Person:Thomas Spire (3)

Thomas Spire was baptised on 28th May 1733 at Ashton under Hill, which was in Gloucestershire at the time. He was the son of Margaret Spire, formerly Stokes, and her husband Robert Spire, a weaver.

In 1748 Thomas’s paternal grandfather died, who was also called Thomas Spire. Young Thomas was mentioned in his grandfather’s will. Thomas’s grandmother, Ann, was to inherit all of her husband’s property for her lifetime, but after her death the estate was to be split between various family members. For after his grandmother’s death, Thomas was bequeathed a piece of land called Ganderton’s Close at Elmley Castle in Worcestershire, two of his grandfather’s four looms, described as the woollen loom and the new loom, and his grandfather’s bed, bedstead curtains, bolster, pillows, coverlids, sheets, a great chest from the bedroom and the biggest brass kettle. Thomas’s father Robert was left the other two looms, and they were to split the gears and slays used with the looms equally between them by choosing, with Robert getting first choice.

On 14th April 1752 Thomas obtained a marriage licence allowing him to marry Ann Hobbs of Woolstone, about six miles south of Ashton under Hill. They married at Woolstone on 25th April 1752. Both were said to be twenty years old at the time, although it was less than nineteen years since Thomas’s baptism.

Thomas’s grandmother died in January 1753, and presumably Thomas inherited the land, looms and furniture he had been left at that point.

Thomas and Ann settled in Ashton under Hill after their marriage, having a son, Isaac, baptised there in November 1753. He appears to have been their only child. Ann has yet to be traced for certain after Isaac’s baptism. There are at least three burials of people called Ann Spire at Ashton under Hill between 1768 and 1812, any or none of which may be her.

Thomas appears to have owned some land in Ashton under Hill, being recorded as selling a piece of land there in 1755, when he was described as a weaver.

It has yet to be established when either of Thomas’s parents died, although his father was still alive in 1759.

When Thomas’s son Isaac married in 1774 he was not quite 21 years old. Isaac’s marriage licence was endorsed by Thomas with the statement “I Thomas Spires of the Parish of Ashton Underhill in the County of Gloucester do testify that the above mentioned Isaac Spires is my son and that I give my full consent to the marriage of him with the aforesaid Mary Whitford”.

Isaac and Mary had a daughter in 1775 and a son in 1776, who were Thomas’s only two grandchildren; Mary died aged 26 in 1778 and Isaac never remarried.

Thomas’s grandson married in 1794 and Thomas became a great grandfather in 1796.

Thomas died when he was 79 years old. He was buried on 17th September 1812 at Ashton under Hill.

1. ↑ Bishop's Transcript, in Ashton under Hill, Gloucestershire: Parish Registers (Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester).

   1733 / Baptized / Thomas, Son of Robert & Margaret Spires May 28th

   This baptism has been linked to the Thomas Spire of Ashton under Hill who married Ann Hobbs in 1752 on the basis that their marriage licence appears to show that he was born around 1732 and connected to a Robert Spire and Charles Spire. The Thomas baptised at Ashton under Hill in 1733 had a father called Robert and a younger brother called Charles.

2.   Gloucestershire Archives Catalogue (Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester)
   D1388/box9446/1.

   Deeds relating to land at Ashton under Hill (Gloucestershire): release from T. Spire to W. Phillips 1755; conveyance from W.T. Longbourne to W. Attwood 1857; conveyance of freehold from R.W. Attwood to C. Attwood 1868. Also probated will of William Attwood, made December 1865, giving farm to sons, probate granted September 1870.
   William Attwood died in February 1867.
   Thomas Spire of Ashton under Hill, weaver; William Phillips of Evesham (Worcestershire), gentleman; William Thomas Longbourne; William Attwood; Richard William Attwood; Charles Attwood.

3. ↑ Bishop's Transcript, in Ashton under Hill, Gloucestershire: Parish Registers (Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester).

   A Transcript of all the Baptisms, Burials, and Marriages in the Parish of Ashton under hill in the Diocese of Glocester from March 25th till December 31st 1812 / Burials / Sept[embe]r 17th Spiers Thomas

   The Genealogist's transcript of the Ashton under Hill registers notes that the Thomas buried on 17th September 1812 was recorded as being 80 years old. The age is not shown on the Bishop's Transcript, and so is presumably only shown on the Parish Register; needs to be confirmed at Worcestershire Archives.