Identity:

At the time of the 1881 census, William Morter Wheatley (aged 43) and his wife Mary A. Wheatley (aged 44) were living at 38 Devonshire Street, London, with their ten children. The eldest sons were William R. (aged 19) and George T. Wheatley (aged 17) both gold-beaters, as was their father. William Morter Wheatley is said to have left his business as a goldbeater to his eldest son in about 1876. The son was probably William R. Wheatley. The date of the handover may, however, be incorrect.

Life:

William Morter Wheatley established St Giles' Christian Mission in a derelict chapel in Little Wild Street, Drury Lane. He founded his first home for Juvenile Offenders in 1887; 10,000 juvenile offenders passed through it. He founded an orphanage in Maldon, Essex. He was made a Freeman of the City of London, and was a Member of the Leathersellers Company, a life member of the Guild of the Freeman of the City of London, and, for 15 years, a borough councillor in Holborn.

The Wheatley who worked for JW in the 1880s was probably the eldest son, William R. Wheatley.

Bibliography:

UK census 1881, from http://www.familysearch.org (accessed 2004); Times, London, 18 February 1926, p. 16.