From Shrewsbury Victorian Cemetery
Thomas Bingley was in his 101st year when he died on 12th February 1937. He had 3 wives during his lifetime.
Thomas Bingley born in Littlethorpe 1836
Mr Bingley was born at Littlethorpe, near Narborough, Leicestershire, and his early working life was spent on the railway. When he came to Shrewsbury, he walked from Littlethorpe via Birmingham, and got a job on the Hereford and Shrewsbury Railway. He was in charge of a gang and for this responsible task received 2s. 6d. a day. During the great frost of 1859-60 which lasted thirteen weeks he and the members of his gang endured great hardships and their work was often dangerous.
He married his first wife Ann Genna at Holy Cross Church on Christmas Day 1860. The 1861 census shows Thomas and Ann living in Abbey Foregate with Thomas working as a platelayer. They stayed in Shrewsbury until 1865 when they moved to Lydbury North. They then briefly lived in Audlem in Cheshire in 1867 before returning to Shrewsbury by 1869.
By 1871 Thomas is shown as a beer seller with children Mary Elizabeth aged 9, Jane aged 8, Isabel aged 6 Sarah Ann, James aged 2, and Emily Rebecca aged 1. Thomas’s wife Ann died on 18th July 1872. She was 37 years. She may have died as a result of childbirth. This left Thomas a widower with a large young family.
On 5th December 1875 he married his niece Mary Ann Bingley in Shrewsbury. Her father was Abraham Bingley (Thomas’s brother) so both her maiden name and married name were Bingley. Thomas and Mary Ann had children Lilly Gertrude in 1878, Jessie Marion in 1885 and Edith May in 1887. The 1881 census shows the family living at the Plough Inn in Frankwell. Thomas is listed as a Maltster & Innkeeper. He was the owner of Frankwell Brewery which was producing up to 200 barrels of beer a week in the 1880s.
In 1891 Thomas is shown as a Maltster, aged 58 years. He is living with wife Mary aged 42, and children Jane aged 28, Isabel aged 26, James aged 22, Lilly aged 12, and Jessie aged 6. On Sunday 14th January 1894 his wife Mary Ann was taken ill on the High street in Shrewsbury. She died later that day of heart failure. They were living at Riversdale in Hunter Street Mountfields at the time of her death (a large detached house overlooking the Severn). She was 46 years old. Thomas was a widower again.
By 1901 Thomas retired. He had made a significant sum of money in his lifetime and was able to invest in building houses to let out in the Mountfields area. He lived at Riversdale, Hunter Street with daughter Jane aged 38, son James aged 32, Lilly aged 22, Jessie aged 16 and Edith aged 14.
Between the 1901 and 1911 census Thomas married again. He is shown in the 1911 census aged 74, a retired maltster. He has a wife Mary Elizabeth who was born in Montgomeryshire in 1862, aged 49 years old. His daughter Edith May Bingley is also shown living with them.
In later life Thomas had 2 favourite hobbies – growing tomatoes, and listening to the wireless. He celebrated his 100th birthday on 7th June 1936 at his seaside residence in Borth. He also received a congratulatory message from the King.
Thomas’s wife Mary Elizabeth died aged 79 on 11th February 1937. Thomas died the following day on 12th February 1937. This was probably of a winter contagious disease. He was in his 101st year.
He is buried in area 72 in the cemetery with his wives and some of his children. The grave is marked with an attractive pillar viewable from the path.
Thomas Bingley’s obituary from The Shrewsbury Chronicle.
Thomas Bingley 1836 – 1936 memorial stone in Shrewsbury cemetery.
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