The Family of William and Mary (Boocock) Tuson: Census Returns

William Boocock was listed in the 1871 Census as a 4 year old boy living with his parents, but I can not find him in the 1881 Census, when he would have been about 14. He is not listed with his widowed mother and I haven't been able to find him living elsewhere.

It is possible that William is listed in the 1881 Census but that his surname is spelled incorrectly. I have seen examples of the family's surname being spelled Bocock, Bowcock, and Babcock, but I imagine that, with literacy being what it was then, the possibilities are endless. I did find a William BULCOCK in the 1881 Census, shown below, that could actually be William Boocock:

1881 CENSUS OF AIGHTON, CLITHEROE, LANCASHIRE:
NAME:	RELATION:	CONDITION:	SEX:	AGE:	OCCUPATION:	BIRTHPLACE:
William Bulcock	Servant	Unmarried	M	14	General Servant (Domestic)	Preston, Lancashire

NOTE:
1:	Living and working at Stonyhurst College, Aighton, Clitheroe, Lancashire. (RG12-4170 folio 99, page 1)
2:	The above information is taken from a copy of the Census on microfiche at the Lancashire Archives.

Sometime before December 1885, for reasons we may never understand, William changed his surname to Tuson and it was under that name that he joined the British Army on 3 December 1885. By 1891 he was a Lance Corporal in the Royal Army Medical Corps:

1891 CENSUS OF WHITTINGTON, LICHFIELD, STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND:
NAME:	RELATION:	CONDITION:	SEX:	AGE:	OCCUPATION:	BIRTHPLACE:
William Tuson	Soldier	Unmarried	M	24	Lance Corporal, Medical Staff	Preston, Lancashire

NOTES:
1:	Living at Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire. (RG12-2214, folio 169, page 33)
2:	Whittington Barracks included training facilities for the Army's medical services.
3:	The above information is taken from an image of the original schedule on-line at www.ancestry.co.uk.

After 1891 William was stationed in Ireland, where he met his wife, and where his first two children were born. From February 1896 to June 1903 William was stationed in Gibraltar - so was there in 1901. Unlike England, no detailed census was taken in Gibraltar in 1901.

William, at his own request, and after over 22 years in the Army, was discharged on New Year's Eve 1907 and by 1911 he was living with wife and youngest son in Surrey, England:

1911 CENSUS OF HEATH END, FARNHAM, SURREY, ENGLAND:
NAME:	RELATION:	CONDITION:	SEX:	AGE:	OCCUPATION:	BIRTHPLACE:
William Tuson	Head	Married	M	44	Army Pensioner, Clerk	Preston, Lancashire
Mary Tuson	Wife	Married	F	41	-	Philipstown, Ireland
Richard S Tuson	Son	Unmarried	M	4	-	Headley, Hampshire

NOTES:
1:	Living at Woodland Cottage, Heath End, Farnham, Surrey.
2:	Mary is recorded as being the mother of 3 children - all living.
3:	Mary's full place of birth was Philipstown (now Daingean), King's County (now County Offaly), Ireland.
4:	Richard's full name was recorded as 'Richard Stanislaus Tuson'.
5:	The above information is taken from an image of the original schedule on-line at www.findmypast.co.uk.

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