| Name Index | HOME |
|
William was born on 2 July 1795, the son of Rev. Joseph Dixon and Anne Partridge, in Storrington, Sussex.
He was baptized by his father at Sullington Church on 26 July 1795.
On March 5, 1811 he was appointed (with his father's political clout) as a gentleman cadet at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was number 850 on the roll. On August 20, 1811, he joined the Academy, as number 1647. On June 13, 1814, while William was a cadet, the Academy was visited by the Prince Regent, the Emperor of Russia, generals Blucher, de Yorck, Bulow, and Count Platow, among other notables. William left the Academy on December 14, 1816, after being recommended for promotion from gentleman cadet to 2nd Lieutenant (cornet) in the Royal Artillery. The commander of the Artillery then was the Master-General of the Ordnance; and William's father, the Rev. Joe, had once |
worked for the Master-General's office in London, as a draftsman. It all came down to connections and influence in those days.
On December 16, 1816 William duly entered the R.A. as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served in England for five and a half years, and on May 22, 1822 was ordered to the Ionian Islands with the 8th Batt., R.A. On May 27 he embarked at Woolwich on the HMS "Intrepid", bound for the Mediterranean. The "Intrepid" first went to Dublin to pick up more men, and left there on June 13. William arrived in Corfu in early July 1822. William married Cecilia Pierina Gironci on May 17, 1823. There were two marriages - the first by a Greek Orthodox priest and the second an Anglican ceremony performed by the Rev. George Hornby, A.M., fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. |
|
Cecilia was born on 22 January 1804, the daughter of the Noble Signor Antonio Gironci and his wife Maddalena Guerra, on the Island of Corfu.
The Gironcis were a family of the Venetian nobility, long in Corfu as soldiers of the Venetian Republic. They were originally from Ferrara. The Guerras were the same, except that they originally came from Padova. Antonio Gironci was | made a member of the Noble Signory of Corfu in 1816 by the British. He was a former lieutenant and alfiere (standard bearer) in the Venetian Army, and pubblico agrimensore (public surveyor) in Corfu. He and his wife Maddalena Guerra were dead by the time William Dixon arrived. Cecilia was living as a ward of her uncle Giorgio in the town of Corfu. |
| Henry | Born 29 Mar 1824 | Naples | Married Catherine Eliza Cheke | ||
| Anne | Born 12 Nov 1825 | Corfu | Never married | ||
| Caroline | Born 18 Nov 1827 | Corfu | Married Maj. George Gordon Gerard Trophime de Lally-Tollendal Webster Wedderburn | ||
| Maria | Born 11 Sep 1831 | Zante | Never married |
| William Dixon |
b: 2 Jul 1795 c: 26 Jul 1795 Sullington Church, Sussex son of Rev. Joseph Dixon and Anne Partridge, Storrington, Sussex |
| Cecilia Pierina Gironci |
22 Jan 1804 c: 28 Jan 1804 Chiesa di San Marco, Corfu daughter of the Noble Signor Antonio Gironci and Maddalena Guerra |
|
17 May 1823 William Dixon Cecilia Pierina Gironci | Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece |
| Henry Dixon |
b: 29 Mar 1824 Naples, Italy son of William Dixon and Cecilia Pierina Gironci |
| Anne Dixon |
b: 12 Nov 1825 Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece daughter of William Dixon and Cecilia Pierina Gironci |
| Caroline Dixon |
b: 18 Nov 1827 c: 23 Dec 1827 Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece daughter of William Dixon and Cecilia Pierina Gironci |
| Maria Dixon |
b 11 Sep 1831 Zante, Ionian Islands, Greece daughter of William Dixon and Cecilia Pierina Gironci |
|
On July 29, 1825 William was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He was often on leave in England. Between April and August 1826 he borrowed enough money to buy land and build a house at 1 Union Place, Worthing, Sussex. He moved his widowed mother in, and his brother the Rev. Henry moved in shortly thereafter. His other brother Dr Fred, built a house at 3 Union Place.
On December 31, 1830 William switched to the 2nd Batt., R.A., and was posted to the Ionian island of Zante, in command of a small engineering detachment. In 1835 he inherited a final 386 pounds from his recently departed mother. On January 10, 1837 was promoted to 2nd Captain, R.A., his highest rank He left Zante on December. 28, 1837, sailed back to Corfu, then on December 31 left Corfu for the UK, on leave. In February 1838 his tour of duty ended in the Ionian Islands. In 1839 he placed his son Henry in Woolwich, and in 1840 was posted to Malta with the 1st Battalion. He farmed his daughter Caroline out to Dr Fred and Maria in Worthing, and his other daughter Annie out to the Rev. Henry and Anne in Ferring. The youngest daughter, Maria, went with Capt. William and Cecilia to Malta. |
On March 18, 1841 he retired on half pay, and on March 31, 1842 sold his commission, and therefore his pension as well. He went into dockyard work in Malta, with naval officer's rank, helping to construct the massive new docks there. Political tension between the British and the Maltese was heating up, and, in 1841, William decided to go to Canada.
He had an old family friend in Toronto - Samuel Peters Jarvis. Jarvis's grandfather had been the famous American preacher Samuel Peters, who had lived in London in the 1770s and 1780s, in Pimlico, as a neighbor and good friend of Capt. Williams' grandfather, Richard Dixon, the eminent builder. The families had been friends ever since. It wasn't until 1843 that William went by himself to check out Canada (and the ladies in New York, and the opera there, and Washington). But he found it too cold, and returned to Corfu, where he and Cecilia lived the rest of their lives. William became captain of the port there, a naval appointment. After he died William Deverell succeeded him in that post. Capt. William did not leave a will, and his son, Col. Henry Dixon, administered his estate |
| Cecilia Pierina (Gironci) Dixon |
Died 24 Aug 1857 at Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece Buried 25 Aug 1857, Chiesa di San Marco, Corfu |
| On the 25th Aug, at Corfu, CECILIA PIERINA, wife of WILLIAM DIXON, Esq., late Captain in the Royal Artiliery. |
| William Dixon |
Died 21 Nov 1859, at Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece Buried 22 Nov 1859, at Holy Trinity |
Times, Wednesday, Dec 30, 1859 DEATHS
|
LONDON 6 Jun 1860 Probate
|