Marriages

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