William Samuel Price II and Margaret Elander
William’s new wife was Margaret Elander, who had been born on 21st February 1822 in Seroor, a town about 40 miles North-East of Poona. This means that she was only about 15 years of age at the time of the marriage.
The Elander Ancestry
A John George Elander was born in Mhow, near Indore in 1825. As William Samuel Price II and his second wife, Margaret Elander, named two short-lived sons George, in 1841 and 1846, John George may have been Margaret’s younger brother. The records only give his mother’s name as Elizabeth and his father’s name as ‘Elander’. Earlier, George Elander married Elizabeth Sanks in the Bombay Presidency in 1816. These may have been the parents of John George and Margaret, and this ‘George’ connection reinforces the case for the use of the name for two of William Samuel Price II’s children.
Elander is a name of Swedish origin and occurs very infrequently in the English censuses.
They had their first child together on 4th September 1837, a daughter born in Poona and she was named Mary Ann Price. A son, born in Bombay on 23rd June 1839 followed and he was named after William Samuel Price II’s last step-father as James Cattrall Price.
During the period 1839 to 1842, William Samuel Price II appears in the Bombay Almanac, listed amongst the European inhabitants as ‘Mamlutar of Indiapore’. This rather grand title was that of the chief Civil Officer in charge of a Talook, or sub-division of an administrative district. Whilst working in Indore, his wife, Margaret, gave birth to a son, who was named George Price. The name George does not appear anywhere in the Price family to date, so may have come from the Elander side. Unfortunately, the boy died on 9th September 1841 only 3 days after his birth. His short life is recorded in the Bombay Almanac and his father’s job title is given as Acting Superintendent of the Revenue Survey.
Another son was born after just a year, on 26th December 1842, this time back in Poona. He was named Robert Locke Price, the ‘Locke’ from William Samuel Price II’s first step-father. The name ‘Robert’ was perhaps thought more appropriate than ‘Noah’ and may well be taken from Mary Dodds presumed father Robert Dodds – William Samuel Price II’s maternal grandfather.
Margaret Price was to give birth to two more children in Poona – Margaret Louisa Price on 10th October 1844 and another George Price on 15th July 1846. Although the daughter thrived, George again proved to be an unlucky name for this son died after only one day. There may also have been complications following George’s birth, as Margaret herself died a month after her confinement, on 19th August 1846. Her death left William Samuel Price II with five children aged from 1 to 13 years old. Although he would have had servants to look after the children whilst he was on his travels as part of his job, he urgently need another wife to take proper care of his offspring. He found her in about 1847, although the date of his third marriage is unknown. She was Charlotte Eleanor Mabbott.