On 14 May 1825, at the age of less than 20, Thomas married
Hannah
King. We know very little about her. She was older
than Thomas, because she was of full age at the time of the marriage.
The marriage took place at the Church of St Mary of
Lambeth,
London, (adjoining Lambeth Palace) which was no doubt Hannah's church.
But
Thomas was living at Enderby — whether Enderby in Leicestershire or
Lincolnshire is unclear.
The marriage was announced in the Personal Notices section of
the Quarterly
Theological Review and Ecclesiastical Record,
a Church of England publication, under the Diocese of Lincoln. There we
learn that Hannah was the eldest daughter of the late William
King of Cheapside. Thomas is described there as "Rev."
He was too young to have that title, but he
must have had some position in the diocese to be mentioned at
all.
There is
no
place in Lincolnshire named simply Enderby - there is Mavis Enderby,
Bag Enderby and Wood Enderby. The peal of bells known as "The
Brides of Enderby" is at Mavis Enderby. Perhaps Enderby was
the
name of the Parish. His marriage declaration says he is of
Enderby, Leicestershire,
which was better known. Perhaps a clerical error, but thetre was
an active Congregational Church at Enderby, Leicestershire and none at
Enderby, Lincolnshire. Perhaps we shall never know the truth.
Four
sons were born - Thomas Hebbert (about 1826), William (1828), Charles
(1831) and John (1833). John's death certificate and obituary
state that he was born at Sittingbourne, Kent, of which Bobbing is now
a part. The family had no connection with Sittingbourne at
the
time of his birth, and the English Censuses have him born at Middlesex,
like the others. Hannah died in the same year, and was buried
at
St
Alphege's Church, London Wall (destroyed in the Blitz of World War II.)
There are numerous English churches dedicated to St
Alphege,
an Archbishop of Canterbury killed in 1012 at Greenwich by invading
Danish Vikings.
In about 1835, Thomas married Maria Selby of Shoreditch, aged
19. A daughter Caroline was born that December, and baptised
in the Congregational Church the following May. By 1841 they
had separated. Possibly the
responsibilities of four young children and a new baby were more than
Maria could handle. This seems the most reasonable
explanation. In 1841 she was living with her mother,
and Caroline was with relatives. Thomas was back in Finsbury
with
his
