William Samuel Price met Louisa Harris, in London, at some unknown place and time, and a long-term relationship developed. Louisa gave birth to a daughter in October 1866, only two years after the Price family arrived in Greenwich from India. He acknowledged that he was the father of this child, who was named Agnes Price, and his own name appeared on the Birth Certificate. The affair with Louisa Harris continued, and lasted for at least 16 years, until William Samuel Price’s sudden death in 1882. He may have been dissatisfied with his home life with Charlotte or was, perhaps, just looking for a distraction? William and Louisa went on to have no less than eight illegitimate children between 1866 and 1878. He registered the births of the first four under the surname of Price and the last four under the surname of Locke. Louisa Rosina Price was born at 6 Rodney Street, Pentonville, in 1868, and by 1871 his second family had settled into a house in Bermondsey. He perhaps chose this location as it was close to Bermondsey and London Bridge railway stations, which were on a direct line back to his family home in Greenwich. On the night of the 1871 census, William completed the census form for his second family, naming himself as William Locke, head of the household, married to Louisa, and his occupation was ‘Commercial Clerk’. There were three daughters recorded – Agnes, Louisa and Florence. He claimed he was 40 years of age and had been born in Jamaica. Louisa was said to be aged 30 and born in St Austell, Cornwall. Their address was 12 Park Terrace, Camilla Road, Bermondsey. He then went home to Charlotte and complete a second census form for his legitimate family. Seven weeks after this census, Louisa gave birth to a son, who was named partly after his father – William Edwin Price. Unfortunately, this child died less than six months later and his death was registered as William Edwin Locke. The surname Locke was used by this family from now on. William Samuel Price’s father had died shortly before he was born in India in 1812 and soon afterwards his mother remarried and he had a step-father, Noah Locke. He would have been known as William Locke for at least the first 12 years of his life in India; his step-father died when he was eleven and his mother then married for a third time when he was twelve. After the birth of a fourth daughter, Aline Blanche Locke, in 1873, the family was moved to Bexleyheath, Kent, where Ernest Christopher Roland Locke and his brother William Sidney Locke were born in 1875 and 1876 respectively. The new home was at 3 Oak Villas, Church Road. This town was growing in size but agriculture and market gardening was the main industry at this time. Getting between Bexleyheath and Greenwich would not have been a straightforward train journey for William Samuel Price. The family was moved again, to Erith, before the birth of another daughter, Clara Elizabeth Margaret, in 1878. From here, a one-hour train journey was possible to Greenwich. Finally, he moved the family again, to Blackheath, where they were for the 1881 census, at 15 Orchard Hill, Greenwich. This was less than two miles from the Price family home, which was now at 4 Mayfield Terrace, Hervey Road, Greenwich. It was from Orchard Hill, that William Samuel Price left on the morning of 25th March 1882, to walk back to his family home. He collapsed and died of heart failure whilst walking up Blackheath Hill. Louisa Locke died in Lewisham Workhouse, of bronchitis and asthma, on 31st July 1889, aged 42. She was recorded as the 'widow of William Samuel Locke, Teacher of Languages'. Her daughter, Agnes, gave the information to the Registrar and had been present at her mother's death. Louisa was buried in Lewisham on 6th August, probably in an unmarked grave. Details of the lives of each of the illegitimate children are given in separate sections. In different records the surnames of these children are shown at various times as 'Price', 'Locke' or 'Harris', but exhaustive research has found that the same person is being referred to under these name variations.
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