Born: 1846 at Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England
Parents: Suzy Thomas 1823- ? after 1871, father not recorded
Siblings: None known
Married: 1. Hannah Stansfield 1848 -1882 14 Oct 1969 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
2. Jane Hardisty 1855-1935 yon 25 Sept 1885 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Offspring: 1. Sarah 1870 -? who married railway stoker William Garlick in 1892 in Altofts
2. Sydney Hardisty Thomas 1886-1970
Died: About 1905
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William’s 1849 baptism showing his mother to be a single mother.
William Thomas was born in Garden Street, Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire and then lived at nearby Heptonstall, his mother Suzy’s birthplace. In the 1861 census Suzy was a was a cotton power loom weaver and William a ‘mule piecer’ who would have been one of two boys helping to run a spinning mule.
In 1869 when William married his first wife Hannah Stansfield he was a ‘railway stoker’ living in Heptonstall. A ‘railway stoker’ or ‘fireman’ shovelled coal from the coal tender hooked on the back of the locomotive into the into the fire box and kept the steam engine running smoothly.
Mr Garlick and unnamed, probably Sarah, Sydney’s half sister
William and Hannah soon moved to Thornes, just south of Wakefield where their daughter Sarah was born. Hannah died in 1882 and William married Jane Hardisty at West Parade Chapel, Wakefield on 25 September 1885 . By the time of his marriage to Jane William had been promoted to a railway engine driver. Sydney, born a year later appears to have been their only child.
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After Sydney’s daughter Catherine Thomas died in 2006 Carolyn was handed some family papers and a photograph album containing pictures of members of the Thomas and Hardisty families, the best of which are shown on the family’s pages.
Mr and Mrs K Thomas, cousin of Mr W Thomas.
Sir Malcolm Sergeant
In addition there is a photo of the conductor Sir Malcolm Sergeant taken in 1917 or 1918. Between 1914 and 1924 Malcolm Sargent was titular organist at Melton Mowbray church while he studied musicology at Durham, graduating in 1919.
Source: Family papers and ancestry.co.uk
