Part of the Earley family tree (Great-great-grandfather)
Family background and early life
Thomas Peers was probably born in the spring of 1836 in central London; little is known about his parentage.
On 19 February 1840, 28-year old Ann Peers, described as a “widow unable to support her children”, was admitted to the St Marylebone Workhouse. Originally from the Isle of Man, she was accompanied by her three children: Mary, aged 5, Thomas, aged 3, and Samuel, aged 1.
It is not known how long the family remained in the workhouse, but the three children were re-admitted on 10 July 1840, without their mother. Mary was now 6, Thomas was 4 and Samuel was 16 months: their address was recorded as 10 Chalton Street [in the Somers Town area, near King’s Cross Station]. The children were admitted into the infirmary; the workhouse admissions register states “having itch [scabies] – their mother is a widow”. Again, there is no record of the date of discharge.
Return to the workhouse
Nothing more is known about Thomas until 22 January 1857 when, now aged 20, he was admitted into the St Marylebone workhouse, declared “destitute”. Over the next four years, he was a frequent “visitor” to the workhouse.
On 29 September 1858, Thomas, now 22, and living at George Street, Marylebone, returned to the infirmary. The workhouse register states that he was “to be medically treated” and was “to remain [until] strong enough to go to work”. He remained in the infirmary for a month and was discharged on 26 October with “a loaf and a ticket for work”.
On 18 January 1859, he was found destitute and homeless at the workhouse gate. He was admitted and put to work picking oakum, but discharged four days later after being turned out of the oakum shed for abusive behaviour. On his discharge, he was provided with two pairs of shoes and an old jacket.
On 8 July 1859, he was admitted suffering from the “itch”. His normal address was recorded as 8 Gees Court. He was discharged on 16 July; during his brief period in the workhouse, he was again put to work picking oakum.
Finally, on 28 December 1860, now living at Molyneux Street, he was admitted to the workhouse infirmary suffering with catarrh
Marriage and children
On 25 July 1864, Thomas, now 28, married 24-year old Rebecca Bignell at The Old Church in St Pancras, London. Thomas was now working as a painter; on the marriage register, his father was recorded as Thomas Peers, dec’d.
The couple had five children, including four daughters:
Alice Louisa Peers, born at Cobourg Street, Somers Town on 21 May 1865
Emily Mary Peers, born at Chartridge, near Chesham (Rebecca’s family home), on 25 January 1867
Elizabeth Maud Peers, born at Great Stanmore, Middlesex on 14 July 1869
Amy Rebecca Peers, born at Great Stanmore on 28 October 1871
Their only son, Thomas Emanuel Peers was born at Great Stanmore on 14 August 1874, two months after Thomas died.
On the birth certificate for Elizabeth, and the baptismal registers for Emily, Elizabeth and Amy, Thomas is recorded as Thomas Townsend Peers. It is not known why he adopted the second Christian name.
In October 1866, Thomas and Rebecca were in court at Bromley in Kent as claimants and defendants in an assault case. Thomas had answered an advertisement in The Builder for work as a painter and had taken up employment at Bromley with John Wentworth Liddell. Liddell had advanced six shillings to Thomas to cover the cost of transporting his wife and daughter, plus some furniture, by train from London. It was agreed that Thomas would repay this by weekly deductions from his wages.
Thomas testified that on 1 October, he went to Liddell and claimed his weekly wages. Liddell said that he would not pay Thomas, as Thomas owed him rent. After an argument, Liddell said that he would pay Thomas his wages if Thomas returned a bedstead taken from the rooms.
Thomas returned the missing furniture to Liddell, who still refused to pay as this merely made them quits. Thomas stated that as this left him with no money to buy food for his wife and child, he felt “very exasperated”; as he left Liddell’s yard, Thomas called him a “counterfeit” and other names. Liddell then rushed at Thomas, knocking him down and brutally assaulting him. Rebecca then threw mud at Liddell.
In his defence, Liddell told the court that he had withheld the wages because Thomas had neglected his work and put Liddell to “great inconvenience”. He claimed that Thomas had started the fight and had thrown Liddell to the ground, while Rebecca had struck him from behind, before the couple threw mud and stones at him.
After “a tedious investigation” when several other witnesses were called, the bench dismissed both cases and ordered each party to pay their own costs.
At the 1871 census, Thomas (a painter) and Rebecca were living at Church Road, Great Stanmore, with the three oldest children.
Thomas died, aged 38, at Great Stanmore on 10 June 1874; the cause of death was phthisis [tuberculosis]. He was buried at St John the Evangelist Church, Great Stanmore on 13 June.