Thomas Mousley was born in 1808 in Chilcote nr Swadlincote, Staffs. His parents were
Benjamin and Elizabeth Mousley.
Rebecca Knight was born in 1818 in Lambeth, Surrey. Her parents were
Solomon and Mary Ann Knight.
Thomas and Rebecca were married in 1837 in St Mary, Lambeth - the same church in which she was baptised. He has just qualified as a surgeon via the Apothecaries' Hall. Perhaps the couple met when he was training in London.
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| Apothecaries Hall, City of London (my photo) |
Two years later he was declared bankrupt. They must have recovered as Rebecca is listed as 'surgeon's widow' in 1861, and kept a servant.
Thomas practised as a surgeon and GP in Ellesmere, Shropshire.
Ellesmere is a market town which grew up around an C11 motte and bailey
castle. My photos of the town are
here. The streets have been renamed but it is possible that they lived in what later became the Cambrian Inn.
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| Ellesmere, former Cambrian Inn (my photo) |
The town is located by the side of Ellesmere (aka 'the Mere'), one of the largest natural
meres in England outside the
Lake District
and one of nine glacial meres in the area. These meres are different from those in the Lake District in that they
do not have a flow of water into them to maintain the level.
After Thomas died in 1860
(leaving £600), Rebecca moved first to 1 James's Villa, Croydon, where she had income from a school (a tutor?). More on Croydon in Chapter 52. Then she moved to a lodging house in the seaside town of
Southport, Lancashire. It had the reputation of a more refined resort than its showier neighbour, Blackpool. She will have been there in time to see the world's first
pleasure pier when it was newly opened. Later, she moved in with her widowed daughter Marion in
West Derby, Liverpool.
She lived until 1908, and
left £5610.
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| Opening of Southport Pier, 1860 (credit) |
Thomas and Rebecca had eight children:
- 51.2.1 - William Thomas Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.2 - Clara Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.3 - Henry Knight Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.4 - Marion Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.5 - Frances (Fanny) Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.6 - James Alfred Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.7 - Thomas Solomon Mousley (1838)
- 51.2.8 - Charles Edward Mousley (1838)
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