My direct line
William Groves 1698
William Groves 1728 – 6th November 1798
Samuel Groves c 1752 – 8th October 1829
William Groves c 1777 – 22nd November 1838
Joseph Groves c1825 – 22nd September 1866
William Groves c1850 – 1927
Mary Jane Groves 11th January 1882 – 12th June 1975 my Great Grandmother (My Nan a complicated story for our family)
The Groves Family
The Groves family is the family that I grew up knowing quite a lot about or at least that is what I thought. They belong to the maternal side of my family and Nan always had a story to tell and she had such a way with words. I loved every moment I spent in her company and as a young child; I did spend a lot of time with her. As far as I can remember, my mum took us to see her nearly every day. In the week, we use to stay for tea, jam butties and cake. Sundays and special occasions we would have cucumber sandwiches, the cucumber steeped in vinegar all day and the crusts cut off the bread. The best china and silver would be in use and as a special treat; we would be allowed to eat the sugar cubes. You must remember the early fifties sugar was a luxury it had been rationed up until 1953 and nobody at that time would dream that it would not be good for your health.
As I researched the Groves family, they became more and more of a mystery. In the beginning I found it extremely hard to prove the stories my Nan told me.
I grew up with stories of belonging to Landed Gentry of the family living in a large Hall although nobody seems to know where. That the children had ‘Nannies’ and there were many servants. However, I do know that they were Farmers and many farms had servants be it that they would often be family members. The land always seemed to be left to the oldest boys and the later you were born the less likely, that you would receive anything. However, it appears from the Will that Samuel Groves made that he took care of his daughters which was not always the case in other families.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in my research was to do with Joseph Groves born 1825 my great grandfather x 3 because his birth was at Chirbury. My family insisted that the Groves’ were from Church Stoke in Montgomeryshire. The further back in time I was able to get the more I found links with Churchstoke and Chirbury. I have now discovered that the Groves family were indeed ‘Landed Gentry’ and were a very substantial family in the areas of Chirbury, Church Stoke, Priest Weston, Shelve and Wortherton. I will add the maps to this page to that you can see how close all these places were in South Shropshire and near to the Welsh Border of Montgomeryshire.
I must mention some additional help that I have received. Sitting on my desk I had reams of paper research on the Groves family because names like Samuel and William kept cropping up I had great difficulty in connecting all the information and I wasn’t even sure at times whether I was on the right track. Therefore, because I had two aunties in their 99th and 93rd year I decided to enlist the help of a research firm. This for me was extremely helpful, not as expensive as I thought and turned out to be good value for money and the research they did on my behalf tied together all the fragmented pieces of information I had collected. The one I used was www.tree-tracers.co.uk you can contact Heather and Bill on tree-tracers@blueyonder.co.uk for me it was certainly a productive move. So, thank you to Heather and Bill.
From my searches through various archives on the Internet I have found evidence although not proved by me that the Groves Family were around as far back as 1577. Maybe one day I will get back that far.
Each Family in the direct line will have its own page
Monday 25th August 2008 the Bank Holiday weekend me and my husband decided to have a ride around South Shropshire. I wanted to try and get a feel for the areas I was writing about and so we travelled over The Long Mynd (to be continued).
Shelve extends over a large area of several miles and is mostly farmland standing over a thousand feet with lots of moorland. We visited the church and the farm opposite. We introduced ourselves to the farmers and these two lovely people invited us into their home and made us tea. They chatted to my husband and I for about an hour and although they could not tell me a lot about my family, they did have family connections.
As far as I am aware the Groves family were all tenant farmers. The A2A Archives catalogues hold details of land transactions of the Groves family these are the copyright of Shropshire Archives.
The catalogues show that William Groves of Shelve conducted several transactions with The Earl of Powis and others which includes property and lands in the Townships of Great Weston known also known as Priest Weston and Little Weston all in the Parish of Chirbury. Below are listed the dates and File numbers:
22nd October 1771 Ref: 2873/2-49
24th and 25th March 1772 Ref: 2873/4-5
26th September 1772 Ref: 2873/6
26th December 1798 Ref: 2873/8-9
The above catalogue numbers also show that William Groves had land called Horsemoore and properties in Aldress Close. William Groves granted a lease of water right to Robert Bemand for 99 years.
William and Mary had at least one son Samuel.
SAMUEL GROVES 1752 – 8th October 1829
SamSuel Groves was baptised 27th June 1752 and these details can be found in the Worthen Parish Records and Family Search index. He is my great grandfather x 5. Marriage details read: Samuel Groves of Shelve, County of Salop bachelor married Margaret Bady (also spelt Badey and Beady) spinster by Licence on 28th April 1776, witnesses William Groves and Mary Bright. Margaret Bady was baptised 15th July 1752 at Worthen and she was the daughter of Edward and Rebecca Bady.
Edward Bady married Rebecca Chidley on 6th October 1745 at Meole Brace, Shropshire both at the time of their marriage were living in the Parish of Worthen. There were at least six children born to Edward and Rebecca, details as follows:
Sarah baptised 10th May 1754 – 14th February 1780 aged 26
John baptised 19th May 1756 – 28th January 1761 aged 5
Elizabeth baptised 22nd October 1758
Edward baptised 3rd October 1760
Thomas baptised 1st June 1764
All baptisms recorded at Worthen including John and Sarah’s death.
Rebecca Bady (nee Chidley) died 19th June 1809 aged 85 at Bromlow. Edward Bady died 14th October 1810 aged 89 also at Bromlow. Looking at various Parish Records in the South Shropshire area it would appear that there were Bady’s around as far back as 1545. At this time I am not going to investigate this further.
In documents held at Shropshire Archives Samuel Groves of Priest Weston is described as a farmer, and the eldest son and heir of William Groves, late of Shelve, yeoman, deceased. Source: File ref: 2873/10 date 1st June 1815.
Also in the A2A archives several other children of Samuel and Margaret (Bady) are mentioned, also all their children were baptised at Chirbury, baptism dates are shown.
1. William Groves was the eldest son of Samuel and Margaret Groves (nee Bady) and is my great grandfather x 4 if you scroll down you will find his birth, marriage, children and details of his death.
2. Margaret the eldest daughter of Samuel and Margaret was baptised 18th October 1778 at Chirbury. She married George Harris 22nd April 1816. Margaret is also referred to on the A2A catalogue reference 2873/ 16-20.
George and Margaret Harris were still living on 27th August 1841. They had two surviving children at that time, John Harris c1818 and Margaret c1819 who was the wife of Edward Weaver, both were over 21. Both John and Margaret were born in Welshpool, Montgomeryshire.
July 2008 through www.genesreunited.co.uk I have come into contact with Rick. Margaret was his great grandmother x 3 as she married George Harris. Rick was able to tell me that Margaret and George had another son Daniel born 1816 at Middleton, Chirbury. Daniel died 1817.
The Harris family were also tenant farmers their Landlord being the Earl of Powis and farmed several farms two of which were in Wales. George Harris was a Church warden at St. Michael’s, Chirbury and interestingly became Chief Constable of Chirbury in 1836 this was a year after his brother-in-law William Groves held the same post.
Many thanks to Rick on the insight to this part of the family it is greatly appreciated. I also have a photograph of George and Margaret’s grave and in due course will add it to this page.
I am now in possession of a copy of the M.I. for St. Michaels, Chirbury and here are the inscription’s for George and Margaret Harris:
“In Memory of George Harris (late of the Moat in the Parish) who died April 21st 1844 Aged 52 years. Praises on stone are trifles vainly spent A man’s good name the lasting monument.”
“In Memory of Margaret widow of the late George Harris who died February 19th 1848 Aged 54 years.” Source M.I. St Michael’s Church Chirbury, Shropshire 1727-2003 produced by S.F.H.S.
3. Mary, Samuel and Margaret’s third child was baptised 25th September 1780 at Chirbury. Baptisms prior to 1794 are not shown on the IGI so baptism dates would have come from the parish registers. There is quite a lot of easy to access information around on Mary’s life.
Mary first married Edward Wynne Williams by licence on 28th April 1807 at Chirbury. Mary and Edward had two children daughter Mary died as an infant on 19th December 1809 and is buried at Chirbury with her father. They then had a son Thomas who was baptised 25th May 1811. Sadly Thomas died aged 24 on the 29th February 1836 and he is also buried at Chirbury. Source: Chirbury Parish records.
Edward, Mary’s first husband and was buried 17th February 1812 at Chirbury the M.I. reads:
“Sacred to the memory of Edward Williams (late of Heightley) who departed this life February 15th 1812 / Aged 25 years.” In the same grave is his daughter and the inscription reads: “Mary daughter of Edward and Mary Williams who died in infancy.”
Mary Williams (nee Groves) continued to live at Heightley and married Samuel Groves on 30th December 1813 at Chirbury.
The 1841 census shows Samuel and Mary were at Heightley with their children. Mary’s aged was shown as 55 and Samuel’s 50, there two sons Robert and Samuel both aged 20. There was also a child named William aged 7 and another child Samuel Pearce aged 11. Samuel was their grandson. Source: HO 107 /909/22 and Keyword Graves. This means that the census document has been transcribed as Graves and not Groves.
The 1851 census the family were also at Heightley and Samuel, Mary’s second husband was shown as born at Ratlinghope he was then aged 65 and Mary then aged 69. Their son Robert then aged 30, unmarried and described as farmer’s son. Heightley at that time had 330 acres and four labourers were employed, two waggoners, cowkeeper and dairy-maid. The family also employed a house-maid.
I initially was led to believe that Mary and Samuel had no children on their own and as we can see from the census of 1841 and 1851 they had sons. However from the information in the M.I., they also had at least two daughters. The M.I reads:
In memory of Samuel Groves (of High Hay) who departed this life Dec. 1 1852 , Aged 65 years. Also Mary wife of Samuel Groves who departed this life Sept. 29th 1874 Aged 73 years. The inscription then reads:
“To the memory of Harriet daughter of Samuel and Mary Groves (of High Hay) who departed this life Nov. 4th 1851, Aged 1… years. Also Ann their daughter [remainder illegible].” Source: M.I. St. Michael’s Church, Chirbury 1727-2003 and produced by S.F.H.S.
So at this time we do not how old Harriet and Ann were when they died. The family were described as late of High Hay is this a transcription error or did the family move from Heightley?
Samuel is the “relation” referred to in William Groves will dated 20th July 1938.
4. The fourth son of Samuel and Margaret was named after his father. Samuel baptised 28th July 1782 at Chirbury and he married Hannah Williams on the 3rd February 1806 by Licence. The children of Hannah and Samuel are well documented and normally as this is not a direct line I would not cover the family however, there are quite a few people researching this line and this enables us to help one another. In addition Thomas was a Grocer in Churchstoke, his son also named Thomas appears in several trade directories and is found in 1841 living next door to my great grandmother x 4.
Thomas baptised 2nd December 1806
Robert baptised 20th September 1808
Edward baptised 20th November
Mary baptised 23rd December 1812
The above children were all baptised at Chirbury.
It would appear from the M.I.’s of St Michaels that Robert born 1808 died in 1814 and is buried at Chirbury, inscription reads:
“To / the memory of Robert son of Samuel and Hannah Groves who died September 16th 1814 Aged 6 years.” Source: M.I St Michaels produced by S.F.H.S.
Samuel was buried on the 8th September 1849 and died aged 43, leaving a very young family. As far as I am aware Samuel is buried at Chirbury however, as far as I can tell he is not in the M. I. for St Michael’s at Chirbury. The families residence at the time of Samuel’s death was at Wortherton.
5. Sarah no baptism found but married Thomas Gough and is also referred to on the A2A site catalogue reference number 2783 14/15 Extract from register of marriages at Church Stoke that Sarah Groves married Thomas Gough 4th February, 1803. Source: A2A ref: 2873/25
Sarah died 1861 and Thomas died before her and I believe at the time of their deaths they lived in Montgomeryshire. In 1861 Sarah was survived by the following children;
Mary, widow of Williams Taylor, living Manchester, and Eleanor wife of John Clayton of Castle Caereinion, Montgomeryshire, Ann wife of John Chamberlain of Chelsea and Margaret wife of Richard Laurence of Upper Hem, Forden, Montgomeryshire. Source: A2A Ref: 2873/35-39 date 14th September 1861.
6. Robert as far as I am aware was Samuel and Margaret’s youngest son and he was baptised 26th December 1789 and married Harriot in 1818 and is the Robert referred to as of Rockley in William’s will. Robert Groves of Rockley and his wife Harriot are on both the 1841 and 1851 census details to follow: Key word Grover
Robert and Harriot are buried at St Michael’s Chirbury with two of their daughters inscription reads as follows:
“In memory of Ann daughter of / Robert and Harriot GROVES / (of Rockley) who departed this life / July 31st 1828 Aged 7 years / Also Harriot their daughter / who departed this life / September 30th 1840 Aged 12 years.”
“… … … given that the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In memory of Robert GROVES / Dudston late of Rockley / who departed this life January 25th 1853 / Aged 63 years /Also of Harriot wife of Robert GROVES / who died February 23rd 1878 / Aged 84 years.” Source: Monumental Inscriptions at St. Michael’s Church Chirbury Shropshire 1727 – 2003 Transcribed by Pauline Hawkes and produced by Shropshire Family History Society.
As you can see most of this inscription is in good condition, unfortunately a lot of the Groves family graves at St. Michael’s are illegible.
7. Mary baptised at Chirbury on 2nd March 1794.
Continuation of Samuel Groves c1752
It would appear from the Chirbury Parish records that Samuel was one of their Church Wardens and I have him listed on at least three dates, 3rd December, 1784, 24th December 1800 and 26th december 1810.
Samuel Groves made his will on the 21st November 1828 and died on the 8th October 1829. His house, farm and lands at Weston passed to his son William, his daughter Margaret who was the wife of George Harris. Interest was to be paid to Margaret of £150.00 on Lady Day and Michaelmas Day for her life and after Margaret’s death £150.00 to her children. The remainder to the surviving children, to be paid 7 years after the death of his Wife Margaret. His wife Margaret (nee Bady) died on 15th February 1831. There is a discrepancy on the date of death of Margaret. Source: A2A catalogue Ref 2873/14 puts the year of Margaret’s death as 1821 and A2A catalogue Ref 2873/16-20 puts the year of death as 1831.
WILLIAM GROVES c1777 – 1838
William Groves was the eldest son of Samuel and Margaret Groves (nee Bady) and is my great grandfather x 4 as you can see as this is a direct line there is a lot more detail.
William Groves married Anne Hotchkiss in the parish of Church Stoke on 21st February 1805. William was described as a bachelor and Anne as a ‘Minor’. Witnesses at their wedding were Benjamin Hotchkiss, Mary Groves and Joseph Hotchkiss. William and Anne as far as I am aware had fourteen children.
The children of William and Anne were baptised in the Parishes of Church Stoke and Chirbury and details below:
Church Stoke Register
Samuel 29th August 1806 Mary 8th February 1808
Sarah 3rd February 1808 Martha 9th September 1810
Hannah 13 January 1812
New registers started in 1813 and the next three entries showed that the family lived at Pant Hopton and gives William’s occupation as farmer.
William 9th March 1813
Robert 3rd March 1815 Michael 9th May 1817
Chirbury Register
Margaret 3rd Sept 1820 Edward 22nd Sept 1822
Benjamin 30th January 1824 Joseph 11th April 1825
Thomas 22nd November 1827
The Chirbury register shows that the family lived at Timberth and again William was described as a farmer. William and Anne also had a daughter called Anne possibly born in Church Stoke and probably born between 1818 and 1819. No baptism details have as yet been found. The reason we know that she is their daughter is that she appears on the 1841 census when the family were living in Wortherton, Chirbury, Shropshire. At that time Anne’s age was shown as 20, as far as I can tell Ann died and was buried on 5th February 1846 at the age of 30.
Two of William’s and Anne’s boys died in childhood. Benjamin was just two weeks old and buried on 12th February 1824. Thomas died aged 7 years and was buried 4th April 1835. The address given for both boys at the time of their death was Timberth.
William’s name appears in the Quarter Session Records under the name of Groves of Timberth. From December 1833 – March 1834 he was described as Juror/Farmer. From January 1835 – October 1835 he was described as Chief Constable of Chirbury.
On various online documents William was known as William Groves of Timberth. Timberth is a place about 1 mile south, south west of the village of Chirbury and about 1 3/4 miles due east of Montgomery Church. At this time it probably only has one main farm and a couple of cottages. The house that stands is the the biggest and grandest in the area however, nobody knows if it was at the time of William of Timberth. In the past Timberth was the smallest of 8 townships in the parish of Chirbury. Each township had its own Chief Constable responsible for minor law and order and for reporting breaches up the chain and to the manorial court. The title of Chief Constable at that time William held the post would have been before a police force and normally given to the head officer for the “hundred” who reported to the Hundred Court.
In 1871 the area of Timberth was 257 acres and part of the Chirbury section of the estates of the Earl of Powys, inherited from the famous Lords Herbert of Chirbury. From the A2A searches it shows that William Groves had several transactions with the Earl of Powys. So whilst he might of owned the farm he was most likely a tenant farmer of the Earls of Powys however from the details in his Will he owned other freehold properties and land. William would have been a good farmer and a man of standing in the agricultural community of that time.
William Groves made his Will dated 20th July 1838 in which he named his executors as Robert Groves his brother and Samuel Groves a relation. He left all his freehold property at Priest Weston to Robert and Samuel Groves in trust to sell. (I have a copy of William’s Will and in due course will put the details on this page).Just to clarify things Robert was William’s brother and Samuel a “relation” was William’s sister Mary’s second husband.
William died on the 22nd November 1838 at 4 p.m. at Wotherton in Chirbury Parish. I have a copy of his death certificate, his age was 61, his occupation Farmer and he died of Hectic Fever. The description I have of Hectic Fever is one of irritation and debility, occurring usually at an advanced state of exhausting pulmonary consumption. This would have probably been T.B. or some form of septic poisoning. His death was registered by the ‘mark’ of Martha Powell who was present at the death, this was probably his daughter Martha. Source: GRO Index Qtr. Dec Vol 18 page 43
After William’s death there appears to have been mixed fortunes for the family. In 1841 Anne and some of the children where living at Wotherton and it would appear that they were there until about 1850. There are no Groves in Wotherton on the 1851 census.
Burials in Chirbury show that there were several deaths in the family in the 1840’s all show that they were resident at Wotherton. At the moment the Monumental Inscription for St Michaels at Chirbury have thrown up a lot of questions and I am still trying to put the families together.
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Need to sort the three deaths below into families
Edward was buried on 13th September 1844 and died aged 22.
Page last up dated 21st October 2008
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TRUE OR FALSE
In the Groves’s family, there were two stories of real prominence.
1. That we were related to Alderman Thomas Groves Mayor of Shrewsbury it is unclear which my family would have been talking about because father and son became Mayors. Thomas the elder was Mayor between 1844-45 and Thomas the son was Mayor 1867-68.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the link although I do feel this is probably true because my Mum and Aunties where taken to see his picture at Shrewsbury Museum many times when they were little. Nobody now can remember what the link was.
2. The second story was that the Groves’ boys attended Shrewsbury School and use to arrive on horseback. They were there at the time of Charles Darwin. It certainly would not have been my Gt Gt Grandfather, as he was not born until 1825. Also the Shrewsbury School Register Volume 1 1798-1908 editor J.E. Aulden published in 1928 has been checked and there are no entries for Groves so that is a mystery. The girls I believe attended ‘Dame’ schools this was a great source of pride for my Nan who constantly reminded us that the girls in her family had all been educated.
THOMAS GROVES c1745 -1813
I do not have a lot of information at this time of Thomas my understanding from a member of the Groves family is that he started out as a Farmer and became a Builder. If this is correct then that would link him to my Groves family as they were Farmers. The Holy Cross and St Giles burial register shows details of Thomas born 1745 and Ann Groves born 1743. Thomas was buried on 2nd November 1813 aged 68 . He was a bricklayer of Merival (Merivale, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury) and his denomination was given as Anglican. His widow, Ann Groves was buried on 6th March 1818 aged 75 described as “widow of Thomas, bricklayer” and at her death lived at St. Julian’s Friars, Shrewsbury. At the time of her death Ann must have been living with her son Thomas. He was described as of “St Julian’s Friars” on 7th September 1819 when he was admitted a Burgess.
Thomas and Ann had two children that I can find records for the eldest William Groves born 1772 and buried 29th November 1827 at the age of 55. William was buried in the parish of Holy Cross and St Giles his address at the time of his death was given as Frankwell and his occupation was Schoolmaster. He married Ann Fletcher in 1793 and they had 9 children as far as I can tell. William was admitted as a Burgess on 22nd February 1820 but never became Mayor.
Thomas Groves born 2nd/3rd April 1786 (need to check as there are 2 different records).
THOMAS GROVES 1786 – 1867
Thomas Groves was born 3rd April 1786 and married Elizabeth Morris of Great Hanwood 29th August 1808. Thomas was sworn as a Burgess on 7th September 1819. My first recorded evidence of the family that I found is the 1841 census when Thomas then aged 55 shown as ‘Head’ and his occupation Builder. His wife Elizabeth (nee Morris) then aged 55 where living at St Mary’s Place Shrewsbury. At this time Thomas and Elizabeth had five children living at home. Mary then aged 30 with no occupation and John aged 25 then a Stone Mason. From this census it would appear that three of their children were all aged 20 which make their year of birth 1821. However, their son James was baptised 13th December 1816 occupation then a Joiner, daughter Anne was baptised 28th December 1818 with no occupation, and son William was baptised 24th May 1821 occupation then a Painter. Source: HO 107/927/13
Thomas was Mayor of Shrewsbury 1845 – 1846.
Thomas was the Architect of Royal Shrewsbury Hospital known as locally as Shelton. Originally: Shropshire and Wenlock Borough Lunatic Asylum which was built in 1845 and housed 800 patients.
Thomas was also listed in Trade Directory for 1850 under Brick Makers entry reads: Groves Thomas & John, St Austin’s Priory.
The 1851 census shows a very different picture. Thomas is then described as Alderman and Proprietor of House and Land. He and Elizabeth had moved from St Mary’s Place to 1 Holywell Terrace Shrewsbury. Three of their children where living at home Mary then aged 41 and unmarried, Anne aged 32 and unmarried and William aged 29 occupation then Painter and Glazier. Note here the difference in Anne and William’s ages in the 1841 census their ages were the same. Source: HO1071992
The 1861 shows Thomas still living at 1 Holywell Terrace, Elizabeth had died. His occupation described as Alderman and Gentleman. Two of his daughters Mary and Anne both unmarried where still living at home as was his son William then aged 39 and working as a Painter and Glazier. Source: R.G. 9/1872
The last Will and Testament of Thomas dated 10th November 1862 is a fascinating read my copy is 12 A4 sheets with the Probate. The Will lists all his properties and land bequeathed to his family. He held shares in the Abbey Cemetery Company, Public Rooms in Shrewsbury, Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, The Great Western Railway Company, The London and North Western Railway Company and the Shrewsbury Water Works Company. He left seventeen houses to his children. My thanks to Nick for supplying this information.
Thomas died on the 13th June 1867. Source: probate and GRO Vol 6a, page 416.
His eldest son Thomas and other children I have written about below, John as we can see from the census was a Stone Mason. James married Sarah daughter of Mr. C. Russell of Forstall, Aylesford, Kent on the 4th September 1851. William, Painter and Glazier were sworn as Burgess’s on the 3rd May 1842.
THOMAS GROVES c1813
Thomas Groves was born c1813 and I do not have a lot of information before the 1841 census. He was sworn in as a Burgess 27th July 1835.
On the 1841 census Thomas then aged 25 living with his wife Mary Ann and their two children Thomas aged 4 and John aged two at Friars in the Parish of St Julian Shrewsbury. His occupation the a Builder. Source: HO 107//926/10
Strangely I can not find an entry for Thomas and his family on the 1851 census for England.
The 1861 census shows the family where living at St Austin Friars with six children. Thomas then aged 48, described as a builder employing 6 boys and 45 men. Mary Ann then aged 50 and the following children John (22) Annie (19) Mary (17) whose occupations where given as ‘Builder’ which would have been unusual for the women at that time. The other three children all Scholars and were George James (15), Alice (13) and Harriot (10). Note that Thomas who appeared on the 1841 census aged 4 died in 1841. Source: R.G. 9/1873
There is a printed letter of application dated 20th November 1866 for the post of County Surveyor, of Thomas Groves, The Priory, Shrewsbury, and testimonials including one from Edward Haycock. Source: Shropshire Archives Catalogue Ref: 2756, File Ref: 3217/56. There are also several references held at the archives to his other business dealings.
The 1871 census shows Thomas as a Widower as Mary Ann had died. Still living at St Austin Friars Thomas had become a Justice of the Peace and County Surveyor. Somewhere I have seen a note that shows his letter of application for the job as County Surveyor which if my memory serves me right is held by the Shropshire Archives. (If I can find this in my files I will add at a later date). Living at home with Thomas at that time where the following children: John (32) Builder, Elizabeth A (29), Mary (27), George James (25), Alice (23), and Harriot (20). Source: RG10/2776
By 1881 Thomas had followed in his father’s footsteps and was described as Magistrate, Alderman and County Surveyor. Only three of his children where still at home George James (35), Builder and Harriott (30). Source: RG11/2653
Thomas does not appear on the 1891 census and I am still looking for the date of his death.
A Burgess was a citizen of a borough having full municipal rights. Or a Member of Parliament for a borough or corporate town. Sometimes the word was used to describe a person elected by a borough to represent them in Parliament.