Sidney Mallett Webster

Sidney Mallett Webster was born on 23 January 1882 at Bethnal Green, Hackney, Middlesex, England. He was the fourth born (third son) of William James Webster (1853-1928) and Elizabeth Amelia Aburn (1853-1938). His parents married in 1874 in Whitechapel, England.

Like his four brothers, Sydney attended the Turin Street School in Bethnal Green. He was there from June 1889 until August 1894. The school opened in 1875 and closed in 1929.

On the nineteenth of October 1907 Sidney married Athelis Deborah (Bobby) Kesteven in the St Stephen's Mission Church, Putney Bridge Road, Wandsworth.

The Kestevens.

Bobby was the daughter of Dr William Henry Kesteven MRCS (4 November – 20 September 1936) and Beatrice Flint (about 1856 – 12 March 1930). Willam Henry Kesteven was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 22 July 1860. He was the author of publications including Work and worry, from a medical point of view (1884); The best and most modern methods of the examination of urine as required in medical practice (1892) and The proper method of dealing with habitual drunkards (1896). Not much is known about Beatrice Flint.

William Henry’s father was William Bedford Kesteven, FRCS, LSA, MD. See Lives of the Fellows for more information. Some of William’s descendants emigrated to America, Australia or New Zealand.

One of Boby’s sisters was Joan (born 1881). According to electoral rolls, Bobby lived with Joan for a few years after the death of her husband.

Sidney and Bobby had three children: Beatrice Athelis (1909-1978), known as Peggy; Richard Flint Mallett (1913-2008); and, after the war Douglas Robert (1919-2007).

During World War I (the Great War), Sidney served with the Honorary Artillery Company as a gunner (service number 626061) and later as a signaller (service number 282902) with the Royal Field Artillery.

Sidney died at Kester Cottage on 16 February 1940, and his ashes were interred in the Webster family grave at High Beach.

In her later life Sidney's widow, Bobby, lived at "Blue Tiles" in Birchington, Kent. The address of the property today (2012) is Daryngton Avenue, Minnis Bay. Her sister in law, Lily Southwick (nee Webster) used this as her address while travelling overseas in 1950.

References:
Ancestry.com. London, England, School Admissions and Discharges, 1840-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.