George Valentine Howe George Valentine Howe, father of Elizabeth Langrish Howe and William Gates' grandfather, was born in 1833 at Portsea and christened on 4th August 1833 at St. Marys Church. He had a younger sister, Elizabeth, and his parents were Benjamin Howe and Elizabeth Langrish. George married Sarah Rudland on 2nd September 1859 at Portsea and, at that time, was a 'machine man' in the dockyard. Sarah died at the age of 30 and George remarried in 1870, stating his occupation as 'rigger' in the dockyard. He later became a 'clerk' appears to have died at a young age - about 48 - as his second wife Rachel is a widow by 1881 (see second marriage link above).
