Person:Thomas Vincent (20)

Thomas Vincent was baptised on 4th January 1811 at Broadwindsor in Dorset, son of a farmer named John Vincent and his wife Elizabeth. Judging by the places Thomas later quoted as his birthplace in the censuses, it seems likely that the family lived around the hamlet of Netherhay at the northern end of Broadwindsor parish, close to the hamlet of Clapton which is just over the border into the parish of Crewkerne in Somerset.

On 18th April 1833, aged 22, Thomas married Elizabeth Hutchings, who was from Crewkerne. They appear in the 1841 census living in the hamlet of Purtington in the parish of Winsham. They appear to have had four children together, although the youngest died as a baby in 1842, and Elizabeth died shortly afterwards, aged 37.

Eight years later, Thomas married again, with his second wife being Rachel Pyke Gawler. The 1851 census finds them living at Purtington with Thomas's youngest son from his first marriage. By 1861 Thomas and Rachel had moved to nearby Windwhistle Lodge, also called London Lodge, which is a lodge house for the adjoining Cricket House estate, standing at the entrance to the estate's main driveway on the road from London to the south-west (later the A30). Thomas and Rachel appear there together in both the 1861 and 1871 censuses, with Thomas described as an agricultural labourer.

Rachel died early in 1880. Later that year, Thomas married for a third time. His third wife was a widow named Harriet Paul. They married over forty miles away at Weston-super-Mare on the coast. However, after their marriage they returned to Windwhistle Lodge, where the 1881 census describes Harriet as the lodge keeper and Thomas as a labourer. They were still there in 1891, but this time it was Thomas described as the lodge keeper.

Thomas died in 1894, aged 83. He died in the Axbridge district, slightly to the south of the area where he had lived most of his adult life, but he was buried at Cricket St Thomas, where the parish church stands in the middle of Cricket Park, in which Thomas had long lived in one of the lodge houses. Harriet appears to have outlived him by a few months, dying later that same year.

1. ↑ Church of England. Parish Registers of Broadwindsor, Dorset. (Dorchester: Dorset Record Office).

   1811 / January 4 / Thomas S[on] of John & Elizabeth Vincent

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 949; Book 10; Folio 27; Page 11, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Purtington, Winsham, Somerset
   Thomas Vincent, male, 30 [1806-11], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], not born in county
   Elizabeth Vincent, female, 35 [1801-6], born in county
   Bettsy Vincent, female, 7 [1833/4], born in county
   Emma Vincent, female, 5 [1835/6], born in county
   James Vincent, male, 2 [1838/9], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1928; Folio 200; Page 42, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: Purtington, Winsham, Somerset
   Thomas Vinchent, head, married, male, 40 [1810/11], Agricultural Labourer, b. Thorncombe, Dorset
   Rachel Vinchent, wife, married, female, 40 [1810/11], Agricultural Labourer, b. Combe St N., Somerset
   James Vinchent, son, unmarried, male, 12 [1838/9], Agricultural Labourer, b. Winsham, Somerset

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1636; Folio 143; Page 2, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Windwhistle Lodge, Winsham, Somerset
   Thomas Vincent, head, married, male, 49 [1811/12], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Broadwindsor, Dorset
   Rachel Vincent, wife, married, female, 51 [1809/10], b. Combe St Nicholas, Somerset

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 2406; Folio 68; Page 6, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Windwhistle London Lodge, Winsham, Somerset
   Thomas Vincent, head, married, male, 59 [1811/12], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Netherhay, Somerset
   Racheal Vincent, wife, married, female, 61 [1809/10], b. Coombe St Nicholas, Somerset

6. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 2386; Folio 165; Page 23, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: London Lodge, Winsham, Somerset
   Thomas Vincent, head, married, male, 70 [1810/11], Labourer, b. Clapton, Crewkerne
   Harriet Vincent, wife, married, female, 64 [1816/17], Lodge-Keeper, b. Curry Mallett, Somerset

7. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1893; Folio 143; Page 17, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: London Lodge, Winsham, Somerset
   4 rooms occupied
   Thomas Vincent, head, married, male, 80 [1810/11], Lodge-keeper, employed, b. Broadwindsor, Dorset
   Harriet Vincent, wife, married, female, 74 [1816/17], b. Beere Crowcombe, Somerset

8.   Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Thomas VINCENT, June Quarter 1886, Axminster Registration District, Volume 5b, page 4, aged 86 [1807/8]

9. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Parish Church of Cricket St Thomas (Somerset). Parish registers, 1564-1898. (Taunton: Somerset Heritage Service).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Cricket St Thomas in the County of Somerset in the Year 1894
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   99	Thomas Vincent	Windwhistle Lodge	June 22	86 [1807/8]	Jno. Lockwood, Curate