• Christened: 19 Jun 1831, Hellingly, Sussex, England ¹
• Married (1): 1 Jan 1856, Hellingly, Sussex, England ²
• Married (2): 14 Feb 1891, Christ Church, Eastbourne, Sussex, England ³
• Died: 1917, Hailsham, Sussex, England ⁴

  Research Notes:

William Watson son of John Gravatt of Hellingly, labourer, and Margaret (baptismal record)

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At the time of the 1851 England Census William Watson Gravett, aged 19, born in Hellingly Sussex, ag labourer, was with his father John Gravett in Dicker Mount, Hellingly.

At the time of the 1861 England Census William Gravett, aged 27, born in Hellingly, brickmaker, and wife Sarah Gravett, aged 24, born in Hellingly Sussex, were living in Hailsham Sussex. With them were children Elizabeth (4) of Hellingly, Rosena (1) of Hailsham, Edwin (1 month) of Hailsham.

At the time of the 1871 England Census William Gravett, aged 39, born in Hellingly, brickmaker, and wife Sarah Gravett, aged 34, born in Hellingly Sussex, were living in Cottage, Westham Sussex. With them were children: Elizabeth (14), scholar, Charles Henry (6) of Westham, scholar, Lilly Harriett (2) of Westham, and Anne Rebecca (1 month) of Westham.

At the time of the 1881 England Census William Gravett, aged 45, and wife Sarah Gravett, aged 40, were living in Harebeat, Hailsham Sussex. With them were grandson William Gravett (2), and children Elizabeth (24), Alpha (19), Charles (18), Lilly (13), and James (8), as well as William Gravett's mother Margaret (87), widow.

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A MAN must be something more than a fool to violently resist the authority of a legally commissioned bailiff. The officer invariably gets the best of the struggle, for, if by any chance execution be defeated or delayed, the triumphant debtor finds he has only escaped one difficulty to fall into a greater. The recent experience of Mr. William Gravett, the well-known brickmaker at Hailsham, must have taught him some painful lessons on this head. This gentleman was last week visited by Mr. Tom Mantell, county court bailiff, and politely requested to pay the balance for a warrant of execution, amounting to only six shillings. As this sum, however, represented certain costs in the case which Mr. Gravett declined to recognise, the bailiff's request was met with an emphatic and classically couched "No." Finding all attempts at friendly persuasion quite unavailing, Mr. Mantell formally levied upon a pony and cart of which Gravett was the owner and was then in charge, and proceeded to unharness the animal. This process operated upon Gravett in much the same way as a red rag is known to affect a bull, and he seems to have set upon the bailiff and his assistant in the most determined and cowardly fashion, kicking and biting with all the ferocity of a wild beast. Fortunately Mr. Mantell was equal to the occasion and repelled the onslaught with considerable vigour, and ultimately the incensed debtor was safely lodged in the police cell. Had he been wise, Mr. Gravett would have paid the 6s. and got rid of the matter when the bailiff first approached him, but the Harebeating brickmaker is notoriously a stubborn and self-sufficient mortal, and he elected to have his own way regardless of consequences. The consequences consist in his being required to pay, after all, the balance of the levy, and, what is a trifle more considerable, in his having to spend two days in the lock-up and to pay fines, amounting with the costsm to £11. 4s. 6d. for the assaults on the bailiff and his assistant. Mr. Gravett has done a good deal in his time in the way of setting the law at defiance—vide the record of fifteen previous convictions for various offences. It is high time surely he should feel the applicability of the aphorism that the game is scarcely worth the candle.

Eastbourne Chronicle, Saturday, 23 Apr 1887, p. 5

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At the time of the 1891 England Census William Gravett, aged 56, born in Hellingly Sussex, brick & tile merchant, and [2nd] wife Jane A, aged 35, born in Chatham Kent, were living in Harebeating Hailsham Sussex. With them was William's son James (17) of Hailsham, tile maker.

At the time of the 1901 England Census William Gravett, aged 68, born in Hellingly Sussex, brick merchant, and wife Jane A, aged 45, born in Chatham Kent, grocer, were living in Harebeating, Hailsham Sussex. With them were children: Charles (37) of Westham, single, brickmaker, and born in Hailsham: William (9), Daisy (7), Irene (5), Edward (3), and Margaret (10 mo).

At the time of the 1911 England Census William Watson Gravett, aged 83 [sic], born in Hellingly Sussex, brick maker, and wife of 20 years Jane Ann, aged 55, born in Chatham Kent (mother of 6 children, 1 deceased), were living in Harebeating Hailsham. With them were children (born in Hailsham): James Herbert (39), single, brick maker, Edward (13), school boy, and Margaret Victoria (11), school girl.

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William Watson Gravett died aged 86 years. ⁴