Thomas Stevens was a first cousin three times removed. His grandfather was my three greats grandfather. Of course, our lives never overlapped so I never knew him and nor do I have any photos of him. But he appears at the head of some family bible pages which were once sent to me.
Yes, that’s him, born October 23rd 1848 – 100 years before I came along. And he, like all my Stevens family, was born in Isfield – some were born in neighbouring parishes.
But his descendants clearly had a more mixed life for we see that Stephen married a girl from Reading. She was called Mary Holyfield before she married. And their marriage took place in Salisbury which is in my current home county – neither of theirs!
Children were born in Derby and then Worcester and perhaps the family stayed Midlands based then for when Thomas died it was at Kidderminster. Oh! Except that in 1891 he was living and working in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales.
Thomas appears to have worked in the grocery trade.
The writing continues in a different hand to record the death of Thomas in 1894 and also shows family births up to 1975. But this male line of Stevens died out so all my unknown relatives still alive, who descend from Thomas now have different surnames.
Locksands Life 