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Small, Thomas Henry

A

Andrea 1954

Brummie babby
Born 1833 Shrewsbury. Farnham, Surrey had wife and family. Missing from census 1891 but appears in Birmingham with another woman. I think I have found his death 1914, Birmingham General Hospital having accidentally drunk potash at the age of 81. I would like to locate hospital and inquest records if possible. Previous records from Surrey indicate that he was a rogue. He was my 2X greatgrandfather.
 
I assume you've seen the couple of possible newspaper reports from 1914.

And is it just the 1881 census he's missing from? Up to 1871 he's in Surrey and from 1891 he's in Bham?
 
Yes, I found them in BNA I just have to get round to paying for a proper copy. He also turns up in 1866 in an Aldershot newspaper up to no good. Also court martialled in 1860! That is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks, Andrea
 
A bit of a colourful past.

Not sure what BNA is but they are also on findmypast so someone might be able to post a copy.

I see that on the 1891 census his birthplace is listed incorrectly as Bham. On the 1881 census there is also a Thomas Small with birthplace listed as Bham living in Summer Lane, a lodger of Mary Kanter. Summer Lane was not too far from Brearley St so could be him.
 
BAN is the British Newspaper Archive. You can subscribe direct or join Find My Past on their top of the range Pro option. To complicate further his court martial in 1858 in Sunderland is on Fold3, which is an American military records site with a decent International section. That is of course another subscription. Thanks for the info on the 1881 census, he was not at home with Elizabeth that year either. The 1891 entry is him despite the wrong place of birth. Next census he is still boarding with Ellen Neale and children. Being from Farnham, Surrey, though I now live over the border in Hampshire, I have absolutely no idea about the geography of Birmingham, including where he might have been buried. Thanks for any info and tips you might have. If you think that's colourful, worse is the timings of military service, birth of great gran and marriage.
 
Here is a map of Brearley St and Summer Lane...

Brearley_Summer.jpg

...they cross in the upper right corner.

And there is a burial for a Thomas Small listed at Witton Cemetery in Aug 1914. There is no further details but as there is only the one death registered for a Thomas Small in 1914 it's likely to be him.
 
Thanks so much, I will study the map in the morning. I do have a death certificate and I am pretty sure it must be him. Naughty for always claiming to be unmarried. His poor wife Elizabeth is always listed as head of household, married. Thanks again for your help Andrea
 
Andrea 1954 said:
Thanks so much, I will study the map in the morning. I do have a death certificate and I am pretty sure it must be him. Naughty for always claiming to be unmarried. His poor wife Elizabeth is always listed as head of household, married. Thanks again for your help Andrea
Click to expand...
I have just located the burial record on the cemetery website. I will need to get the trusty credit card out in the morning. Andrea
 
Well that was enlightening. The Find My Past free weekend brought me Thomas's military record. The court martial was as a result of desertion which landed him in military prison. I began to have doubts about how he could have fathered great gran Esther Elizabeth. Thomas definitely married Esther's mother Elizabeth Wheeler and fathered the other children before leaving for Birmingham. I obtained Esther's marriage certificate which gave her father as Samuel Broadway, soldier. Investigation showed that Samuel was from a poor family in Newington, London, who joined the 3rd battallion Rifle Brigade. He was briefly in Aldershot when he must have spent time with Elizabeth and was almost immediately shipped off to India. So while Thomas Henry Small was part of my family, he is no blood relation to me. Elizabeth seems to have liked soldiers!
 
I thought I would post an update. A lady in the USA had tied my Smalls to her's. It was a mess, so I have spent some time sorting the Smalls as well as I can for now. Debbie's Samuel Small was from Shropshire and married Ann Roberts, also Shropshire, they moved to Islington, permanently. She is not connected to Thomas Henry Small. Sorted! So Thomas Henry was born in Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury in 1833. Parents were Samuel and Mary. Mary's maiden name was Blockley and would seem to have been the one baptised in Chirbury, Shropshire in 1814, parents Thomas and Jane. I will have to check on FindMyPast. Samuel and Mary married at St Mary's Shrewsbury, another thing to check on FindMyPast. At the moment I am wondering if Samuel Small was the one born to Samuel and Elizabeth baptised 24th May 1804, in Birmingham! By 1841 census the family were in New Summer St, Birmingham. Also there was Jane Blockley. They remained in the same general area throughout the records. Samuel seems to have died in 1855, I have noted the GRO reference. One of their children Mary Anne married into the Chance family so they appear in numbers. Then Thomas Henry Small left his wife and children in a place called Hungry Hill, at the top of the parish of Hale to the north of Farnham, Surrey. It's where I am from. Thomas moved to Birmingham. He moved to Summer Lane. He stayed in that general area until his death in 1914. His mother Mary died in 1882, I have the GRO reference to check. So perhaps he didn't simply go off with another woman, he seems to have been going home to mum. My own grt gran was not his daughter but was fathered by a different passing soldier.
 
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