Biography of William Watkin

William Watkin, Bruce’s paternal grandfather, was born in Ludworth, England, a coal mining community near Durham, in 1888. He died in Canton, Ohio in 1964 at the age of 75.

William was one of seven children born to Mary Jane Watkin nee Wright and Robert William Watkin. William's father was a coal miner, and William and his brothers all worked in the coal mines.

At age 22 William married Martha Warburton. One year later their son Robert Randolph Watkin was born.

Although we have no documents supporting this, William apparently served in World War I. After coming home, he contracted the flu during 1918/19 pandemic. He survived, although while nursing him, Martha thought that he was so sick that he would die.

In 1922, William, Martha, and Robert left England, travelling from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then to the mining town of Joggins. They spent four months in Joggins, before moving to the US, and settling in Canton, Ohio.

After William and Martha’s divorce in 1933, William married Beatrice Buchanan. William and Beatrice’s son William was born in 1934. He and his wife Joyce had three sons: Bruce, Geoff, and Stephen.