One of the many research rabbit holes I’ve been down was while I was exploring a connection by marriage I found with a friend. The link between us a collateral one, several generations back.

A family connection

Matilda Amelia Steed is my 1st cousin 5 times removed, the niece of my 4x great-grandparents George Steed and Elizabeth Steed nee Fieldhouse.

When she was 25, Matilda married William Felix Lebrun Sadd, commonly known as William Robinson. William was a widower in his late thirties with a thirteen-year-old son named Felix. It’s through Felix’s descendants that I’m connected to my friend.

William’s first wife was Susannah Richold, daughter of Aaron Richold and Amelia Jay. They married in 1838, had their son Felix and an unnamed daughter who died as a baby, and then Susannah died in 1845.

Matilda was related to Susannah. In fact she was Susannah’s niece, the daughter of Susannah’s younger sister Mary Richold and her husband Robert Steed, who was my 4x great-grandfather’s younger brother.

After their marriage, Matilda and William Sadd/Robinson had a child together. A son named William, who was born in September 1854. Sadly Matilda died at age 29, leaving William Sadd/Robinson senior with two sons.

I knew what happened to the older son, Felix, because of his connection to my friend, but was curious about the second son, William junior who I’m related to.

What the census told me

William junior’s birth was recorded as William Robert Sadd, using his father’s original surname, but he was later documented as William Robert Robinson or William Robert Sadd Robinson. Those variations in name made things a little complicated.

The census was really helpful in untangling some of William junior’s life. It also led to an unexpected piece of information.

The first thing the census told me was that William Robert Sadd Robinson didn’t grow up in London with his father. He spent most of his life with relatives in Suffolk, probably being sent to live with them after his mother’s death before his first birthday.

In 1861 when he was 7 years old, he’s recorded as a scholar in the household of his uncle Joshua G Steed at Hall Street, Long Melford. Also there at the time were his grandmother Mary Steed, and two of her other grandchildren, Amelia Jay Richold and James Richold.

In 1871 William was still at Hall Street, Long Melford with his grandmother Mary Steed. He was 17 and still at school.

However, ten years later in 1881, the census suggests there’s been a significant change in William’s life. He’s 276 years old and living at East Hall Street with his aunt, Amelia Jay Coates nee Richold and her husband William Thomas Coates, known as Thomas. William is recorded as a boarder with no occupation and described as an ‘imbecile’. That was a sudden change and perhaps he’d been in an accident, or had a serious illness.

I’ve not yet found William in the 1891 census, but in 1901 he’s still living with Thomas and Amelia Coates, although by then they’d moved to 20 Hall Street. William still has no occupation and is described this time as ‘feeble minded’.

What actually happened to William? I can only guess. In 1905, just four years after that census, William died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 50. Official records again described him as an ‘imbecile’. The informant of his death was his cousin Amelia’s husband Thomas Coates, and the registrar was a Samuel Richold, who may have also been related to him.

If you’ve got any other information about William Robert Sadd/Robinson, let me know!

Selected references

Census record for William R Robinson, aged 7, Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk, 1861 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 8 February 2026.

Census record for William R S Robinson, aged 17, Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk, 1871 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 8 February 2026.

Census record for William Robt Sadd Robinson, aged 26, East Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk, 1881 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 8 February 2026.

Census record for William Robert S Robinson, aged 50, Hall Street, Long Melford, Suffolk, 1901 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com, accessed 8 February 2026.

Birth registration of William Robert Sadd, born 7 September 1854, Whitechapel, General Record Office, D Quarter, Volume 01C, Page 342.

Death registration of William Robert Sadd Robinson, died 13 April 1905, Sudbury, General Record Office, J Quarter, Volume 04A, Page 417.