Person:Thomas Lewis (117)

Thomas Lewis's origins have yet to be established. The age given when he died suggests that he was born around 1739. Thomas's first confirmed sighting is on 1st October 1771 when he married Sarah Northern at Willen in Buckinghamshire.

Thomas and Sarah went on to have eight children baptised at Willen between 1772 and 1790. Two of the children died young in 1777 and 1784, whilst their eldest son died aged sixteen in 1788.

In 1791 Thomas's daughter Elizabeth had a son, who was Thomas's first grandchild.

Sarah died in 1793, when their youngest son was only two years old.

Thomas was one of two people called Thomas Lewis listed at Willen in the Posse Comitatus of 1798. This was a register of men aged between 15 and 60 years old who may be called upon for military service in light of the threat of French invasion. Both men were described as labourers. Presumably they were Thomas and his son.

Thomas's daughter Elizabeth died in 1808.

Thomas outlived Sarah by nearly thirty years. He had at least fifteen grandchildren born in his lifetime, as well as several great grandchildren. He was buried at Willen on 10th March 1823, when he was said to be 83 years old. His burial record calls him 'Thomas Lewis senior' to distinguish him from his son Thomas Lewis who had remained in Willen.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Beckett, Ian F. W. (Ian Frederick William). The Buckinghamshire posse comitatus 1798. (Buckinghamshire Record Society, 1985).

   WILLEN
   Labourers
   ...Thomas Lewis
   Thomas Lewis...

   Clearly there were two Thomas Lewises in Willen at the time of the Posse Comitatus of the right age to be recorded, both labourers.

2. ↑ Burials register, in Church of England. Willen Parish Registers, 1665-1981. (Aylesbury: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies).

   BURIALS in the Parish of Willen in the County of Buckingham in the Year 1823
   No.	Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   21	Thomas Lewis Sen[io]r	Willen	March 10th	83 [1739/40]	Tho[ma]s Gardner Vicar