Thomas George Barnes:

Born 1864 ~ Died 1922:

Thomas George Barnes was born on the 11th September 1864 in Reading, Berkshire to Thomas and Jane Barnes. The family were living at number 5 Cave Court, Crown Street, Reading and Thomas George was baptised at the nearby St. Giles Church on the 13th November 1864. By 1871, Thomas George now aged 6,  is living at 4 Southampton Road East, Nine Elms with his mother, father and brothers William and Charles John.

To avoid confusion with Thomas the father and Thomas the son, I will refer to Thomas the son as Thomas George.

On the 1881 census, Thomas George aged 16 is living with his mother and father at 9 Henry Street, Lambeth and is employed as a 'Railway Carman' - a delivery driver, the equivalent of today's 'white van man'. He is entered on the census under his middle name 'George', perhaps this was because of the potential confusion between Thomas the son and Thomas the father.

Thomas George marries Anne Jane Kenmore (sometimes written as Canmore) on the 2nd October 1887at St. Paul's Church, Newington (London). He is living at 107 Hill Street at the time and his bride to be is living a few doors down at number 98. On their marriage certificate, Thomas George is described as a 'brewer'. They have a daughter, Florence on the 26th July 1889 and son Thomas Charles is born on the 7th May 1890. The family is now living at 49 Tindal Street and Thomas George is employed as a brewer's drayman.

Thomas George and his family are still living at 49 Tindal Street in the 1891 census. Two more children are born, Ethel on the 5th November 1894 and Herbert Robert Albert on the 26th January 1898. Thomas George and his family are living at 23 Cobbett Street (Henry Street was renamed as Cobbett Street so they are living in the same property just with a different address) and Thomas George (shown as George on his son's birth certificate) is a brewers servant.

In the 1901 census they are still living at 23 Cobbett Street, which is where his mother and father were living from 1881 to 1891 and perhaps later. In 1901, Thomas George is a brewer's assistant working at the Anchor Brewery in Dorset Road, a few hundred yards from his front door in Cobbett Street.

My father has in his possession a letter from his Aunt Vi (Violet May - the wife of William Henry Barnes, a nephew of Thomas George's) that tells of two sons, one of whom was killed in the First World War - he died of a stomach wound. The letter refers to the son that was killed in the war as 'Bob' and from the early release of the 1911 census that I discovered his full name - Herbert Robert Albert and from there his birth certificate, his entry on the CWGC website and his medal card.
 
Another  letter from Aunt Violet that states that there were five children ( I have only found four) and that Thomas George's wife Annie died. The letter goes on to say that Thomas George married Violet's grandmother when Violet was either 12 or 14. This would be in 1918 or 1920 and Violet tells us that Thomas George's second wife - Violet's grandmother - dies in 1932. A search of the records found the following:-

Death: Annie Barnes, June quarter 1915, Lambeth volume 1d, page 391, aged 49. This would mean a birth around 1866, slightly later than I would have expected but a strong possibility.

Marriage: Annie Cattermole to Thomas G Barnes, December quarter 1917, Lambeth volume 1d, page 771. This fits more or less with Violet's letter. An Annie Cattermole was born in Newington in the December quarter of 1859 (volume 1d, page 198). Is Thomas G actually Thomas George and is he the right Thomas George or some other Thomas George?

Death: Annie Barnes, March 1932, Lambeth volume 1d, page 281, aged 72. This gives a birth year of about 1859 / 1860. Could this be the death of the second Mrs Thomas George Barnes? Or have two stories become confused and this is in fact the death of the first Mrs Thomas George Barnes?

However, of Violet's grandmothers, one was called Mary Ann Welch (nee Stone) and the other was Annie Rippin, married to Edward Rippin - the spelling is in doubt, it could be Rippin, Rippon or Rippen and I have not been able to find a marriage entry for Edward Rippin or a birth entry for Annie Rippin / Rippon / Rippen either.   

Thomas George committed suicide by hanging on the 19th July 1922. A post mortem was carried out two days after he died. At the inquest on the 21st July 1922 the coroner recorded that he was of unsound mind.