Great Uncle of
W.P. 'Bill' Richardson
John Thomas was born in the second quarter of 1867, the
second child of Thomas Howey and his wife Georgiana (nee
Turnbull).
He arrived five years after his older sister, Sarah
Isabella, which leads me to believe there may have been
another child/ children in between but, as yet, I can't
verify that.
On the 1871 census, John Thomas was recorded with his
family at Great Usworth Village in Co. Durham, he was 3
years old and the census states he was born in Great
Usworth.
The 1881 census was taken when John Thomas was 13 years
old. He was working for his living in the pit and his
occupation is listed as 'Coal Miner Token **' ( the last
word is not clear)
John Thomas married Bell Gordon on 8th July 1888 at Holy
Trinity Church, Usworth.
Bell was the daughter of miner Joseph Gordon and his
wife Ellen (nee Simm) and she was born in Usworth, the
fifth of their six children.
John Thomas was 21 and his occupation was Weighman, Bell was just 18,
though their marriage record says she was 21.
Their witnesses were James Carter and Frances Ellen
Gordon. Frances was Bell's sister and she and James
married not long after.
By the time of the 1891 census John Thomas was 23 and
living with his wife Bell in Bishopwearmouth in
Sunderland. The address was number 7 & 8 Fore Street,
Bishopwearmouth and it was a Public House.
The Kelly's Directory of 1890 has it listed and it was
called The Victoria. John Thomas was not listed as the
owner.
His occupation was listed in 1891 as 'Hotel Manager'
which sounds quite grand, but the enumerator has written
in at the side 'Pub' so perhaps it was not as grand as
it sounded. He and Bell had a baby aged 7 months, Thomas, and he was born in Gateshead, so it would seem
that the family lived there for a while before going to
Bishopwearmouth to live and work.
There were two other people listed in the house,
Archibald H. Scott who was 17 and was a barman and Mary
Frecker who was 14 and a general domestic servant.
By 1901, John Thomas must have decided that the pub
trade was not for him. The family were living in Birtley
at number 34 Hill Street. He was 33 and his occupation
was down as 'Coal Worker, Underground'. Bell was 31 and
they now had two children. Thomas was 10 and the new
addition was Joseph Gordon who was 7 and had been named
for his maternal Grandfather.
In the first quarter of 1911 John Thomas and Bell had
another son, John. There was quite a gap between the
older children and this little one, his brothers were 20
and 17 when he was born.
The 1911 census recorded the family 9 Riddell Terrace,
Coxlodge, Northumberland. John Thomas was 43 and working
as a 'coal miner - onsetter', his wife, Bell, was
41.
The census return says that they had been married for 22
years and that they'd had 4 children, three of whom were
still living. I have not yet identified the little one
who died but assume he/she was born in the big gap
between Joseph Gordon and John. Their surviving
sons were still living with them. Thomas was 20 and
Joseph Gordon was 17, they were both working in the mine
and were listed as 'putters'. The baby, John, was just 3
months old.
In the first quarter of 1915 John Thomas and Bell had
their last child, James. Sadly he died in the same
quarter.
John Thomas died in the third quarter of 1916, he was 49
years old and his death was registered in the Castle
Ward District. His death was on 18 Sep 1916.
He was working as an Onsetter at Hazelrigg Colliery when
he fell down a shaft. He was buried on 22nd
September at Gosforth, St Nicholas.
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