Introduction

Thomas Cox lived at Hill End, near Cold Harbour. His parentage is unknown, but he was probably related to Thomas Gill Cox. After working many years as a weaver, he became a gardener in his late forties or early fifties. The names of his children and the fact that they were not baptised suggest that Thomas was a dissenter. Regrettably, all of his children experienced health issues, either physical or mental, and even the two who married spent their final days in mental hospitals.

Birth

Thomas was born around 1805 at Hardington. His parents are unknown.

Marriage

On 13 August 1831, Thomas married Ann Cleal at Hardington Church. Thomas was about 26 years old, and Ann was around 23. Both signed the marriage register. Thomas Gill Cox was one of the witnesses. Just a few months later, on 1 November 1831, Thomas Gill Cox married Ann’s sister, Joanna, and Thomas Cox was one of the witnesses to that wedding.

Their mutual witnessing of each other’s marriages, combined with the fact that they lived next door to each other, suggests that Thomas Cox and Thomas Gill Cox were related, most likely as cousins.

Residence

The 1843 tithe survey listed Thomas as the occupier of two cottages near Cold Harbour—one cottage he owned (number 490) and the other he rented from Lord Ilchester (number 491). He also occupied three allotments in Cold Harbour.

Family life

Thomas worked as a weaver until the 1850s, when he shifted to gardening. It is unclear how long he worked as a gardener because the 1871 census does not list an occupation for him.

Thomas and Ann had one son, Enos, who became a gardener, and six daughters, all of whom worked as glovers.[1] The 1851 census recorded Rebecca as a glover at the age of seven, and her sisters probably started at a young age as well.

The children suffered from poor health. The first one to die was  Sarah, who passed away in 1845 at the age of ten from whooping cough.[2] The next was another Sarah, who died in 1864 at the age of 17.[3] Esther followed in 1869, succumbing to “decline” at the age of 30. Tabitha died from tuberculosis in 1873 at the age of 31, and Lydia passed away in 1878 from liver disease and dropsy at the age of 46.[4]

Death

Thomas died in March 1872 at the age of 67 or 68.[5]

Ann’s later life

After Thomas’s death, Ann lived with Enos and Rebecca. In 1877, Enos married Emily Ann Hopkins, who probably moved into the family home.

On 15 March 1880, Rebecca married Thomas Genge, a farmer, and Ann moved in with them at the farm.[6] She died in 1883 at the age of 75.

Children

Thomas and Ann had seven children, of whom only two married: Enos and Rebecca.

Circa 1832- Lydia (worked as a glover; died of liver disease and dropsy on 4 August 1878 at the age of 46);

Circa 1835-Sarah (died on 25 February 1845 from whooping cough at the age of ten);

Circa 1837-Enos (became a gardener; married Emily Ann Hopkins at Corscombe in 1877; died from epilepsy at the County Lunatic Asylum on 21 October 1891 at the age of 53);

Circa 1839-Esther (worked as a glover; died on 22 October 1869 from “decline” at the age of 30);

1841- Tabitha (worked as a glover; died from tuberculosis after many years on 22 February 1873 at the age of 31);

Circa 1843-Rebecca (worked as a glover; married Thomas Genge, a farmer, at Hardington in 1880; died at Bishops Lydeard in 1907);

1847- Sarah (worked as a glover; died in September 1864 at the age of 17);

References

[1] The Hardington burial register records a Shadrach Cox, aged 10 months, who was buried on 8 December 1834. He was probably the son of either Thomas Cox or Thomas Gill Cox. His name and the pattern of births lean towards Thomas being the father.

[2] Death certificate of Sarah Cox, died 1845.

[3] Death certificate of Sarah Cox, died 1864.

[4] Death certificates of Esther Cox, Tabitha Cox, and Lydia Cox.

[5] Civil Registration Death Index (age recorded as 67); Hardington burial register (age recorded as 68).

[6] The two households are next to each other on the 1881 census.