Thomas Odams: Prodigal Son

[Ian Purcell]

Can anyone help with information about Thomas Odams, the son of Richard Odams: ‘baker, flour dealer’, 72 Wellington Road, Edgbaston (General & Commercial Directory of Birmingham 1858). Thomas migrated to Australia in 1857 on the Algiers. Sadly he committed suicide in South Australia in 1879. I'm trying to gather information about his immediate family, when he was born, etc. Not to be confused with Thomas Odams, born 1843 to Thomas & Mary Odams, 48 Lower Tower Street. I would be very grateful for any assistance. Ian

 

[pjmburns]

The family are on the 1851 census. Richard listed as a baker, wife Mary and son Thomas aged 18, Thomas is listed as born in Edingdale Derbyshire. Richard's birthplace is Tamworth, Warwickshire. The address is Sun Street. No other children listed.

Richard married Mary Ann Holtom at Edgbaston, St Bartholomews on 22 September 1839.

Janice

 

[Alberta]

Thomas Odams was baptised 11th april 1833 in Edingale , Staffordshire which is about 5 miles from Tamworth his parents Richard and Ann.
Ann Odams died in Oct/Nov/Dec 1838 Birmingham, possibly giving birth to Richard Odams born Oct/Nov/Dec 1838 died first qtr 1839

Thomas father Richard born 1808 Tamworth to Richard and Esther, unable to find his marriage to Ann.

 

[pollypops]

I think I have found the family on the 1871, 1881, 1891 living 69 Varna Raod, Edgaston - Richard born Tamworth and Mary Ann listed as born Cherington on 1881 and Shipston on the 1891 - you may already have those?

Also found this from the Birmingham Daily Post 22 June 1893
Odams - after a short illness aged 75 Mary Ann Odams wife of Richard Odams 69 Verna Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham

 

[Ian Purcell]

Thank you so much Alberta. I knew Richard was a widower when he married Mary in 1839. Thomas was his son from his first marriage.
You have helped me enormously by finding details about Ann. Richard didn't wait for long before marrying Mary - six months. I suppose he needed a wife - little Thomas was only six.
Cheers, Ian

 

[mikejee]

Richard is listed in directories as follows (date is publication date and will refer to year or so before):
1855-62 Richard Odams, baker. 92 Wellington Road.
The bakery has been taken over by William Arundel in the 1868 edition

 

[Ian Purcell]

Thank you mikegee. I was wondering how long Richard Odams had the bakery on Wellington Road. I knew he sold the business to William Arundel in 1868. He gave his son Thomas a large sum of money to help fund Thomas' enterprises in Melbourne. Alas, Thomas was hopeless at business! The money didn't last very long after he returned to Melbourne in 1868. Two years later he was considering writing to his father to ask for more money. However, events overtook that idea. He found himself arrested for murder!

 

[Ian Purcell]

Hi pollypops - thank you so much for finding the listing for Mary Ann's death. I didn't have that. Richard and Mary Ann were married for almost 54 years! That must have been some kind of record in those days. Ann, Richard's first wife died young, possibly in childbirth. They were only together for about 7 years. Richard would have been 85 at the time of Mary's death.

 

[Ian Purcell]

Thank you Brummies for your marvellous help in filling out the lives of Thomas Odams and his family for me.

Now I am trying to get a picture of Thomas' chilhood and youth in more general terms.

For example, his schooling. Was basic education compulsory in England in the 1840s?
If so, what kind of school would Thomas have attended?
If not, is it correct to assume that his father would have paid for his education?
Is it correct to assume that the family would have been considered lower middle class?
Edgbaston was always considered to be a middle-class area, wasn't it?
I am also supposing that if all of this is true, then Richard Odams would have paid for Thomas to have what we now call a 'secondary education'.
The 1841 census lists both the occupation of both father and son as 'baker'. Thomas was 18.
Was it compulsory for bakers to do an apprenticeship? If so, at what age would/could the apprenticeship begin, and for how long was the apprenticeship?

Can anyone help me with these enquiries?

Thomas was an excellent athlete and gymnast. In the 1866 Gymnastics and Athletic Sports Competition at the MCG, Thomas won second prize for 'exercises on the rings', and also participated in 'exercises on the parallel bars' and 'horizontal bar'. I know that athletics and gymnastics for boys and young men were promoted as healthy and wholesome activities in the 19th century. Thomas must have learned his skills somewhere. Were there Athletic Clubs/Gymnasiums for Men and Boys in Birmingham in the 1840s/1850s? A somewhat gruesome fact: Thomas committed suicide by using a rope from the gymnastic rings he had had installed in the cellar for practice.

Again, can anyone help me with these enquiries?

I know that Richard doted on his only son Thomas, and probably spoiled him to boot. He gave him money to enable him to establish himself in Australia in 1857, and again ten years later in 1867, when he (Richard) retired and sold his business. I think Thomas was a daydreamer and a somewhat hapless (hopeless) adventurer. On the passenger list of The Algiers in 1857, his occupation is given as 'miner'. I think he came to Australia, and Victoria in particular, because of the 'gold rush' which was going full-steam in the late 1850s. In 1851 the population of Melbourne was 75,000. Ten years later it was 500,000. It has been reported that the gold exported to Britain in the 1850s paid all her foreign debts and helped lay the foundation of her enormous commercial expansion in the latter half of the century. There is no evidence that Thomas travelled to the goldfields however.

 

[Alberta]

Thank you Ian for sharing Thomas story with us. Alberta

 

[mikejee]

In answer to some of your queries, compulsory education did not arrive till 1880, though free education was available from 1870. However before that there were a number of schools which offered elementary education at a low cost, which would presumably have been affordable by a miller with his own business. Whether this would have been in any way equivalent to what we call a secondary education is perhaps very questionable. If he had this it would presumably have been at one of the grammar schools (though they did seem to concentrate more on classics like latin and greek, which were pretty useless in real life).

 

[pollypops]

The Odams story is very interesting Ian - I look forward to hearing more!

I have found this marriage which I think may fit - I believe it has been transcribed incorrectly as Adams.

9th March 1829 St Editha, Tamworth

Richard "Adams" of this parish to Anne Twamley of the parish of Clifton Campville, Staffs (that's about 7 miles from Tamworth)
wittnesses Charles and Ann Williamson

The name on the record and Richards signature appears to be ODAMS

here is a link to the church:

https://www.stedithas.org.uk

There is also a burial for Ann Odams at St Pauls Birmingham:

Burials in the Chapelry of St Paul, in the parish of St Martin, Birmingham, County of Warwick.

Ann wife of Richard Odams. Abode: Carver Street. Buried: December 6th 1838. Age 35

Here is a link to the church:

https://www.saintpaulbrum.org/

 

[Wendy]

Great piece of family history my gt grandfather came to Birmingham in 1853 as a journeyman baker meaning he had completed his apprenticeship. I didn't know how long it was though. If I can help at all I live in Tamworth.

 

[Alberta]

Ann Twamley baptised 4th april 1804 Clifton Campville parents Thomas and Ann.

 

[pollypops]

Ian looking through the Birmingham Daily Post I have found these snippets which may be of interest to you.

1860 Wednesday 22nd February - an advert for apartments to let on the Bristol Road apply Mrs Adams, Baker, Wellington Road (Adams perhaps a misprint?) Wellington Road is off the Bristol Road.
1861 Wednesday 27th February - a robbery at the home of Richard Odams, 92 Wellington Road, while they were attending chapel on Sunday evening - I think its funny how the residents of the house were called inmates.
1865 Monday 7th August - a young man wanted at the bakers apply R Odams, 92 Wellington Road, Edgbaston
1872 Friday 20 September - 64 Varna Road to let apply W Odams 69 Varna Road (perhaps the W is a misprint?)
1893 Tuesday 14th November - the death announcement of Mary Odams - I thought you may want this for your records

 

[pollypops]

There is a marriage of Thomas Twamley to Anne Smith on 23rd July 1797 at Clifton Campville - this could be Annes Parents?

 

[mikejee]

69 Varna Road is certainly listed under R Odams in the 1972 directory

 

[Ian Purcell]

Thanks Mike. This is helpful. It's similar to what was the situation in South Australia. Elementary free education came later in the century. The first few large (fee-paying) grammar schools (what we call 'private' or 'independent' schools here and you call in the UK 'public' schools) started earlier. These were Pulteney Grammar School, St Peter's College and Prince Alfred College. I agree it's difficult to believe that Thomas would have attended a grammar school - more for sons of 'gentlemen' and 'gentry' in those days - especially since he was to follow his father in the family business - baking.

 

[Ian Purcell]

This is marvellous pollypops. One of the problems I've had in my research has been the rather 'free' spelling of surnames in the 19th century, in this case variations on 'Odams', often given as 'Adams', 'Adam' and 'Odam'. When Thomas Odams lived in Gawler from 1872-1879, he went by the name of John Adamson. No-one knew anything about his antecedents. After he died there was much interest in finding out who he was and where he came from. There was some information that he had lived in Melbourne, Victoria before he came to South Australia. The Editor of The Bunyip investigated and eventually received a letter from William Arundel - the man who bought Richard Odam's bakery business in 1868 - who supplied some background which was duly published in the paper. However, even then the editor wrote that Thomas' real name was Adams. So for quite a while I was looking for information on 'John Adams'.

It was Arundel who mentioned that Thomas came out to Melbourne in 1857. I discovered that a Thomas Odams (not John Adams) was on the passenger list of the Algiers out of Liverpool in that year. By chance this gave me his real name and opened up for me Thomas' 'missing years' in Melbourne 1857-1871. Even then official documents and newspaper reports sometimes gave his name as 'Odam', and the variations in his age and year of birth didn't help either.

So your excellent sleuthing has filled in for me the details of Richard Odams' first marriage. Many thanks, Ian

 

[Ian Purcell]

I would think so. If Ann was 35 when she died in 1838, then she would have been born in 1803/4. Marriage of her parents in 1797 therefore fits. Ann was older than Richard by 4/5 years - he was born in 1808. At their marriage in 1829, Richard would have been 21, Ann 25/26.

 

[Ian Purcell]

Ian looking through the Birmingham Daily Post I have found these snippets which may be of interest to you.

1860 Wednesday 22nd February - an advert for apartments to let on the Bristol Road apply Mrs Adams, Baker, Wellington Road (Adams perhaps a misprint?) Wellington Road is off the Bristol Road.
1861 Wednesday 27th February - a robbery at the home of Richard Odams, 92 Wellington Road, while they were attending chapel on Sunday evening - I think its funny how the residents of the house were called inmates.
1865 Monday 7th August - a young man wanted at the bakers apply R Odams, 92 Wellington Road, Edgbaston
1872 Friday 20 September - 64 Varna Road to let apply W Odams 69 Varna Road (perhaps the W is a misprint?)
1893 Tuesday 14th November - the death announcement of Mary Odams - I thought you may want this for your records

Again - thank you pollypops. It's good to get a feeling of daily life - helps to make these people real, unfortunate about the robbery however [love 'skeleton key'. Reminds me of Gilbert and Sullivan]. They were obviously reasonably well off by this stage of their lives - stolen: five pounds and quantity of jewellery. Concerning Richard Odams' various residences over the years. I have found on Google maps: Carver St where he lived with his first wife Ann and young Thomas; can't find Sun St (1851 census - Richard, Mary, Thomas 18); found Wellington Road but difficulty exactly locating 92 on Street view; can't find Varna Rd. From information gleaned it seems that a section of Varna Rd was an estate called The Cedars. 69 was in the Cedars. The description given in the advert you found suggests that they were substantial, comfortable semi-detached villas. Richard and Mary were obviously quite wealthy in retirement. The 1871 and 1881 census show they had a servant.
I wonder if they owned the properties advertised for lease on Bristol Road (1860) and Varna Rd (1872), or perhaps Mary was an agent.
And thankyou for the cuttings. It's amazing how little snippets like these all add something to the picture.

 

[Ian Purcell]

Great piece of family history my gt grandfather came to Birmingham in 1853 as a journeyman baker meaning he had completed his apprenticeship. I didn't know how long it was though. If I can help at all I live in Tamworth.

Thank you Wendy. I'm enjoying this research. Finding out about Thomas' formative years in Birmingham before he came to Australia at the age of 24 may, I hope, help to explain his crisis-driven life in Australia.

 

[pollypops]

Hi Ian, glad to be of help. I had the same thoughts as you about the properties to let - whether they owned them or acted as agents/caretakers. It is amazing how much information can be found in little snippets from the newspapers - now you even know where the Odams were on one evening 154 years ago - at the chapel.
Im sure mikejee will be able to tell you where Sun Street and Varna Road are/were as he has a vast collection of maps. Mike may also be able to tell you where number 92 Wellington Road was/is.
I look forward to hearing about the alleged murder.

 

[mikejee]

Iam
Sun St disappeared in the 1960s. It was off Bristol St, slightly to the north of where Lee Bank Middleway is now, and is shown in pink on the 1890 map below.
No 92 Wellington road is no longer there , but was at the very end by the junction with Bristol Road. I am not sure which of the blue buildings on the c1889 map was the bakery, but think it was possibly the furthest from the junction, and that the other was part of the cab office on Bristol Road. William Arundel, or at least a bakery bearing his name, was there till shortly after WW1, when I believe the shops on the corner were built.
Varna Road has been deliberately obliterated, mainly because, after WW2 it became a rather notorious red light district. it is on the other side of Bristol Road, and on the c1890- map the house is shaded green and number 69 beside it

 

[Ian Purcell]

Iam
Sun St disappeared in the 1960s. It was off Bristol St, slightly to the north of where Lee Bank Middleway is now, and is shown in pink on the 1890 map below.
No 92 Wellington road is no longer there , but was at the very end by the junction with Bristol Road. I am not sure which of the blue buildings on the c1889 map was the bakery, but think it was possibly the furthest from the junction, and that the other was part of the cab office on Bristol Road. William Arundel, or at least a bakery bearing his name, was there till shortly after WW1, when I believe the shops on the corner were built.
Varna Road has been deliberately obliterated, mainly because, after WW2 it became a rather notorious red light district. it is on the other side of Bristol Road, and on the c1890- map the house is shaded green and number 69 beside it

Thanks again Mike. I can see what became of Sun St on the Google map of Birmingham. The building of the A38 and A4540 intersection - the beginning of modern motorways in the 1960s -70s. There was a scheme in Adelaide to put a major motorway through the centre of Adelaide linking northern and southern suburbs. It was called the MATS plan [Metropolitan Adelaide Transport Study]. There was so much opposition. Thank goodness it never happened.

No wonder I couldn't locate No 92 Wellington Road. Re: Varna Road, I suppose when the original houses were built they would have been substantial semi-detached Victorian villas. I imagine it would have been a desired area in which to live for those who could afford it. Like most cities, including Adelaide, small hamlets and villages on the [then] outskirts became suburbs, and those closest to the city, inner suburbs. Once desirable areas, after two generations or so, they become areas of neglect, and low-rent. Is the modern day Hay Park/Belgravia Close the old Varna Road? The names are very swish, no doubt to try to add a bit of class again to the area after its 1960s(?) make-over. Although I must say that it still doesn't look like a particularly salubrious neighbourhood in which to live?Or am I being a bit harsh?

 

[Ian Purcell]

Hi Ian, glad to be of help. I had the same thoughts as you about the properties to let - whether they owned them or acted as agents/caretakers. It is amazing how much information can be found in little snippets from the newspapers - now you even know where the Odams were on one evening 154 years ago - at the chapel.
Im sure mikejee will be able to tell you where Sun Street and Varna Road are/were as he has a vast collection of maps. Mike may also be able to tell you where number 92 Wellington Road was/is.
I look forward to hearing about the alleged murder.

Hi Polly(?) Yes, I love those little touches which bring people 'back to life'. I enjoy social history because it's about ordinary, everyday people whose lives are usually forgotten in the grand theme of things. Adelaide was only founded in 1836, that's just 178 years ago, not much in comparison with UK and European cities. Even so, when I found (through some neat detective work) the location of the house in which Thomas Odams hung himself, on the outskirts of the town of Gawler, and that it was still there, beautifully renovated (I presume by the current owners), I was quite moved. It stands within a large property lawn and trees, quite secluded from neighbours. I could see the house from the beginning of the driveway, but I didn't have the courage (or sense?) to knock on the door and ask,'Did you know that 135 years ago, a man hung himself in your cellar?'

Mike has very kindly uploaded maps showing where Varna St and Sun St used to be, and the location of what in Richard Odams time (and of his successor William Arundel) 92 Wellington Road. Knowing now where these residences were, I can see by locating them approximately on a modern map of Birmingham, how close they all really were. I don't suppose that's unusual. Moving from Sun St to Wellington Rd, then to Varna Rd in retirement suggests that Richard and his wife worked hard and prospered, continually moving 'upmarket'.

 

[mikejee]

Yes Ian, when first built Varna Road consisted of fairly substantial middle class villas. A picture of them, probably around 1960 is below. By then they were mostly divided up into small flats or rooms

 

[Ian Purcell]

Yes Ian, when first built Varna Road consisted of fairly substantial middle class villas. A picture of them, probably around 1960 is below. By then they were mostly divided up into small flats or rooms

Thanks Mike - I recognise this style. Adelaide has been called a 'Victorian' city. Founded in 1836, saved from bankruptcy twenty years later by the discovery of copper in the mid-north of South Australia. Those who grew wealthy from copper built Victorian villas and mansions, particularly in North Adelaide, still a wealthy enclave for the prosperous today. Thanks for the pic.

 

[Phil]

These are a few remaining sections of Sun Street and Sun Street West in the 60's & 70's when it was part of the Inner Circle bus route.

 

[Phil]

Another photo of Sun Street / Spring Street before demolition and another photo of Varna Rd in 1910.