William Giles Family of Southwark, London

William Giles (1743-1825) married Martha Covell on 30 December 1773.

1. William Giles, Jr. was born on 19 May 1776 and registered at Dr Williams's Library on 27 May 1778.

2. Martha Giles was born on 3 April 1778 and registered at Dr Williams's Library  on 27 May 1778. [See the entry below on the Palmer Family.]

3. Thomas Giles was born on 15 April 1785.

4. Edward Giles was born 27 February 1788.

5. Mary Giles never married.

I. William Giles, Jr., married Sarah Palmer on 7 December 1799 at St. Mary Newington, Southwark. He was buried at Greenwich Road Chapel Cemetery on 25 October 1851; she was buried at Thanet, Kent, in 1859.  He remained a Baptist after his removal to Greenwich. He was a contributor of books to the Baptist Mission House in 1830 (Baptist Magazine and Missionary Herald, 1830, p. 356). He also collected a box of contributions (9£7s) for the BMS in May 1837 (Baptist Magazine and Missionary Herald, 280). Joseph Belcher was minister at the Bunyan Chapel, 6 Union Place, Lewisham Road, near Blackheath Hill, Greenwich, which opened in 1835. William Belsher was minister at Greenwich (first at London Street) at the same time, having previously been at Burton (Henrietta) Street. His wife died in 1837. Belcher was one of the Secretaries of the Baptist Union that year. The first Baptist cause on London Street was led by Mark Ball from 1805 to 1823 (he hired out the old Hugeunot chapel), and he was followed by Belsher in 1827, who moved the church to Bridge Street. He remained until 1842.  

1. 1. William Giles was born 10 Sep 1800 in Newington St Mary, Surrey, England, in Crosby Row. He was entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814 (the Giles's children are numbers 1725 through 1734). He remained at home with his parents during their time in Surrey Square (1803-08) and in Greenwich (1808-late 1830s) before marrying Mary Ashbury sometime in the early 1820s. They had one child, William Ashbury Giles (b. 16 June 1825). After her death, he and his son returned home and were living with his parents in Cecil Square, Isle of Thanet, Kent, at the time of the 1841 census, along with his three unmarried sisters, Sarah, Martha, and Mary. He married a second time to Ellen Gray, a Sandemanian, in January 1846. They eventually returned to London and had seven children, all of whom were living at 36 St Paul’s Terrace, Highbury, Islington, at the time of William's death in 1861. 

1. 2. Christopher Giles, 26 March 1802, in Surrey Square. He was entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814.

1. 3. Edward Giles, 11 September 1803, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814. Death date unknown.

1. 4. Nathaniel Palmer Giles, 24 September 1804, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814. He was named after his uncle, Nathaniel Palmer (1774-1840), who had previously owned the house in Surrey Square where the Giles's lived in 1804. He died in 1870 at Deptford. 

1. 5.  Samuel Giles, 24 December 1805, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814. He died in 1873, living at that time in Greenwich.

1. 6. Sarah Giles, 19 December 1807, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814, born at Surrey Square.  She died in her youth (prior to 1816).

1. 7.  John Giles, 4 March 1809, entered at DWL on 25 March 1814 (died as a child), born now in the Giles's home along Queen Elizabeth Row, Greenwich. 

1. 8. John Giles, 18 November 1810, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814, Greenwich. He became a close friend and companion to his cousin, the artist Samuel Palmer (1805-81). John Giles ever married and became an Anglican, like Palmer. He was living in Nicholas Lane in 1841, and at 81 King William Street in the 1851 census. In the 1861 census he was at Great Yarmouth, and in the 1871 census he was 29 Albion Street, Paddington. 

1. 9. Harold Giles, 20 May 1812, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814, with Mary Palmer, his aunt, as witness. She was probably living with her sister by this time. He was buried on 4 February 1813 at the Greenwich Road Chapel Cemetery, no officiator.

1. 10. Harold Giles, 28 August 1813, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 25 March 1814, Mary Palmer as witness.

1. 11. Albert Giles, 1 August 1814, entered at Dr Williams's Library on October 7, 1814 (no. 2224), Elizabeth Stothard as witness. He was buried on 26 July 1815 in the Congregational Cemetery in Greenwich, next to his brother Harold. No officiating minister is named.

1. 12. Sarah Palmer Giles, 21 March 1816, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 7 February 1821 (no. 574), with Elizabeth Stothard as witness. She was still unmarried and living with her parents at Cecil Square, Isle of Thanet, Kent, at the time of the 1841 census.

1. 13. Martha Giles, 11 April 1817, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 7 February 1821 (no. 575), with Stothard as witness.  [Thus, Sarah Giles was pregnant at the same time as Martha Palmer once again, just as in 1805. In March 1814, however, Martha remained at Houndsditch, though both were pregnant again at the same time.] She was still unmarried and living with her parents at Cecil Square, Isle of Thanet, Kent, at the time of the 1841 census.

1. 14. Albert Giles, 11 July 1818, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 7 February 1821 (no. 576), witness is Stothard. He married Jane Gray in 1842 and at some point in the 1850s lived in Islington next door to his older brother, William. Jane Gray was the sister of Ellen Gray, the wife of William Giles and, like her sister, was a Sandemanian. These two sisters were daughters of Adam Greenlaw Gray of Edinburgh, and nieces of Michael Faraday. Albert joined the London congregation on 19 May 1839, was excluded for denying the Sabbath on 21 July 1839 but restored on 20 June 1847 (later excluded on 24 August 1851). His wife, Jane Gray, joined on 25 October 1835, was excluded on 31 March 1844 and restored 28 July 1844. 

1. 15. Felix Giles, 16 September 1819, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 7 February 1821 (no. 577), witness is Stothard.

1. 16. Mary Giles, 11 June 1821, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 12 June 1830 (no. 1390), witness is Louisa Haycraft, wife of Joseph Searle Harcraft, timber merchant (filed on 21 September 1830). She was still unmarried and living with her parents at Cecil Square, Isle of Thanet, Kent, at the time of the 1841 census.

1. 17. Joanna Giles, 27 November 1822, entered at Dr Williams's Library on 12 June 1830 (no. 1391), witness is the nurse and surgeon (filed on 21 September 1830).