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John Cottington Woodhurst was born at Romsey in 1857 to parents Tom Woodhurst and his wife Naomi Oliver [Birth Index: Romsey 2c 59, 1857 (Dec)]. The significance of his Cottington forename is unknown.
The 1861 Census finds him at age "3" living with his parents in Romsey Extra, Hampshire.
The 1871 Census finds him at age "14" as a soldier serving with the King's Own Regiment 1st Battalion and Depot 38 Regiment in Aldershot, Hampshire. His birthplace is mistakenly given as Portsmouth.
His future wife, Blanche "Jean" Coleman, was born in Bristol in 1860 [Birth Index: Bristol 6a 5, 1860 (Dec)]. Her forenames were registered at birth as "Blanch (sic) Jane" but later sources give her middle name as Jean. The 1861 Census finds her mother Ann (or "Annie") living at 91, Redcliffe Hill in St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol and described as a seaman's wife born in Lifton, Devon. Her husband was not present and was probably away at sea. With her was a visitor Mary Titcomb. Blanche was meanwhile a visitor aged "1" in the household of a mariner Henry Titcomb in George Alley, St. Mary Redcliffe. Blanche's father apparently died in the following decade. He was probably the "Richard Coleman" who died aged "33" in Bedminster, Somerset in 1869 [Death Index: Bedminster 5c 83, 1869 (Dec)]. The 1871 Census finds Blanche living with her widowed mother and her younger sister Alice Ann at 3, Grosvenor Place in Bedminster. Alice Ann had a third forename Rodd whose significance is currently unknown [Birth Index: Bedminster 5c 812, 1864 (March)]. The 1881 Census appears to find Blanche residing as an unmarried day nurse in the Bristol City and County Lunatic Asylum in Stapleton, Gloucestershire, among many other staff and inmates. Her mother and her sister Alice Ann were meanwhile living at 23, Firfield Street in Bedminster.
Extensive searches have failed to locate John conclusively in the 1881 Census. However, he may have been the unmarried soldier John "Woolcock" then serving with the 82nd Regiment at "North Camp Aldershot" located in Farnborough, Hampshire. This John's age is given as "23" and his birthplace as Portsmouth.
John and Blanche married in 1886. Their marriage certificate [Marriage Index: Bristol 6a 121, 1886 (June)] states that they married at the Register Office in the City of Bristol on April 1st 1886. He is described as a bachelor aged 26 and occupied as a musician, and she as a spinster aged 25. They were both residing at Hillsbridge Parade in Bristol. His father Tom is described as a police constable (deceased) and hers as a master mariner (deceased) named Richard Charles Coleman. The witnesses were H. Baker, who may have been Tom's married cousin Harriet (2), and Robert Olive who was probably a clerk at the Register Office (by 1901 he was Bristol's Registrar of Marriages).
It seems probable that John's musicianship was connected with his service in the Army.
The 1891 Census finds the family living at 22, Bartholomew Street in Charlton near Dover, with John occupied as a musician and Blanche as a laundry packer. His birthplace is here given correctly as Romsey. Also present was Blanche's still-unmarried sister Alice Ann, occupied as a laundry forewoman.
Alice Ann married in 1892 to Charles Benjamin Ellis [Marriage Index: Dover 2a 1638, 1892 (Sept)].
John died in Kent aged "34" in 1894 [Death Index: Eastry 2a 493, 1894 (Sept)].
It is not yet known what became of Blanche Jean, of whom no trace has been found in the 1901 Census. She may have remarried prior to that date.
The first son is named "Relfe" Gordon in the GRO Birth Index, but some subsequent sources give his initial forename as "Rolfe". He was probably born at the Bedminster home of Blanche's mother Annie. The 1901 Census finds him at age 14 living at The Tower, Tower Hill in Dover in the household of his uncle Charles Benjamin Ellis and occupied as a general labourer. Nothing is known of him after that date. He may have emigrated with other relatives to Australia.