Thomas, Edwin

Singer

Collection date: Apr 1914

Area: Somerset - West

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Edwin Thomas at Dulverton (1844-1916): age 69, 3 songs (FT2916ff) on 29 Apr 1914: Sharp noted that Edwin was a stonebreaker, a job often given (counter-intuitively) to older men, who could sit and break up smaller stones required for road construction etc. Edwin was baptised at Brompton Regis on 1/9/1844, son of Charles Thomas, farmer and his wife Martha. In 1851 Charles Thomas had a farm of 230 acres but in 1861 he was listed as a ‘farm bailiff’ at Venn, Brushford. Edwin, aged 32, married Charlotte Stark, 20 a servant, at Brompton Regis church on 21/5/1876. They had 11 children. Edwin worked as an agricultural labourer for the rest of his life, first at Lower Broford farm in Dulverton (1881,1891) and then at Highercombe Cottages Dulverton in 1901 (RG13/2266 f51 p5) and in 1911. Edwin died in Jan qr 1916 (Dulverton 5c 395).