About Sergeant Jowett

Sergeant William Jowett was born on January 9th 1830 in the village of Breaston near Derby, the son of Enoch Jowett. William had six sisters, the youngest of whom married my great great grandfather Edward Bywater at Beeston Parish Church, Notts, on Christmas day 1859 (information kindly provided by David Hallam).

Growing Up during the 1960s, my late father told me the story of William Jowett who had fought and died during the Crimean war. What was unusual for someone of Sergeant Jowett's social standing at that time was that he had been able to read and write, keeping a diary of his experiences from when he left home in Beeston in December 1846, to go to London to seek work. Keeping the diary must have been quite an achievement in itself when you read his account of the conditions in which he lived and fought.