AMROTH

THOMAS SHORT

Thomas Short married Ann Arnold on the 14th February 1828 at Kingswear Church. From census returns Ann was born in 1808/9 in Dartmouth. For further details about her ancestry and family click here.
Both in the baptism records of his eldest sons and in the 1841 Census Thomas's occupation is given as a Mason and he was obviously following in the family trade. In 1851 the family were still living in Higher Street, Kingswear but in 1861 were in St Stephen St. By 1871 they were back at 11 Higher Street.
Thomas's death is recorded on a tablet in Kingswear Church:

"Mr Thomas Short, mason of Kingswear.
He went to the cove at Kingswear Castle
to save from drowning Sarah Ellis and lost his life.
July 22nd 1871."

To read an eyewitness account of the event - CLICK HERE

Thomas
Thomas was baptised on the 15th January 1829. By 1851 he, like his father, was a mason. He married Marjery Hannah Knight in Q1 1857 (ref Stepney 1c 760). This marriage location is interesting; Marjery was considerably older than Thomas and came from Flushing, Cornwall. They presumably met when she was living with her husband Thomas (a Coastguard) in Kingswear - in Higher Street in the 1851 Census.
No trace of Henry and Marjery has been found in the 1861 Census but ten years later they were living in Clifton, Bristol. He was a plasterer aged 42; her age is given as 55. Marjery died in Q2 1876 (ref Clifton 6a 92) and her age was given then as 68.
In 1881 Thomas was at 54 Wolseley Road, Horfield, Bristol, widowed, a builder and plasterer. In 1891 and 1901 he is back at the Post Office in Kingswear - still a widower. Bearing in mind the age of his wife it is unlikely that he had any children.

Henry
Baptised on the 29th February 1832 he died as a baby and was buried on the 26th March 1832.

William
In 1851 he was a joiners apprentice and he married Anne Elizabeth Stone in Dartmouth in Q4 1856 (ref Totnes 5b 329). They had six children all of whom were baptised at the Dartmouth Methodist Church:

• William born 15/10/1857, baptised 8/11/1857
• Ellen born 11/8/1859, baptised 23/8/1859
• Mary Anne born 3/7/1861, baptised 21/8/1861
• Thomas born 17/7/1863, baptised 5/8/1863
• Emma born 24/12/1866, baptised 26/2/1867, died 25/4/1867
• Fred born 1/10/1868, baptised 5/1/1869

In 1871 the family were living in Newcomen Road, Dartmouth. Sometime in the next nine years they emigrated and ended up, in 1880, in San Francisco. William was a carpenter but the sons appeared not to have followed his trade - the eldest, William, was a butcher while Thomas was a rope worker.
I am unable to trace the descendants - but at least I know that they exist! In the 1950s a visit to Dartmouth by one of them was recorded in the local paper.

John Eales
Married Louisa Fogwell Goodridge in Dartmouth in the early 1860's. Next in the direct line of descent, he and his wife have their own page

James Henry
Married Ellen Lamble in Apr-Jun 1870. Ellen died on 19th January 1885 and is buried in Kingswear. James Henry subsequently re-married - to Bessie Lamble (who was Ellen's sister) in Jan-Mar 1886.
James (died 1st October 1911) and his wife Bessie (d 27th February 1923) are buried at Kingswear.
James, though not an ancestor, also has his own page - here!

Ann Eliza
Married a mariner from Teignmouth - George Farrant in Q3 1866 (ref Totnes 5b 307). In 1871 George - a switchman on the railway - and Ann were living in Torquay. They had two children, Minnie M born in 1869 and Kate J born in late 1870. Two further children followed - Mabel Anna in 1881 and Ida Anne in 1884. In the censuses George's place of birth is given as Sidbury - born c 1841. In 1881 he was a railway porter and they were living at 3, Erin Cottages, Tormohan and in 1891 they were living in Lymington Road, Torquay and he was a railway booking porter. Minnie was now a music teacher and Kate a dressmaker.
1901 found George and Ann living at Vale Terrace, Torquay with daughters Mabel, a teacher, and Ida, a shop assistant. In 1911 they were back in Lymington Road. George was now retired and only Ida, by now a music teacher, was still with them.
In the picture Ann would have been 73, George 77

Ellen
Married Thomas Clark and had four children, two daughters - Ina born in 1871 and Flora born in 1874 - and two sons - Walter (1880) and Wreford (1885).
Thomas Clark was a baker and grocer - originally from Stokes Bay in Hampshire - born c1844. In 1881 they lived on Brixham Road in Kingswear. In 1891 Thomas was the postmaster at Kingswear and the two daughters were both telegraphists. In 1901 they were still at Kingswear Post Office and Wreford, the younger son was a messenger. Walter had moved away and was a Post Office Clerk in Wigan.
By 1911 Ellen had died and Thomas was living with his sister-in-law Ann Farrant and her husband in Torquay. No trace of the children has been found.
No pictures of Ellen but here, at least, is her husband