Thomas Morris (buried 1884)

At a glance

At a glance
Surname: 
Morris
First name: 
Thomas
Other Christian names: 
Gender: 
Male
Children: 
Yes
Burial number: 
89
Born: 
0/0/1805
Died: 
23/01/1884
Buried: 
29/01/1884
Occupation: 
Landed Proprieter
Heene Hallmark: 
No
Commonwealth War Grave: 
No

The Grave

The grave
Cemetery area: 
WB
Cemetery row: 
1
Cemetery plot: 
7
Burial remains: 
Unknown
The headstone
Headstone inscription: 
To the beloved memory Thomas Morris of Earlsdon Lodge, Worthing Died January 23 1884 aged 79

Life story

Life story

In 1792 Thomas Morris (Senior) married Mary Tann at St. Nicholas, Warwick on 7th February. Their son, Thomas, was born in 1805 and was baptised at Coleshill, Warwickshire, on 17th November 1805. In 1832, aged 27yrs, Thomas married Mary Elizabeth Howe on 26th July at St. John Baptist, Coventry. He was described as widower. They had three children, Frank Howe Morris 1833, Lucy Howe Morris 1837, and Mary Elizabeth Howe Morris 1835. Thomas Morris was a Ribbon Manufacturer which was the foremost industry in Coventry employing thousands of workers. In 1860 the government lifted tariffs on French ribbon and the manufacturing industry in Coventry collapsed, but Thomas Morris had fortunately moved South before this happened. In 1851 he and his family were living in Islington, Middlesex, he was a General Agent and they were in Paignton, Devon, in 1861, where he was a Landed Proprietor.

In the 1860s Thomas and his family lived at The Grange, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Worcester.

Sadly, Thomas's son, Frank Howe Morris, died on 25th August 1862, aged 29yrs, from a lingering illness, according to the death notices. The following year, 25th August 1863, Thomas's 26yr old daughter, Lucy Howe Morris, died in Brighton, Sussex. She was buried in a common grave, without headstone, at St. Andrew's Old Church, Hove, but the grave was later removed to an unknown location. Lucy's death was reported in 2 London newspapers, just 1 line, name, date, and place of death.

In 1881 Thomas, now widowed, was living at Earlsdon Lodge, 25, Gratwicke Road, Worthing, with his daughter, Mary Howe Morris; he died on 23rd January 1884, aged 79yrs. Probate was granted to his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Howe Morris, effects £8492 18s 10d. Value 2021 - £1.1m.

Burial researcher: 
Maggi Martin

Further information

Birth
Date born: 
00/00/1805
Marriage
Marriage 1
Spouse one first names: 
Mary Elizabeth
Spouse one last name: 
Howe
Marriage one date: 
26/07/1832
Marriage one address: 
Coventry, Warwickshire, England

Death

Death (details)
Date of death: 
23/01/1884
Age (at time of death): 
79
Cause of death: 
Unknown
Address at time of death: 
Earlsdon Lodge, 25 Gratwicke Road, Worthing, Sussex, England
Personal effects
Executors: 
Mary E.H. Morris status: Daughter, Spinster
Probate pounds: 
£8,492

Census and miscellaneous information

Census information
1851 census: 

Living at 14, Highbury Grove Villas, Islington, Middlesex. Thomas Morris, 46yrs, General Agent, wife, Mary, 48yrs, 3 children, Frank Howe, 17yrs, Mary E. Howe, 16yrs, and Lucy Howe, 14yrs, plus 3 domestic servants.

1861 census: 

Living at Croft Lodge, Paignton, Devon - Thomas Morris 56yrs, with wife, Mary and 3 children, Frank Howe, 28yrs, Mary E. Howe, 26yrs, and Lucy Howe, 24yrs.Occupation - Landed Proprietor. They had 2 servants, Mary Bloomfield, housemaid and Sarah Elliott, cook.

1881 census: 

Living at 25, Gratwicke Road, Worthing - Thomas Morris 76 yrs. with his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Howe Morris -46 yrs. He is a widower, living on 'Income from dividends'. They have 3 servants, Mary Castle, cook, Mary Farmer, housekeeper, Emily Twigger, kitchenmaid

Miscellaneous information

Warwickshire County Records : CR.1709/356/1-8 1884; 1864-1897

Thomas Morris of Hockley Villa, Avenue Rd.Leamington Priors, gent. probate of his will, 1884, containing the following documents: List of Thomas Morris' children, 1864; declarations by two of these children regarding the heirship of Thomas Morris the younger, 1866; marriage certificate of Thomas Morris and Mary Tann (1792), 1866; death certification of William H.Hyde of Horsham (d.1891), 1897; cremation and burial certificate of Richard Hyde of W.Kensington, 1895; succession account of Mary E.H. Morris of Earlsdon Lodge, Gratwicke (Rd) Worthing, Sussex, to property of T.Morris being Earlsdon Lodge (as above), 2 messuages in Smith St., Warwick and No.32 Cross Cheaping, Coventry, 1884.

Worthing Gazette, Wednesday 3rd September 1890

Freehold Residence with Stabling and Excellent Grounds - Mr E.C. Patching has received instructions from W.H. Hyde, Esq., who is leaving the town, to sell by public auction, at the Town Hall, Worthing, on Thursday 18th September 1890, at three o'clock precisely, the very desirable substantially built detached Freehold Residence, standing in its own well shrubbed and excellent gardens and grounds known as "Earlsdon", Gratwicke Road, Worthing. The house contains: on the Ground floor: large dining and drawing rooms, moring room opening into conservatory, housekeeper's sitting and bedrooms, kitchen and first-class commodious offices and cellarage. Half space: Two servants bedrooms, housemaid's closet, w.c., and back staircase. First Floor: Four good bedrooms and dressing room. Gas and water laid on; The outhouses comprise coal cellar, two w.c.'s, aviary, tool house, summer house, and good conservatory; the stabling, which is of an unusual description, consists of coach house, stable, and large loose box, with covered court yard outside, fodder house, and chicken house; flower and kitchen garden and tennis lawn; paddock in rear with a frontage of about 150 feet to an entrance from Tennyson Road. The property will be submitted to public competition in one lot; failing a purchaser, however, in its entirety, it will be put up in three lots. This charming residence is so admirably situated, well planned and dry, and its well laid out and secluded flower and kitchen gardens so surround it to form a perfect "Bas in Urbe" a desideratum so rarely met with as to make this property one of the most desirable in this favoured residential portion of the town. Particulars and Conditions of Sale may be obtained of Messrs. Twist & Sons, Solicitors, Coventry; or of the Auctioneers, of whom also cards to view can be obtained at his offices, Chapel Road, Worthing.

After Earlsdon Lodge was sold it was renamed Heatherlea and continued to be a private residence for some years. It became a Nursing Home and today Fernbank Nursing Home is on the site.

Mary Elizabeth Howe Morris

One year after his death, Thomas's sole surviving child, Mary Elizabeth Howe Morris, married, aged 49yrs. Her husband was a retired Royal Navy Paymaster, William Henry Hyde, of Horsham, Sussex. Mary was widowed just 6yrs later in 1891 and she died in 1898 in St. Leonard's on Sea, Sussex. She left estate (value 2021) in excess of £3m.