William's Early Years

William Fowler's father's name was John Fowler. John was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England on the 6th of April 1798. When John Fowler was about twenty-one years of age he joined the British Army. He first enlisted for unlimited service on 15 April 1819 in the 82nd regiment. He soon transferred to the 63rd regiment and marched to Ireland. As a soldier he helped to keep the peace during the troubled times there.
While in Ireland, he met and married Bridget Hall .They were married on the 18th of June 1822. Their first child, James, was born in March of 1823 in Dublin, Ireland. Their second child, John, was born in 1826 also in Ireland.
The family 'followed the drum.' That is, they traveled wherever John's regiment was sent. On the 2nd of April 1826 they landed in Chatham, Kent, England. Two years later their third child Charles "Henry" was born on 7 April 1828 in Dover, Kent, England. He would be christened on the 13th of April 1828.
On 10 June 1828 John Fowler Sr. and his family embarked with his regiment to Australia. John and his family left the ship with part of the regiment at Sydney, Australia. While there, the soldiers would help to guard convicts that had been sent to the prison colony. The rest of the regiment went on to land at Hobart, Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in November.
John was stationed in Sydney at least from November 1828 to May 1830, because William was born in a suburb of Sydney called Auburn (Auborn) on 9 May 1830. The family then moved to Tasmania where their fifth son, George, was born on 9 Nov 1831 in New Norfolk, Tasmania. He was christened a few weeks later on 21 Nov 1831. The family continued living in Tasmania for about 2 more years.
When William was three and a half years of age, about Dec 1833, the army division was moved to East India. While there their oldest son, James, died of sunstroke . Their first daughter, Ann, was born 1 April 1834 and christened on the 30th in Madras, East Indies (India). Sadly she died on the 27th of May of that year when she was nearly two months old. The next year, their seventh child, Phillip, was born on 1 Nov 1835. Phillip also died early. He lived for nine months before passing away on 30 July 1836. Their eighth and last child, Hanna Marie, was born 25 Jun 1838 and christened on 4 July of that year in Moulmein, East Indies (Burma) .
John's health declined while serving in the East Indies. He was several times hospitalized for different problems. Including 'Inflammation of the Liver,' 'Inflammation of the Eye,' and 'Congestion of the Chest--with a bad cough.' He was finally shipped back to England in June 1839 for a medical evaluation. There he was discharged honorably from the army on 26 June 1839. A note made at the time said that his eye looked very bad. John had served in the British Army for 20 years.
John and Bridget returned to England with only five of their eight children. John was 13 years old, Henry Charles was ten, William was nine, George was seven, and baby Hanna.
The family settled on High Street in John's native home of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England where John found work as a woodturner, an occupation he had before joining the army . Woodturning is a form of woodworking that is used to create wooden objects on a lathe. These objects could include, bowls, platters, cutting-boards, chessmen, chair legs or any number of items (Wikipedia).
Sheffield was a booming industry town. From a population of 35,000 in 1801, the population quadrupled to 135,000 by 1851. Sheffield was built on seven hills and had rivers running through it supplying power to waterwheels. Nearby quarries provided minerals and supplies for industry. Though most towns at the time were known as being dirty, because of it's industry Sheffield was especially grimy (Lambert, Sheffield).
The family had been back in England for two years when, on 26 May 1841 John died of consumption (Tuberculosis) . That same year young Hanna Marie also died, being 2 or 3 years old.
After John's death, Bridget moved the family to New Street in Sheffield. Four and a half years later Bridget died of 'Cancer of the Womb'. This left the four brothers; John, Henry, William and George; orphans. William was fourteen at the time. Since boys were often apprenticed out early it is likely that all the boys had jobs and could help care for themselves. How William got on after his parents deaths is unknown, but he was likely apprenticed as a cutler as that was his occupation later. He also seems to have had a close relationship with his brothers, so they were likely near each other.