Thomas Bird

The will of Thomas Bird merchant of Westmoreland [made in 1849 and attested in 1850] was proved 02/01/1852. He ordered the sale of land in Jamaica and of a moiety of the Upper Withers estate in Herefordshire, as well as a house in Pentonville, for the benefit of his children.

Thomas Bird, merchant, married Margaret Edwards, spinster, in Westmoreland 04/05/1814. John Edwards Bird, born 19/08/1816, son of Thomas Bird Esquire and of Margaret his wife, of Kirkpatrick, baptised 05/05/1816 in Westmoreland. Thomas Colerick Bird, same parents, born 03/04/1817 and baptised 22/03/1818 in Westmoreland. He married Ann Bradford in Leominster, Herefordshire, in 1843. In 1851 they were living in Newport, Shropshire, with his wife and four children. Penelope Margaret Bird, born 14/05/1819, same parents, baptised 26/04/1820 in Westmoreland. She married John Bateson in Bedford, England, in 1851.

There is a probable match for Thomas and Margaret in the census of 1841 at Westbury on Trym, Gloucestershire: Thomas Bird, age 55, of independent means, living with Margaret Bird, age 40 and Edith Bird age 5, all born out of county. This could be the Edith E. Bird, age 15, born Savannah La Mar, Jamaica, one of six pupils at Priors Lee House in Shiffnal, Shropshire, in 1851; and also the Edith Edwards Bird, age 25, born Jamaica, a governess at Walton Grange, Gnosall, Staffordshire, in the 1861 census.

PROB 11/2145/19.

Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online]; FreeUKGen, England and Wales Free BMD Database, Marriages, 1837-1983 [database online]; 1851 census online.

1841, 1851, 1861 censuses online.