See also
Name:
Mary Ann Thornton1
Sex:
Female
Father:
Mother:
Birth:
14 Mar 1854
Her Baptismal Register entry gives her date of birth although she was baptised 7 years after her birth. Why the long delay is not known. However, her birth registration confirms the year and quarter. The 1871 Census for her father Thomas Thornton give her name as Mary A. Thornton, her birth place as Bethnal Green, London, and age as 17 which gives a calculated year of birth of 1852. A search of the registers from January 1851 to December 1853 produced only one entry for a Mary A. Thornton born in the area, namely Mary Ann Thornton registered in Stepney which is adjacent to Bethnal Green. It is considered that this is the correct registration. At the time of her birth Stepney (and Bethnal Green) were in the civil county of Middlesex.
Census (living with parents):
7 Apr 1861 (age 7)
1861 Census - living with parents
Baptism:
25 Jul 1861 (age 7)
St Bartholomew's Church1
Address: Coventry Road, Bethnal Green, Middlesex
Her siblings Caroline, Martha and Elizabeth were baptised on the same occasion, which would have been attended by their parents, presumably after the incumbent had persuaded their parents that they should have all their children baptised.
Present (sibling):
25 Jul 1861 (age 7)
Present at Baptism of her sister Caroline Ann
Present (sibling):
25 Jul 1861 (age 7)
Present at Baptism of her sister Martha
Present (sibling):
25 Jul 1861 (age 7)
Present at Baptism of her sister Elizabeth
Present (sibling):
17 Mar 1867 (age 13)
Present at Baptism of her sister Louisa
Occupation:
frm 1868 to 1871 (age 13-17)
a chair carver in [L]. The 1871 Census gives her occupation as a chair carver and it was virtually certain that she worked in a nearby workshop specialising in the manudacture of chairs as did other members of her family and many neighbours. It is likely that she started work at the age of 14. Whether this was as a chair carver is not known. Her older sister Caroline was also employed as a chair carver so they may have been trained in the craft as soon as they left school. Later, according to the 1881 Census, another sister Rebecca was also employed as a chair carver. From the evidence it would appear that only women were employed as chair carvers and they stopped work as soon as they started to have a family.
Present (sibling):
18 Jul 1869 (age 15)
Present at Baptism of her sister Emma
Census (living with parents):
2 Apr 1871 (age 17)
1871 Census - living with parents
Death:
1933 (age 79)
Bethnal Green, London6
1872, Register Entry for Marriage of George Thurston and Mary Ann Thornton
1881, 1881 Census for Household of George Thurston in Bethnal Green, London
1891, 1891 Census for Household of George Thurston in Bethnal Green, London
1901, 1901 Census for Household of George Thurston in Bethnal Green, London
1921, 1921 Census for Household of George Thornton in Bethnal Green, London
Spouse:
Marriage:
15 Apr 1872 (age 18)
the District Church of St Peter7
Address: Bethnal Green, Middlesex
Thomas was the bride's brother. The relationship of the other witness to the couple is unknown. The wedding was probably attended by the couples parents and their siblings.
Census for household:
3 Apr 1881 (age 26)
Bethnal Green, London8
Address: 14 Princes Street
The household consisted of George, his wife Mary and their children George (age 7) and Marian (age 5). They had the house to themselves but the size is unknown.
Census for household:
5 Apr 1891 (age 36)
Bethnal Green, London9
Address: 81 Gosset Street
The household consisted of George, his wife Mary, and their children George (age 17), Mary (age 15), Emma (age 8), Caroline (age 2) and Stephen (age 3 months). The family had the house to themselves but lived in 3 rooms. George is working as a cabinet maker on his own account but where is not shown. Some of the houses in Gosset Street are shown as having 4 rooms so perhaps he had a room as a workshop,
Census for household:
31 Mar 1901 (age 46)
Bethnal Green, London10
Address: 81 Gosset Street
The household consisted of George, his wife Mary, and their daughters Emma (age 18) and Caroline (age 12). They have not moved since the last census and still have the house to themselves.
Census for household:
19 Jun 1921 (age 67)
Bethnal Green, London11
Address: 81 Gosset Street
The household consisted of George and his wife Mary.
Parish Register for Baptism of Mary Ann Thornton, St Bartholomew, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 25 July 1861, London Metropolitan Archives.
General Register Office, CRI(E&W) for Birth of Mary Ann Thornton, Event Type: Birth, Registration District: Stepney, Volume: 1c, Page: 525, (Ancestry website). Custom Id: Births 1854 Q2 Stepney, Vol. 1c, Page 525; Quarter and YearApr-Jun 1854Registration DistrictStepneyVolume1cPage525SurnameThorntonGiven NamesMary Ann. General Register Office. Call Number: Births Apr-Jun 1854.
1861 Census for Household of Thomas Thornton in Bethnal Green, London, (Ancestry website). Custom Id: RG9/256, Folio 89, Page 34, Schedule 217; Mary A. Thornton age 17 born Bethnal Green, London. National Archives. Call Number: RG10/502.
Ibid. Mary A. Thornton; occupation Chair Carver. National Archives. Call Number: RG10/502.
Map of Shoreditch in 1893: Introduction, Area: Shoreditch, Sheet: London Sheet 51, (Alan Godfrey Maps, 1893). The furniture trade was centred on Curtain Road in Shoreditch, and extended into Finsbury and Bethnal Green. It employed about 15,000 people – cabinet makers, upholsterers, french polishers, carvers and gilders, and of course sawyers. Nearly all the workshops were small, employing from four to 25 men, and they were highly specialised: one would make dining chairs, another small tables, and a third bookcases.
England and Wales Death Registration Index, Mary A Thurston, Q4 1933, Bethnal Green, Vol. 1c, Page 136, General Register Office.
Parish Register for Marriage of George Thurston and Mary Ann Thornton, District Church of St Peter , Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 15 April 1872, London Metropolitan Archives.
1881 England, Wales & Scotland census, 14 Princes Street, Bethnal Green, London, RG11/433, Folio 90, Page 27, Schedule 141, head of household: George Thurston, National Archives.
1891 England, Wales & Scotland census, 81 Gosset Street, Bethnal Green, London, RG12/258, Folio 119, Page 41, Schedule 298, head of household: George Thurston, National Archives.
1901 England, Wales & Scotland census, 81 Gosset Street, Bethnal Green, London, RG13/286, Folio 163, Page 62, Schedule 424, head of household: George Thurston, National Archives.
1921 England, Wales & Scotland census, 81 Gosset Street, Bethnal Green, London, RG15/01405, Schedule 56, head of household: George Thurston, London Metropolitan Archives.