William Samuel Price II and Sarah Mullen

The first definite record of William Samuel Price II in later life is his marriage to Sarah Wilson, a widow, in Poona on 19th December 1831. She was born Sarah Mullen in Tellicherry, on the South-West coast in the Madras Presidency in 1805, but her ancestry is unknown. At this time, William was recorded as being an Assistant Surveyor. The couple lived in Poona and it was here that their first child was born on 4th October 1832. This son was baptised on 19th October in Poona and called after his father, William Samuel. He is known in the family as William Samuel Price junior, or more commonly, William Samuel Price III. Photographs of him and some of his sons seem to indicate some oriental features. As his father was born of British stock on both sides, the only possible origin of these genes would be his mother, Sarah. It is therefore a possibility that she was an Anglo-Indian of mixed parentage.

The marriage to Sarah came to a sudden end on 25th March 1834, when she died from a premature confinement. Her child, a boy, did not survive the pregnancy. She was only 28 years of age and was buried in Poona. From this time William Samuel Price II’s mother Mary moved in to take care of her grandson, William Samuel Price III, then aged 16 months. This arrangement continued until William Samuel Price II found a new wife in around 1836; the date of this marriage has not been found.

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