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Edmund (2) Woodhurst was born to parents Andrew (3) Woodus and his wife Susannah. He was christened at Fairlight on April 9th 1786 with his surname spelled as Woodus [Fairlight Parish Register].
He married at Icklesham (about two miles north of Pett) on April 30th 1822 to a spinster Elizabeth Wimble [Icklesham Parish Register] who was christened on October 26th 1802 [descendant's report]. Elizabeth was born in Icklesham. Like his brother James (1), Edmund (2) adopted the Woodhurst surname in his adult life.
In October 1829 he was convicted in Sussex of larceny and was sentenced to transportation for 7 years [National Archives: Class HO27; Piece 38 Page 284].
In January 1831 his wife, then living in Hastings All Saints, was the subject of a settlement examination [ESRO: dhbc/DH/B/92/1/299].
In November 1831 his wife and son Charles (1) were ordered to be removed from Hastings All Saints to Hastings St Mary [ESRO: PAR369/32/3/40].
The 1841 Census finds Edmund (2) living with Elizabeth and their four surviving children at Guestling Road in Ore where he was occupied as an agricultural labourer.
He fell foul of the law in 1843, as indicated by the following record [Hastings Gaol Records 1842-1849, Society of Genealogists]:
July 1843 Woodhurst, Edmund 58 Ore imperfect larcency for trial at sessions. In Hastings gaol. Convicted and sentenced to 12 calendar months at Lewes and kept to hard labour except the last week of every alternative month which was passed in solitary confinement.
He died in 1849 following an accident. His death certificate [Death Index: Hastings 7 305, 1849 (Dec)] describes him as a labourer and states that he died at Ore on October 15th 1849 aged 63 from dislocation of the neck resulting from an accidental fall from a cart. The informant was Nathaniel P. Kell, the Coroner at Battle. The Coroner's inquest was reported (probably in a Hastings newspaper in the week October 23-30 1849) as follows:
ORE. - FATAL ACCIDENT. - An inquest was held on Tuesday last, at the Hare and Hounds Inn, by N.P. Kell, Esq., coroner for the Rape* of Hastings, on the body of Edmund Woodhurst, a carrier. It appeared that on the previous day Stephen Wollett went to the stable of deceased's son, to order coals. Deceased was loading the cart; he had placed some ashes in front, and was preparing to get out at the foreside of the cart, when his hand slipped from the cart rail, and he fell to the ground on his head. He was immediately lifted up by Woollett [sic], and his son went for assistance, but after giving some deep sighs he expired. - Verdict, "Accidental Death."
* Sussex was at that time divided into six regions known as Rapes.
The 1851 Census finds Edmund (2)'s widow Elizabeth and her family living at Ore Down. She was working as a laundress, living with three of her children - Harriet (1), John William (1) and Charlotte Elizabeth. Harriet (1) was still unmarried and was also a laundress, whilst John William (1) had become a carrier's labourer. Only Charlotte Elizabeth was attending school. Also in Elizabeth's household was a two-month-old boy described as her grandson who is believed to have been Harriet (1)'s illegitimate son Thomas Wimble (2) Woodhurst.
The 1861 Census finds Elizabeth at age 58 living alone at Fairlight Down in Ore and occupied as a charwoman.
The 1871 Census finds Elizabeth at age 68 living in the household of a clothier Samuel Buss at 52&53, George Street in St. Clement's, Hastings, occupied as a nurse.
The 1881 Census finds Elizabeth living alone, aged 78, at Coast Cottages, Middle Road in Ore, occupied as a nurse.
The 1891 Census finds Elizabeth at age 88 living in the household of her married daughter Charlotte Elizabeth at 5, Saxon Road, Clive Vale, situated just outside Ore and falling within Hastings All Saints parish.
Elizabeth died later in 1891, but at 4, Saxon Road. Her death certificate [Death Index: Hastings 2b 13, 1891 (Sept)] states that she died on August 9th 1891 aged 89. She is described as the widow of Edmund (2) Woodhurst, a general labourer. The cause of death was jaundice, old age and general decay. The informant was her son Charles (1) Woodhurst of Shaftesbury House, Middle Road, Ore.
Edmund (3) was probably Elizabeth's first child by Edmund (2), born illegitimately around late 1821 before they had married. He was buried as "Edmond" aged "18 months" at St. Clement's, Hastings on April 7th 1823 [St. Clements Parish Register].
David Nicholas appears to have been born illegitimately to Elizabeth. He was christened as David Nicholas "Woodhurst" at St. Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings on June 13th 1834 and buried on August 13th 1835 [descendant's report]. His name explains why Elizabeth's daughter Harriet (1) named one of her own sons David Nicholas.