William was born in Heene in 1806. I can find no record of his baptism (he had all his children baptised) nor of his parents..
In 1831 he married Jane Lillywhite, who was then 19, born in Durrington, 8th of the 11 children of Joseph Lillywhite (from Findon) and Elizabeth (Moon) (from Steyning).
Jane was a Governess (to 6 children in 1851) and a Schoolmistress (Day School) in 1861 and 1871.
Their daughter Mary Ann was baptised in 1832, Emma in 1834, Peter in 1836, Martha in 1838, Ellen in 1840 (died 1842), Jane in 1843, Matilda in 1845, Edwin in 1848, Walter in 1850, Albert in 1852 (died 1858) - all recorded as Heene Baptisms, though then in West Tarring records.
This was only one of several Poland families then living in Heene.
On the 1838 Heene Tithe Map, William was a Tenant of the Misses Mitchell, (Frances, Mary and Jane), living in a cottage and garden, one of three, backing on to Heene East Field, which must have been where the present Heene Community Centre is. The Misses Mitchell appear on the Tithe Map only as Landowners, they were clearly not then resident in Heene. (There was also a William Poland at the King and Queen Inn, which became the Brunswick, also a tenant of the Mitchells, but that's another story¦¦)
On the 1841 census William was an Agricultural Labourer, living in Heene, with Jane and their then 5 children.
In 1851 he was a Farm Labourer in Heene, with six children, the third child, Peter, at 15, was also a Farm Labourer.
On the 1861 census William was a Farm Labourer on Heene Farm. Peter was by then a Cowman, Edwin (18), a Carter Boy, son Walter (aged 10) a Cow Boy. Jane's Widowed Mother Elizabeth Lillywhite, a Retired Charwoman from Steyning, aged 88, was also in the household.
In 1871 the couple were living at 9 Heene Lane almost certainly the cottage they had in 1838 with just unmarried sons Walter and Edwin both Market Gardener Labourers living at home.
By 1881 William and Jane are living alone in Heene Road. William, now 74, still an Agricultural Labourer.
William was buried in the Cemetery in 1882 and Jane, in the same plot, in 1893.
In 1891 Jane was living with their son Walter, in Eldon Rd., East Worthing. Walter (a 10 year-old Cow Boy in 1861) was a Market Gardener, married in 1877, to Frances (nee Riddles), with four children.