Sorry for the delay in my response.

There are a number of trees on Ancestry that show a William John Kear as the father of Caleb some of which have his date of death as 9 May 1888 but none of these trees have any source evidence.

I have found a John Kear who was died on 9 May and was buried 13 May 1888 Hedon, Yorkshire who was originally from Cheltenham. It is likely that people may have confused him with the mysterious William John Kear.