Introduction
In his late twenties or early thirties, Thomas Hallett moved from Hardington Moor to Alverstoke in search of better opportunities. He found work as a plasterer and married at around the age of 41. However, he did not have any children and died at the age of 54.
Life at Hardington
Thomas was born at Hardington around 1813, the second of ten children born to John and Rachel Hallett, who lived in Weavers Cottage, Moor Lane. His father, John, was a weaver.
Tragically, four of the children died before reaching the age of thirty.[1] Of the remaining six, John became a thatcher in the village, while the other five moved away to distant locations, including Thomas.[2]
The 1841 census recorded Thomas living at home and working as a mason. By March 1851, he had relocated seventy miles away to Alverstoke.
Life at Alverstoke
By March 1851, Thomas was lodging at Chester Place, Alverstoke, with Henry Bonfield, a stone mason, and he was employed as a plasterer.
In 1854, Thomas married Elizabeth Thorne, a house servant originally from Swanage. At the time, Thomas was about 41, while Elizabeth was 38.
In April 1861, they lived at 6 Britannia Terrace, Alverstoke, together with two lodgers, and Thomas continued to work as a plasterer.
Death
Thomas died in 1868 at the age of 54. Elizabeth may have died shortly afterwards, at the age of 55.
References
[1] Ann died in infancy in 1820, and George probably died in infancy in 1827. When Thomas was twenty-three years old, his younger sister, Mary, died at the age of seventeen. Another sister, Harriet, died of tuberculosis in 1853 at the age of 28 (death certificate).
[2] James emigrated in 1842; Ann married Joseph Coles, a farrier in the 9th Lancers, at Chatham in 1852; Jane moved to Yorkshire, where she was a kitchen maid at Aske Hall by March 1851; and Walter George joined the Merchant Navy in about 1851.
