Introduction

Thomas Gillingham had a traumatic childhood, losing his father at the age of about six and his mother at the age of about ten. In his teens, he began an apprenticeship with Job Taylor, the Hardington blacksmith who was married to Thomas’s cousin, Dinah. While there, he would have seen Dinah struggling with a similar disease to that which had claimed the life of his father. Whether he completed his apprenticeship is unknown, as he disappears from the records.

Birth at Haselbury

Thomas was born at Haselbury around 1803, the youngest of five children born to Thomas and Mary Gillingham. His father, Thomas, was an innkeeper, and his mother, Mary, was the daughter of John Genge, a farmer of Hardington.

Deaths of parents

Thomas’s father died at Haselbury on 24 November 1842, at the age of 38, due to inflammation of the lungs.[1] Four years later, his mother, Mary, died in September 1846 at the age of 45.[2]

Inheritance

According to the terms of his father’s will, upon their mother’s death, Thomas and his four siblings—John, Edwin, Eliza, and Jane—each inherited an equal share of his estate.[3] This inheritance would take effect once they reached the age of 21.

Apprenticeship at Hardington

In March 1851, Thomas was an apprentice blacksmith living in the home of his master, Job Taylor, at Hardington. Job was married to Thomas’s cousin, Dinah. During his time there, he would have seen Dinah suffer from tuberculosis, which ultimately led to her death on May 5, 1851, at the young age of 27.[4] This situation likely reminded him vividly of his father’s last illness. After Dinah’s death, it is probable that Thomas continued his apprenticeship, as his aunt, Sarah Ingram, became Job’s housekeeper. However, what happened to him afterwards remains unknown.

References

[1] Death certificate of Thomas Gillingham.

[2] Haselbury burial register (age recorded as 47); Civil Registration Death Index (age recorded as 57).

[3] The will of Thomas Gillingham, dated 17 October 1842, proved in London on 8 May 1843.

[4] Death certificate of Dinah Taylor.