Person:Thomas King (120)

Thomas King's origins have yet to be established. Judging by the age quoted for him when he died, he was probably born in about 1777. His first confirmed sighting is on 1st May 1804 at St Albans in Hertfordshire, when he was married to a Mary Arnold at St Michael's Church on the western side of the town. Both Thomas and Mary marked the marriage register rather than signing it.

Thomas and Mary had a son named William baptised the following year at the Abbey Church in the centre of St Albans. Just over two years later they had a daughter named Hannah baptised at St Peter's Church on the northern edge of St Albans. Therefore in the space of just over four years the family had appeared in three separate churches in St Albans. Perhaps they moved about within the town.

Some time between summer 1807 and autumn 1808 the family left St Albans and moved about eleven miles to the north, to Caddington, a large parish straddling the Hertfordshire Bedfordshire border near the town of Luton. At Caddington they had three more children: James in 1808, John in 1812 and Mary in 1814. Thomas worked as a labourer, whilst Mary was a straw plaiter.

Thomas died at the age of 48. There was probably an illness in the family, as Thomas's eldest son William died at about the same time aged 20; both were buried at Caddington on 5th January 1826. Thomas and Mary had been married for nearly 22 years. Mary outlived Thomas by over 24 years, spending the rest of her life in Caddington with her children.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Burials register, in Church of England. Caddington Parish Registers. (Bedford: Bedfordshire Record Office).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Caddington in the County of Bedford in the Year 1826
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   323	Thomas King	Tipple Hill	January 5	48	William Ives, Vicar

   Buried same day as his eldest son, William.