William Northcott and Emma Jane Wood

Fore Street, Cullompton with the grade II listed White Hart
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Stephen McKay - geograph.org.uk/p/5497724

William Northcott married Emma Jane Wood, daughter of Henry Wood and Mary Jane Melhuish from Kentisbeare, Devon, in 1896. Five years earlier, in 1891, William Northcott (19) Blacksmith, had been a lodger at The White Hart, Fore Street, Cullompton, but I haven't been able to find him before that. 

William and Emma's children included: 

1. Maud Wood, Emma's illegitimate daughter, born 1894 and baptised on 19 Feb 1895, when she was 14 months old, in Kentisbeare
2. William Henry Northcott born 8 Mar 1897 (not seen after 1911)
3. Arthina Northcott born 14 Oct 1898, bap. 2 Nov 1898 in Cullompton
4. Elizabeth Northcott born 1900 (died 1900 aged 0)
5. Charles John Northcott born 23 Feb 1902, bap. 23 Mar 1902
6. Albert James Northcott born 30 Aug 1903, bap. 16 Sep 1903 in Cullompton (died 1904, aged 0)
7. Florence Northcott born 25 Oct 1907, Emma's illegitimate daughter

The retreat, Cullompton
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/4955997
The neighbouring house in the row on the left, also listed, is Church Cottage.

In 1901, William Northcott (31) Blacksmith Journeyman from Branscombe, Devon (not identified relevant birth), wife Emma Jane (30) from Kentisbeare, along with Emma's daughter, Maud Wood (7), William Henry Northcott (4) and Arthenia Northcott (2) were living at Church Cottages, Cullompton.

William Northcott (33) died and was buried on 15 May 1904, in Cullompton.

Charles John Northcott was registered at Elmore School, Tiverton in 1908, with his address shown as Elmore Workhouse. In 1911, Emma Northcote (sic) (37) Widow, Laundress was living at 7 Rices Court, West Exe South, Tiverton with William (14) Errand Boy, Arthina (12), Charles (9) and Florence (3). 

Charles John Northcott (17) joined the Royal Tank Corps on 19 Aug 1919.

In 1917, Emma J Northcott had remarried to Arthur Southcott. What were the chances?

Arthur Southcott, born 30 Jul 1883, bap. 9 Aug 1883 at St Peter’s Church Tiverton, therefore 12 years younger than his wife, was the son of Frederick Southcott and Eliza Harris. 

Arthur Southcott died in 1935, in his early 50's.

In 1939, Emma J Southcott, Widowed again, was living at 7 Bartows Causeway, Tiverton with Dorothy A Evans (Arthina Northcott had married Ernest F J Evans in 1918), Laundress, and Dorothy Florence Northcott (b. 16 Nov 1916 - mother's maiden name was Northcott, so appears to be Arthina's illegitimate daughter), who worked at the Lace Factory and one other person. Emma Jane Southcott died in 1947. 

Tiverton : Bartows Causeway
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/5699381

Tom Stone and Margaret Knapman

Royal Marines' Stonehouse Barracks, Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth

And so we come to the 5th of Henry Stone and Mary Ridgeway's offspring, Tom Stone, who was born on 11 Dec 1861, in Ashbrittle, Somerset. 

In 1871, aged 9, Tom Stone was living at home with his parents and siblings in Ashbrittle. Then, aged 18, in 1880, Tom enlisted in the Royal Marines and, in 1881, aged 19, he is listed on the census as a Private R M L I - Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI) - at what was then called Stoke Damerel.

At 18, Tom was 5' 6¾", fair complexion, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His record states, "Right little finger amputated through second phalanx."

There's a record of a marriage, in the 1st quarter of 1889, between Tom Stone and Margaret Knapman. However, the British Royal Marines Marriage Registers, gives the date they married as 5 Apr 1893 and list the place of marriage as the Register Office, East Stonehouse. As there was no such thing as a Register Office (until after 1929), I would assume that this is merely an administrative ratification, once permission was granted, of the ceremony that took place in 1889. There are civil registrations for both dates. Peter Calver at Lost Cousins, potentially provides the explanation, as it probably applies to Marines too, "... soldiers needed the permission of their commanding officer if they wanted the marriage to be recognised (which is why you will sometimes come across a couple who married each other twice)."

Either marriage was a little late and you can imagine, in the haste to legitimise their eldest, that they may have forgotten to ask permission of the CO: 

1. Archer Henry Stone (Archie), born 28 Mar 1889 in Plympton, Devon, bap. 21 May 1889, at the Wesleyan Methodist church, Tamerton Foliot
2. Frederick Thomas Stone, born 20 Jan 1892
3. Beatrice May Stone, born 14 Mar 1894, in Plympton 
4. Bertram Charles Stone, born 24 Feb 1899 (died 2nd quarter of 1899)
5. Leslie Victor Stone, born 1901. On 11 Apr 1919, aged 18, Leslie Victor Stone joined the Royal Tank Corps. Looks like he married Lilian Letts (1903-1984), issue included a daughter and may have died in 1964.
6. Rosina Kathleen Stone, born 14 Apr 1903

St Paul Street, Plymouth (number 9 is the darkest caramel coloured one)
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/2333440

In 1901 the family were living at 9, St Paul Street, East Stonehouse, with Tom Stone (39) listed as a Marine Pensioner. (Tom served in the Royal Marines for 21 years (+ 2 days), from 11 Mar 1880 until 13 Mar 1901, transferring to the Royal Fleet Reserve on 3 Jul 1901.) Also listed were Margaret (35), Archie (12), Frederick (9), Beatrice (7) and Leslie (0). 

Archer Henry Stone enlisted in the Royal Marines, aged 14, on 11 Nov 1903.

Tom Stone, General Labourer and Marine Pensioner, died, aged 43, on 2 May 1905, from Pulmonary Tuberculosis, at 3 Ashley Place, Plymouth.

Then just two years later, on 11 Nov 1907, Archie Stone died at the Royal Naval Hospital (Medway Maritime Hospital) in Gillingham, Kent, of a Tubercle of the lung (Tuberculosis again) and cardiac failure. He was just 18.

In 1911, Margaret Stone, widowed and in receipt of Parochial Relief, was living in East Stonehouse, with Leslie V (10) and Rosina K (7). Frederick had enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1907 and Beatrice (17) was working as a Servant for Samuel Reed, Hairdresser and Tobacconist, in Devonport.

Margaret Erne Stone died, on 1 Sep 1921, at around 55 years, and probate was granted to her son, Frederick Thomas Stone, on 24 Dec 1921.