Person:Thomas Kirkham (7)

Thomas William Kirkham was the eldest child of Major Kirkham and Mary Ann Grover. "Major" was not a title, it was the given name of Thomas' father and also grandfather.

Thomas' father held various jobs during his lifetime, including labourer, engraver, tide waiter and customs house officer. Major was a widower aged about 31 when he married 18 year-old Mary Ann on 3 May 1814. Thomas was baptised 25 June 1815 at the City of London Lying-In Hospital in Finsbury, and was probably born at the hospital a day or two earlier. The hospital was named the "City of London Lying-in Hospital for Married Ladies" and when it was founded in 1750 it was intended for "the wives of poor industrious tradesmen or distressed housekeepers". Expectant mothers had to visit the hospital with evidence of their marriage prior to being admitted for labour. (For more information about the hospital see "The City of London lying-in hospital, City-road, for the reception and delivery of poor pregnant married women; instituted Mar. 1750" printed by R. Wils, 1823).

Thomas had at least 7 younger siblings: Matilda b. 1818 and James Major b. 1820, both baptised at the City of London Lying-In Hospital; Mary Ann b. 1822 and Caroline Sarah b. 1824, both baptised at St. Matthew's Church in Bethnal Green; and John Henry b. 1830, James b. 1833 and Eliza b. 1835. At least five of Thomas' siblings lived to adulthood (James Major died aged 2 and Eliza hasn't been found after the 1841 census):

• Matilda married porter and umbrella maker George Cook in 1840 and had five children before George died in 1851. She quickly remarried in 1852 to smith and farrier Edward Jarvis and went on to have four more children.
• Mary Ann married house painter John Dunn and they had a son George born around 1851, however given the time between when Mary Ann and John wed in 1843 and when George was born it's possible he was an adopted son. No birth index entry or baptism has yet been found for George Dunn. After John Dunn died Mary Ann married plumber George Crutchfield
• Caroline wed carpenter and box maker George Schemilt in 1845 and had five children. By 1871 Caroline was living with her new "husband" watchmaker Robert Mayfield, although they could not officially wed until shortly after George Schemilt died in 1874.
• John Henry worked as an umbrella frame maker and had five children with wife Louisa Saunders before he died aged 36
• James b. 1833 married Charlotte Dodds and worked as a parasol maker before he died aged about 31

Thomas' father Major had died by the time Thomas married Sarah Bower Cooper, daughter of carpenter Thomas Cooper and Sarah (surname possibly Bower), at the Hammersmith parish church (St. Paul's) on 21 January 1838. Witnesses to the marriage were William Cooper (Sarah's brother) and Matilda Kirkham (Thomas's sister). The marriage certificate lists Thomas' occupation as "comb maker". Surprising as it may seem there was a guild of comb-makers, and more information about Thomas occupation could possibly be found in this guilds' records in future.

Thomas and Sarah's first known child, Thomas Joseph, was born 30 January 1841 and baptised at St. Matthew's Church, Bethnal Green on his first birthday. The small family were living at North Cottage, North Place in Bethnal Green during the 1841 census. North Place was at the west end of Hartley St in the area of Park St. Fifty years later Charles Booth said the cottages on the north side of North Passage as "could not look worse than they do", and in general the area was likely quite poor.

The next child of Thomas and Sarah's that we know of was William, baptised at St. Leonard's Church in Shoreditch on 21 September 1845. The certificate lists Thomas as a porter and their address as Leonard Street. They were still living there and Thomas was again working as a combmaker when their first daughter Sarah was baptised at St. Leonard's in 1848. Sarah was followed by Mary Ann, born in Bethnal Green in 1850.

On the 1851 census the family of Thomas, Sarah and their four young children were living at 3 Nelson Street in Bethnal Green. Thomas was now listed as a marine store dealer but he was again listed as a combmaker later in 1851 when his daughter Mary Ann was baptised at St. George in the East church. The area of Bethnal Green they were living in was noted in 1848 to have a "total absence of gardens... The houses then built were chiefly to accommodate the weavers, and the practice followed was, to build a street of several stories, not, as is the present custom, to plant on the damp, undrained soil, two rooms on a ground floor. In this district, a very great number of the houses are built on a level from 18-inches to 2-feet below that of the path-way. Dust and dirt, therefore, readily become deposited in the houses, and there is much difficulty in cleansing them. In the summer season, moreover, they are very liable to have the mud washed into them. At all times they are very damp, and become sources of much disease to the inhabitants; rheumatism is extremely prevalent, and forms a large proportion of the cases of sickness. Over-crowding takes place to a great extent in this district. Many of the houses in Nelson-street, which have only four moderate sized rooms, have a family in each floor." By June 1851 the family had again moved, now to 29 Lower Grove Street (likely in the parish of St. George-in-the-East, where daughter Mary Ann was baptised).

The 1850s brought more hungry mouths to feed, with daughters Ann Cooper Kirkham born about 1852 and Eliza Mary Kirkham born 29 Feb 1856 at 9 Alfred Row, Bethnal Green (off the east end of Derbyshire St). The 1848 report on sanitary conditions said of Alfred Row "the street is very filthy and dirty... the privies still drain into the gutters... Fever and erysipelas are common in this street... the houses being composed of two rooms, one above the other, each occupied by different families. The size of the lower rooms of these houses is 10-feet 1-inch, by 11-feet, (allowing for a recess,) and 6-feet 9-inches in height. In the last house the atmosphere was scarcely to be breathed, even for a moment, with impunity. Four persons sleep in it. Two children had had small-pox, of whom one died; the other was at the height of the eruption."

In the 1861 census the Kirkham family were living at 9 Turville Street, Bethnal Green, with Thomas and Sarah working as a general dealer and charwoman respectively, with their sons Thomas and William working as hawkers, and 14 year-old daughter Sarah working as a nursemaid. They shared the house with 7 other families, totaling 40 people. British History Online describes Turville Street in 1874 as being "in the heart of the slums". Thomas Kirkham had many jobs over his lifetime including comb maker, porter, greengrocer, "traveller" and general dealer - perhaps he struggled to find regular work. Sarah marked Eliza's birth certificate with a cross, indicating that Sarah was unable to write. It is reasonable to assume that the family were very poor and surviving in some of the harshest living conditions of Victorian England.

A death record has been found for Sarah Kirkham - there are no other death index records within 20 years of her last known record that match in terms of name and area. It seems likely to be for the right person however it may be useful to see if there are hospital admission or death records that could provide more evidence. This Sarah Kirkham died 26 Oct 1864 at the London Fever Hospital, 1 day after being admitted to hospital, of typhus bronchitis. Typhus was a bacterial infection spread by fleas and lice, particularly among the poor of Victorian London who lived in overcrowded, and unsanitary conditions. Sarah left a young family when she died - their youngest child Eliza was only 8 years old.

Thomas Sr. and Jr., Mary Ann, Annie and Eliza haven't been found yet in the 1871 census. It's not known when Thomas died although in 1868 and 1869 his children Sarah and William's wedding records don't list him as deceased (which can sometimes be a clue for date of death).

DNA Genealogy

If you are a descendant of Thomas Kirkham and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers

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City of London Lying-In Hospital

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Registrar General. Birth Certificate
   birth certificate for Eliza Kirkham, born 29 Feb 1856; citing 1c/301/340, Jan-Mar quarter 1856, Middlesex registration district, Bethnal Green sub-district.
   Eliza Kirkham birth certificate
2. ↑ General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Marriage Index. (London, England: General Register Office, 1837-Present)
   entry for Thomas William Kirkham, volume 3, page 145, Jan-Feb-Mar quarter 1838, Greater London, London, Middlesex district, Kensington sub-district.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} General Register Office. Marriage Certificate
   marriage certificate for Thomas William Kirkham and Sarah Bower Cooper, married 21 Jan 1838; citing 3/145/389, Jan-Mar quarter 1838, Middlesex registration district, Hammersmith sub-district.
   Thomas Kirkham m. Sarah Cooper
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 Finsbury (metropolitan borough), London, England. City of London Lying-In Hospital Chapel, Baptism Registers
   Thomas William Kirkham, bap. 25 Jun 1815, pg 12.
5. ↑ Battersea, London, England. St. Andrew's Church, Parish Registers
   Alfred Ernest Hannington m. Eliza Mary Delowery, 03 Jun 1900, pg 211.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Church of England. Parish Registers of St Matthew, Bethnal Green
   Thomas Joseph Kirkham, bap. 30 Jan 1842, pg 167.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Middlesex, England. 1861 Census
   Bethnal Green, folio 47, page 7; citing PRO RG 9/250.

   Name Age
   Thomas Kirkman 45
   Sarah Kirkman 44
   Thomas Kirkman 20
   William Kirkman 15
   Sarah Kirkman 13
   Mary Ann Kirkman 11
   Ann Kirkman 9
   Elizabeth Kirkman 5

8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Middlesex, England. 1841 Census
   Bethnal Green, folio 10, page 13; citing PRO HO 107/692/5.

   Name Age
   Thomas Kirkman 21
   Sarah Kirkman 20
   Thomas Kirkman 6 MO

9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} Middlesex, England. 1851 Census
   Bethnal Green, folio 450, page 32; citing PRO HO 107/1539.

   Name Age
   Thomas W Kirkham 34
   Sarah B Kirkham 33
   Thomas J Kirkham 11
   William Kirkham 5
   Sarah Kirkham 3
   Mary Ann Kirkham 9 MO

10. ↑ ^10.0 10.1 Shoreditch, London, England. St. Leonard's Church, Parish Registers
    Sarah Kirkham, bap. 23 Jan 1848, pg 249.
11. ↑ ^11.0 11.1 Shoreditch, London, England. St. Leonard's Church, Parish Registers
    William Kirkham, bap. 21 Sep 1845, pg 56.
12. ↑ ^12.0 12.1 Stepney, London, England. St. George-in-the-East Church, Parish Records, 1754-1921
    Mary Ann Kirkham, bap. 8 Jun 1851, pg 44.
13. ↑ Church of England. Parish of Christ Church, Spitalfields (Middlesex). Parish registers, 1729–1998. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969–2001)
    William Kirkham m. Maria Reader, 17 Aug 1869, pg 168.
14. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of St Matthew, Bethnal Green
    William Joseph Foulkes m. Sarah Kirkham, 25 Oct 1868, pg 165.
15. ↑ ^15.0 15.1 Queensland, Australia. Marriage Registers
    Marriages in the District of Rockhampton: 1873, 83, Henry Edward Swain-Eliza Mary Kirkham.