Tags
Bilston, Coseley, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, First World War, Isle of Wight, Salop Street, Sedgley, St Leonard's Church
Thomas was born in Bilston in 1870, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Swinnerton. They were living in Salop Street, Bilston in 1871, and were at the same address in 1891. The 20-year-old Thomas was working as an iron roller, and was joined in the household by his siblings William, Noah, Joseph, Agnes, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Asenath and Samuel. On 19 April 1891, Thomas married Harriet Morrall at St Leonard’s Church in Bilston. The couple were living in Sedgley by 1901, with three children – Laura, Major and Lillian. There were at 39 Ettingshall Lane, Coseley in 1911, with two additional children, Clara and Maud. By then, Thomas’s occupation was listed as “labourer”.
Thomas enlisted at Wednesbury as a Private in the 3rd Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (service number 22996). Thomas died in the Isle of Wight on 28 August 1916, although it is not clear how he died. He is buried at Parkhurst Military Cemetery on the Isle of Wight.
The Midland Counties Express on 23 October 1915 carried this photograph of the four sons of Arthur Hayward, of High Street, Bilston:
Henry was born in Manchester in about 1873. In 1899, he married Emma Jones in Wolverhampton, and by 1901 they were living at 103 Wolverhampton Street, Bilston (although the 1901 census says he was born in Codsall). The couple were at the same address in 1911, and in both censuses the household consisted of Henry, his wife, and a number of boarders. Henry’s trade was listed as a locomotive engine driver in 1901, and a miner and coal dealer in 1911.
Wolverhampton's War 