death of Ida was a double tragedy as her mother, Agnes, also died within a week. The gravestone of Ida and her mother is shown below.
Annie, section G, plotE8. Lewis, section G, plot E9.
Agnes’ grave Saint Matthew-on-the-Plains Anglican Cemetery, Ontario, Canada.
Ida & her mother Agnes’ grave at section G, plot E5

Soon after the death of Agnes, Richard married her sister Elizabeth Charlotte Fairhead at Gorleston. They had two daughters. The first was called Dagmar and she was born on 16th August 1872  but died the year after aged one. Their second daughter was given the same name and was born in 1874 at Martham.  Sadly Elizabeth died within a few weeks of her second daughter’s birth. Later in life Dagmar emigrated to Canada and married John Grayson. She died  in 1959 in Hamilton, Ontario.

When he was 46 Roger married his third wife Anna Elizabeth Watson, the daughter of John Watson & Sarah, nee Plane, on 17th October 1875 at St Mary’s. They had the following children who were all born in Martham:

  1. Charlotte (twin of Agnes) was born on 18th January 1877 and was  baptised at St Mary’s on 11th February. Like some of his other children little Charlotte died young, when she was one.
  2. Agnes (twin of Charlotte) grew up in Martham, married Alfred Goodwin on 23rd July 1905 in Hanwell, London and they emigrated to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1910 where Agnes died in 1963.
  3. Charlotte Ida Rogers was born on 10th February 1879. She emigrated to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1904 where she married Arthur William Knights in 1911. She died in Canada in 1928.
  4. Hector (twin of Oscar) was both born on 22nd December 1880. Hector married Harriet Gifford at Bramley, Yorkshire in 1902. They emigrated to  Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1912 and then to Tacoma, Washington, USA. Harriet died in Tacoma in 1928 as did Hector in 1956.
  5. Oscar (twin of Hector) married a lady called Queenie and they lived in Hemel Hempstead and St Albans where he died on 27th December 1961.
Back row: Charlotte Ida Rogers (1879-1928), Oscar Rogers (1880 -1961), Agnes Rogers (1877-1963), Hector Rogers (1880-1956). Seated: Anna Elizabeth, nee Watson (1839-1923) 3rd husband of Richard Rogers (1829-1901).
Photo courtesy of Sarah Smith an ancestor of Henry Ruffell, the first husband of Anna Elizabeth Watson.
Standing at rear: Harriet Rogers, nee Gifford & her husband Hector Rogers. Front L to R. Son Arthur; Hector’s’ mum Anna Elizabeth Rogers, nee Watson; Cecil Rogers (brother of Arthur). Taken at Moose Jaw, Canada.
Photo courtesy of Sarah Smith an ancestor of Henry Ruffell, the first husband of Anna Elizabeth Watson.

By 1891 Richard & Anna only had Agnes (b1877), Hector & Oscar living at home and they had moved to  a property south of The Green where Anna ran what they called ‘The Refreshment Rooms’ and Richard was an Assistant Overseer for the Poor and Collector of Taxes.   

The events of his life seemed to take another turn by 1901 when Richard was listed as living at Damgate as a lodger with, oddly, his wife Anna described as the head of household. Both were listed as married but apparently he was only a lodger! He was still an Assistant Overseer and she was a self-employed fruit grower and lodging housekeeper. He died shortly after this census was taken in May 1901 and was buried at an unknown grave at St Mary’s on 21st of that month.

Ten years later, Anna, took the plunge and at the age of 72 also emigrated to Canada where she lived firstly with her son Hector and then with her daughter Charlotte Ida at Moose Jaw City, Saskatchewan. She died there in 1923 aged 85.

In summary Richard had seventeen known children. 5 died under aged three in Martham; 9 emigrated to Ontario, Canada and one then moved on to Tacoma, Washington USA. The remaining three adults died in England but none in Norfolk.

Moose Jaw is a city in southern Saskatchewan, Canada.  Locals tell the story of the city’s early Chinese immigrants and rumours of an Al Capone connection at the underground tunnels of Moose Jaw. A huge sculpture, Mac the Moose, stands by the Trans-Canada Highway. Colourful murals showing scenes from the city’s history adorn buildings downtown. The Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village & Museum contains a prairie-built ship.

Mac the Moose at Moose Jaw

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