THE THORNS

notes by P John Partington

 PETER THORN (bef. 1737 - 1768) AND HIS FOREBEARS

Our branch of the Thorn family can trace its pedigree with a fair degree of confidence back across many centuries, to William de Spineto (the Latin version of ‘Thorn’) in the thirteenth century (see Appendix below).  However, a good level of documentary evidence is available only from the time of our ancestor Peter, a “farmer of Kingston”, who married Elizabeth Hall in 1749.  The couple had six children:  Ann born in 1752, Peter in 1753, another Peter in 1755, William Thomas in 1756, Francis in 1758 and Elizabeth in 1762.  Peter died on 26 January 1768 and Elizabeth on 26 October 1789.

THE CHILDREN OF PETER  (bef. 1737 - 1768)

Peter’s first child, Ann, was born on 12 November 1752, and died early the following year.

Peter’s second child, Peter, was born on 29 November 1753, and died on 24 September the following year.

Peter’s third child, another Peter, was born on 17 September 1755.  He married Mary Mobbs, by whom he had fifteen children:   Peter born in 1790, William in 1792, Thomas in 1794, Elizabeth in 1796, Alexander in 1798, Charles and Frederick Skinner in 1801, Joseph in 1804, Amelia in 1805, Henry in 1807, Francis in 1809, Caroline Catherine in 1811, Arabella and Constantina in 1814 and Herbert in 1815 (see below).  Mary died on 25 November 1821, aged fifty, and Peter in November 1825.

Peter’s fourth child, William Thomas, was born on 22 December 1756.  He married [name unknown], by whom he had two children, Thomas and Elizabeth (see below).  He was in business at 75 Newgate, while living at 16 The Terrace, Islington Green.  He was widowed in 1836, and died six years later.

Peter’s fifth child, Francis, was born on 16 December 1758, and “died young”.

Peter’s sixth child, Elizabeth, was born on 1 October 1762.  She married David William Dean, by whom she had four children:  David, William, John and Henry – the last two being born in 1788 and 1790.

THE CHILDREN OF PETER  (1755 - 1821)

Peter’s first child, Peter, was born on 4 September 1790. He married a “Mrs Crowther” and died on 14 May 1847.  There were no children.   Apparently he was the builder of Blackfriars Bridge in London, his brother Alexander being the architect.

Peter’s second child, William, was born on 29 August 1792.  He married Ellen Salamon at St Martin’s in the Fields on 14 May 1817, and they had thirteen children:  Julia born in 1818, William Thomas in 1819, Peter in 1821, Frederick in 1822, Ellen in 1824, Mary Ann in 1825, Elizabeth in 1827, Amelia in 1828, Louisa in 1830, Alexander in 1832, Emily in 1833, Charles in 1835 and Kate in 1837 (details below).  William was the founder of Thorn coachbuilders.  He died in May 1847 and Ellen in February 1856.

Peter’s third child, Thomas, was born on 5 March 1794 and died, without issue, on 6 October 1816.

Peter’s fourth child, Elizabeth, was born on 26 January 1796.  She married Thomas [surname unknown], by whom she had three children:  William Fulsford, John and Elizabeth – the last-named being born in 1829.

Peter’s fifth child, Alexander, was born on 29 June 1798.  He married Charlotte Irons, by whom he had a son [name unknown] who “died at sea”.  After Charlotte’s death, Alexander married an Elizabeth, and after her death he married a third time:  Rebecca.  There were no further children.  Apparently Alexander was the architect of Blackfriars Bridge in London, his brother Peter being the builder.

Peter’s sixth child, Charles, was born on 2 February 1801.  He died, unmarried, on 8 July 1825.

Peter’s seventh child, Frederick Skinner, was born apparently on 8 November 1801 (though that date doesn’t seem compatible with his brother Charles’ birth).   He died in September 1818.

Peter’s eighth child, Joseph, was born on 7 June 1804.  He had one son, another Joseph, and died on 20 February 1851. Joseph junior died without issue.

Peter’s ninth child, Amelia, was born on 8 July 1805, and died, unmarried, on 16 September 1826.

Peter’s tenth child, Henry, was born on 10 December 1807, and died, unmarried, on 17 January 1824.

Peter’s eleventh child, Francis, was born on 3 February 1809, and died on 5 January 1812.

Peter’s twelfth child, Caroline Catherine, was born on 19 May 1811.   She married a John Grove, and died on 15 January 1847.

Peter’s thirteenth and fourteenth children, twins Arabella and Constantina, were born on 26 July 1814;  both died a couple of weeks later, on 12 August.

Peter’s fifteenth child, Herbert, was born on 13 September 1815, and died on 29 December that same year.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM  (1792 -1847)

William’s first child, Julia, was born on 24 February 1818 and died, unmarried, on 26 March 1836.

William’s second child, William Thomas, was born on 26 May 1819.  He married Mary Ann Mott, and they had nine children:  Rosa Sophia born in 1851, Eleanor in 1853, Marion in 1855, William Thomas in 1856, Fanny in 1858, Oliver in 1860, Walter in 1863, Gertrude in 1865 and Frederick Cecil in 1867 (details below).  With his brother Frederick, William continued the family business, as “W & F Thorn, coachbuilders”.   He died on 6 October 1881 at the Manor House, Chiswick.  Mary died on 6 February 1910.

William’s third child, Peter, was born on 21 May 1821.   He married Charlotte Eleanor Morris, by whom he had two daughters:   Charlotte born in about 1850 and Amy (details below).   He died on 4 February 1871, and Charlotte about nine years later.

William’s fourth child, Frederick, was born in London on 14 December 1822.  On 18 September 1850 he married Emily Hodgkinson, and they had three sons:  Frederick Charles William born in 1852, Henry Alfred Alexander in 1854 and Digby in 1856 (details below).  Emily died on 18 May 1856, and Frederick married Ellen in 1858.  It seems likely that a daughter, Ellen Hodgkinson, was born the following year.  He was still alive in 1881, when he was living at 8 Addison Road in Kensington with Ellen and his eldest son.

William’s fifth child, Ellen, was born on 15 March 1824.  In the 1880s she was single, “in a convent at Bristol”.

William’s sixth child, Mary Ann, was born on 11 October 1825 and died, unmarried, on 17 September 1853.

William’s seventh child, Elizabeth, was born on 3 May 1827 and died, unmarried, in September 1855.

William’s eighth child, Amelia, was born on 3 December 1828 and died, unmarried, on 26 December 1858.

William’s ninth child, Louisa, was born on 19 June 1830.  On 10 July 1860 in New York she married Abel Easton, by whom she had three children:  Emily Louisa in 1861, George Thorn in 1862 and Sarah Frances in 1865.  Louisa died on 21 October 1880.

William’s tenth child, Alexander, was born on 19 April 1832 in Shepherds Bush.  On 1 November 1864 he married Lily S Nowell, by whom he had eleven children:  Percy Alexander Newell born in 1865, Lily Florence in 1867, Francis Edward in 1868, Constance Mabel in 1869, Arthur Reynolds in 1861, Ethel Madeleine in 1873, Evelyn May in 1874, Cyril Hunter Robert in 1876, Nora Violet in 1877, Winifred Irene in 1883 and Harold Eustace in 1889 (details below).  In 1881 Alexander & Lily and the children were living at 1 Elm Park Gardens, Chelsea:   Alexander was a “builder employing 383 men and 11 boys”.

William’s eleventh child, Emily, was born on 25 October 1833.  She never married.

William’s twelfth child, Charles, was born on 10 August 1835.  On 2 August 1859 he married Clara Hammond at St Stephen’s, Westbourne Park, and they had seven children:  the first two, Charles Hammond & William Hammond, dying at birth in 1860 & 1861 respectively, followed by Naomi Ellen in 1862, Stanley Ferdinand Hammond in 1864, Beatrice Mary in 1865, Bernard Charles Hammond in 1867 and Clifford Salamon in 1868 (details below). Charles was still alive in 1877.

William’s thirteenth child, Kate, was born on 5 April 1837.  She married a Rev Peter Royston and died, childless, in April 1884.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM THOMAS  (1819 - 81)

William Thomas’ first child, Rosa Sophia, was born on 20 June 1851.  On 3 March 1891 she married Philip Julius Jonas, by whom she had three children:  Julia Phyllis in 1892, Rosa Mabel in 1893 and Eva Mary in 1895.

William Thomas’ second child, Eleanor, was born in 1853.  On 3 November 1874 she married John Henry Hunter;  there were no children.  She died sometime after 1909.

William Thomas’ third child, Marian, was born in 1855.  On 21 October 1880 she married Edward Mark Blyth, and they had seven children:  Elsie Marion in 1881, Francis Edward in 1883, Hilda St Osyth in 1885, Carrington Wilson in 1888, Bernard Oliver in 1892, Geoffrey Maurice in 1895 and Leonard Matthew in 1898.

William Thomas’ fourth child, William Thomas, was born on 21 October 1856 in Kensington.  In 1881 he was living at 11 Ladbroke Grove with his recently widowed sister Fanny and her one-year old son Morris, and his brothers Oliver and Walter;  his occupation is recorded as ‘coach-builder’.  On 1 August 1883 he married Elizabeth Sennett, with whom he had three sons:  William Sennett born in 1885, Terence Conrad in 1888 and Dudley Oswald in 1891.  Dudley was killed in action in France in 1918.

William Thomas’ fifth child, Fanny, was born in Kensington on 24 August 1858.  In 1879 she married Morris Bennet Tasker, by whom she had a son, also called Morris Bennet.  Morris senior died in 1880, and the following year Fanny was living with three of her brothers at 11 Ladbroke Grove.  In 1885 Fanny remarried:   a doctor, George Douglas Pidcock, by whom she had three further children:   George Douglas Henzell born in 1886, Claudius William in 1891 and Bertram Henzell in 1892.

William Thomas’ sixth child, Oliver, was born on 3 May 1860.  In 1881 he was living with other members of the family at 11 Ladbroke Grove, and working as a ‘tea broker apprentice’.  Soon afterwards he married Kathleen Bayley, by whom he had four children:  Maxwell Oliver born in about 1886, Eric in 1889, Roger in 1892 and Edith Olive Gertrude in 1896.

William Thomas’ seventh child, Walter, was born in 1863 in Shaftesbury, Dorset.  In 1881 he was living with other members of the family at 11 Ladbroke Grove, and working as a ‘tea broker apprentice’.  He married Ada Cave, by whom he had two sons:  Alan Walter born in 1894 and Harold Jarvis Cave in 1898.

William Thomas’ eighth child, Gertrude, was born in Kensington in 1865.   In 1881 she was boarding at school at Park House Park Mansion in Hastings.

William Thomas’ ninth child, Frederick Cecil, was born in 1867.  He married Sarah Creigh, by whom he had twin daughters, Audrey and Cecile, born in 1894.

THE CHILDREN OF PETER  (1821 - 1871)

Peter’s first child, Charlotte, was born in London in about 1850.  In 1877, in Kensington, she married Percy Thomas MacQuoid, by whom she had a child who died in infancy.  She and Percy divorced in 1890, with a Benjamin Lewis Mosely being cited as co-respondent;  Charlotte married him the following year.

Peter’s second child Amy is known to have been alive in 1877;  she “died single” not long afterwards.

THE CHILDREN OF FREDERICK  (1822 - aft. 1880)

Frederick’s first child, Frederick Charles William, was born in Kilburn, Middlesex, on 1 April 1852.  He married in 1874 and died, without issue, some time after 1880.

Frederick’s second child, Henry Alfred Alexander, was born in Middlesex on 28 April 1854.  He was married twice:  first, in 1873, to Anne Cooke, by whom in 1876 he had a son, Henry Gilbert Alexander; and secondly to Ellen Forester Ayres, by whom he had two daughters, Ethel Rose and Mabel Ellen (details of all children below).

Frederick’s third child, Digby, was born in 1856, and died “in infancy”.

THE CHILDREN OF HENRY ALFRED ALEXANDER  (1854 - aft. 1884)

Henry Alfred Alexander’s son by his first marriage, Henry Gilbert Alexander, was born in Hammersmith in 1876.  He is known to have been alive in 1881.

Henry Alfred Alexander’s elder daughter by his second marriage was Mabel Ellen, born on 13 February 1885.  Nothing else is known at present.

Henry Alfred Alexander’s younger daughter by his second marriage was Ethel Rose.   Nothing else is known at present.

THE CHILDREN OF ALEXANDER  (1832 - aft. 1887)

Alexander’s first child, Percy Alexander Nowell, was born on 6 November 1865.  He married Sophie Antoinette Preston, with whom he had two children, Beryl Antoinette in 1895 and Sackville Alexander in 1897.  After Percy’s death, Sophie married Lumley Laurence Clery.

Alexander’s second child, Lily Florence, was born on 7 February 1867.

Alexander’s third child, Francis Edward, was born on 14 January 1868 in Chelsea.  In 1881 he was living with his family at 1 Elm Park Gardens in Chelsea.

Alexander’s fourth child, Constance Mabel, was born in Chelsea on 5 October 1869.  In 1881 she was living with her family at 1 Elm Park Gardens in Chelsea.   She married a John Kerr, by whom she had three daughters.

Alexander’s fifth child, Arthur Reynolds, was born on 8 October 1871, his sixth, Ethel Madeleine, on 13 April 1873, his seventh, Evelyn May, on 17 September 1874, his eighth, Cyril Hunter Robert, on 20 April 1876, his ninth, Nora Violet, on 19 December 1877, all in Chelsea.  In 1881 they were living with their parents at 1 Elm Park Gardens in Chelsea.

Alexander’s tenth child, Winifred Irene, was born on 6 February 1883.   Nothing further is known at present.

Alexander’s eleventh child, Harold Eustace, was born in May 1889.  He married Beatrice Beryl Robinson, with whom he had a son: Patrick Arthur, born on 22 November 1919.

THE CHILDREN OF CHARLES  (1835 - aft. 1867)

Charles’ first two children, Charles Hammond & William Hammond, were born in 1860 & 1861 respectively:  both died in infancy.

Charles’ third child, Naomi Ellen, was born on 25 November 1862.  She married a Dr John Stacey, and they had four daughters and a son, Henry.

Charles’ fourth child, Stanley Ferdinand Hammond, was born on 10 February 1864.  In 1895/6 he married Emma Marian Stevens, with whom he had two children – Gladys Clare Hammond born in 1897 and Stanley Charles Hammond in 1901.

Charles’ fifth child, Beatrice Mary, was born in 1865.  In 1881 she was a school boarder at 37 Elsham Road, Kensington.  She married William Kent, by whom she had three children:  Frederick, Clifford and Geoffrey.

Charles’ sixth child, Bernard Charles Hammond, was born on 4 January 1867 in Norwich.  Still in Norwich, he married Mary Louisa Race, with whom he had two daughters.

Charles’ seventh child, Clifford Salamon, was born on 6 September 1868 in Norwich.  In 1895 he married Rose Edith Ayris, with whom he had three children:  Humphrey born in 1897, Barbara Nell in 1900 and Richard in 1905.    In 1901 the family were living on Mill Hill Road, Norwich:  Clifford was a ‘coachbuilder’.  Rose died in 1919 and Clifford in 1920.

THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM THOMAS  (1756 - 1842)

William Thomas’ first child, Thomas, was married twice.  With his second wife, Elizabeth Page, he had a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, born on 15 August 1833.  Sarah Elizabeth married Miles Smith, by whom she had a daughter – another Sarah Elizabeth, who died in infancy.

William Thomas’ second child, Elizabeth, married John Watson, by whom she had a son, William Thomas.  Elizabeth died in 1872.

there are some innacuracies in the following paragraphs, which I hope to correct soon

It seems that the Peter Thorn (d. 1768) with whom these notes began was the fifth in a line of fathers and sons each named Peter – the earliest of whom married an Elizabeth Bellchamber in 1618.  That Peter’s father was William, and his grandfather Walter.  Walter’s parents were Nicholas & Marjery, and his grandparents Nicholas & Alice who married in 1590.  That Nicholas was himself the son of another Nicholas “of Sonning” (born c. 1450) – one of some distinguished Thornes (as the name was almost invariably then spelt) in the Reading area.  So for example Nicholas’ uncle John (d. 1519) was abbot of Reading, succeeding his own uncle (another John) in the post.  John senior founded Reading Grammar School in 1487.  That John’s father was also named  John, the nephew of yet another John who was prebend of Lincoln in about 1384.  John of Lincoln’s parentage is not clear, but his grandfather was probably Nicholas de Spineto (ie ‘Thorn’), who was alive in 1349.  Nicholas’ father and grandfather were both named William – the latter marrying a Johanna de Marcos in about 1279.

The brother of John (d. 1519, Abbot of Reading, referred to in the paragraph above) was Robert, who married Joan Withypole “of Ipswich”, and was the forebear of a branch of the Thorn family which settled in Bristol.  He sailed with Cabot and discovered Newfoundland;  one of his sons, Nicholas, accompanied Henry VIII on the latter’s visit to Bristol which resulted in its elevation to city status, while another son, Robert, founded Bristol Grammar School in 1532.

The father of Nicholas of Sonning (born c.1450, above) was Robert, his grandfather Thomas and his great-grandfather Robert “of St Albans, died 1458”.

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