Thomas WHITEHOUSE was the 4th of 7 sons by Joseph WHITEHOUSE & possible wife Mary (Collins? Groves?-unverified). Thomas and second wife, Sarah, are my paternal 2nd great-grandparents through my grandmother Harriet Bunn.
Thomas was born about 10 July 1829 in Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, England, UK. The family moved to the Dudley area in the early 1840s, which was several miles away, likely for work in the coalmines. This region is a southern part of the major coalfields running through the middle of England. See image with sketch of coalmining in Dudley here with smokestacks spewing forth...
Thomas married an Elizabeth or a Sarah _____, likely in 1852 in Dudley - this has yet to be confirmed. So many Thomas Whitehouse men, so many Elizabeth and Sarah/Sara women, and Whitehouse surnames. More digging still to do. A great example yet again that there could be a surprising number of same-named men with the same surname in the same place, marrying the same-named wife's first name, around the same time. Sigh. Sometimes research is a frustrating slog! Thomas's first wife died within a year, no children noted.
As a widower, Thomas then married on 16 July 1854 to Sarah PRICE, whose first husband Thomas Shutt had died a year earlier in 1853 in a coal mining accident. Their daughter, Nancy Shutt, was born in June 1853, in Dudley, Worcestershire, England. So, both Thomas and Sarah were widowed at young ages. Thomas' step-daughter Nancy is seen as a Whitehouse child on all censuses.
On the marriage record, it states that Thomas was a "Furnaceman"; his father (deceased) was a Nailer, and Sarah's father was a Miner. See document below.
Thomas and Sarah had the following 5 children in the Dudley/Netherton region:
1. Sarah Elizabeth [ancestor], b. 7 Nov 1858, d. 30 Sep 1928 in Barrow-in-
Furness, Cumbria; m. 18 Aug 1879 to George BUNN b. 26 Apr 1857
[search Bunn posts on this site]; 9 children
2. Benjamin, b. Mar 1867, d. after 1901; m. Margaret Milray abt Sep 1890 in
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria; no children
3. Henry, b. est 1869; m. Martha ___ est 1888; one daughter; not verified
4. William (Billy), b. 1871; m. Florence (Flo) 3rdQ 1889; 4 sons known
5. Enoch, b. 1875; no further information on him to date - too many Enoch
Whitehouse men in the region to clarify the 'right one.'
One should take note of the blank years between the 1st child and 2nd. Normally with few birth control measures, children would come every 1-3 years apart. So there appear to be at least 2 children lost. Perhaps miscarriages, perhaps illness, perhaps a record misfiled - no details found. as yet.
On the 1891 Census, Thomas & Sarah are living still in Barrow, with Benjamin and his wife Margaret and the two younger boys, William & Enoch, working in the Iron Works and Steel Works. In the 4th Quarter of 1895, Sarah died, aged 60 years,; no information anywhere about how she died so young.
The 1901 Census in Barrow shows Thomas, listed as aged 74, is living with Benjamin & wife, with their 3 yr old son William. Benjamin continues to be working at the Iron Works, and Thomas is also still working, this time as a "Shipyard General Labourer." A hard-working man all his life. Also, clearly the Iron Works and Shipyard were still going strong, providing good work/wages for the men.
Finally, we find that Thomas died in the 3rd Quarter of 1909, aged 80, when compared with his baptism record of 10 July 1829. Ages found on censuses are always taken with a grain of salt, as one doesn't know who gave the information. On the 1901 census, for example, his daughter-in-law may have given the information as both men would have been working.
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