Thomas Henry Smitham (abt.1853-1921) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Thomas Henry Smitham

Born about 1853 in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

[uncertain]

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]

[sibling(s) unknown]

Husband of Rosa Emily (Johnson) Smitham — married 10 Jan 1887 in Northflleet, Kent, England

Descendants

Father of Joseph Henry Smitham, Gertrude (Smitham) Gilchrist, Rosa Emily (Smitham) Howe, Alice Smitham, Frederick William John Smitham, William Charles Ashby Smitham and Gwendoline (Smitham) Keating

Died 1921 at about age 68 in Kent, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Paul Unwin

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Profile last modified 11 Nov 2023 | Created 21 Feb 2017

This page has been accessed 552 times.

1 Overview
2 Biography
3 From where did T.H. Smitham hail?
4 Next Moves for Research
5 Discounted Alternatives for T.H. Smitham's Parents
6 Sources

Overview

I have had long standing concerns about the accuracy of Thomas' profile on a number of ancestry platforms. A number of publicly available family trees have featured Thomas Henry Smitham, but different users identify different parents for Thomas. Tracing his movements prior to his marriage to Rose Emily Johnson in 1887 is proving a challenge. It is starting to look like a professional eye may be needed here.

Biography

Sources confirm the following: 1. Marriage Certificate: 26 year old Thomas Henry Smitham married Rosa Emily Johnson aged 24 on 19 Jan 1887 in Northfleet, Kent when he was a sapper in the Royal Engineers based closeby in Chatham. The marriage certificate (attached to this profile) identifies Thomas' father as Joseph (occupation: Farmer). This is the principal evidence for his birth circa 1861.

2. Birth Cetificates of his chiildren Thomas's first son Joseph Henry was born on 1st July 1887, so the marriage is likely to have been organised in haste to legitimise his birth. 20215 Sapper Thomas Henry Smitham is therefore identified as the father of six of Rose Emily Johnson's seven children: 2.1 Joseph Henry b1887 (no Birth cert seen, so father not identified) 2.2 Gertrude b1889 (Birth Linked to father who is Royal Engineer, Gibraltar) 2.3 Rose Emily b1892 (Birth Linked to father who is Royal Engineer, Gibraltar) 2.4 Alice b1893 d 1893 2.5 Frederick William b1895 New Brompton (TH Smitham identified as father) 2.6 William Charles Ashby b1897 New Brompton (TH Smitham identified as father) 2.7 Gwendoline Frances b1902 Prospect Row Old Brompton (TH Smitham identified as father)

3. Asylum Admission Thomas Henry's wife Rosa Emily is recorded as a widow in the 1911 census. Also in her emigration from Bristol in 1914 she is also recorded as a widow. So Thomas Henry Smitham "should" have died beween 1902 (birth of youngest daughter Gwen) and 1911 (English Census)

However . . .

Thomas Henry Smitham was admitted to the Kent Asylum 31 Dec 1906 ,his address is identified as Prospect Row, Old Brompton, the same address as that recorded as his address for his youngest daughter Gwen in 1902. Thomas died there on 4 Jun 1921 after having been there for 15 years.

Thomas was clearly dead to Rosa. It would not be the first time she essentially abandoned her family. Afterall her daughters Gertrude and Rosa had both been "given up" at an early age and raised in care. Its likely that this abandonment, together with the moving of sons Fred and Will to maternal Grandparents was necessitated by T.H. Smitham's admission to the same asylum 1897-1902.

So we have a fairly clear picture of Thomas Henry from his marriage in 1887 to his death in 1921. However, finding our Thomas Henry prior to his marriage is proving very challenging.

From where did T.H. Smitham hail?

Many publicly available family trees source Thomas' ancestry to Cornwall. This could be correct, but there are many inconsistencies.

Originally, this Wikitree account asserted Thomas' father to be a Thomas Rogerson Smytham of Cornwall but I established a separate family trajectory for this Thomas Henry and therefore removed this link.

A number of Thomas Smithams (with various spellings) are recorded with births around 1860. They were from: 1. Manchester, 2. Rugely/Colton 3. Cheshire 4. Thomas Henry Smitherman: b Tudeley, Kent 1859 5. Thomas Henry Smitham: b Redruth/Cornwall/St Columb 19/1/1861

I was particularly hopeful of match #(4) - a Thomas Henry Smitherman (G8BJ-GMW) born 1859 in Trottiscliffe (West Malling) and christened in Tudeley, Kent. Of all the alternatives, this family is the closest to Strood, where Thomas Henry married Rosa Emily Johnson. The Tudeley Thomas was resident with his father (M94Q-1YN) and mother, Mary (M94Q-1BM) in East Malling consistently in census returns for 1861/71/81 and 1891. The trouble with this particular Thomas, is that he remains unmarried and living with his parents after 1887 when Thomas Henry and Rose Emily Johnson marry in Strood, Kent The Tudeley born Thomas Smitham is therefore still not the right match.

There may well be 2 or more Thomas Henry Smitheram/Smithams from Cornwall (#5). There is a Thomas Henry Smitheram who has a father called Joseph Banfield Smithram. Censuses identify the father as a Miner/Lander rather than a farmer. The birth date of this Thomas Henry Smitheram is for 1853. Some 7 years too early. This discrepancy could be explained by TH lying about his age at marriage, so that he was closer in age to his new 24 year old wife?, but could this TH Smitheram have married Mary Jane in Pennsylvania, USA in 1879 as per source 2? This leads me to believe this too to be an incorrect match.

DNA matches do confirm a link to a Jo Smitham (Smitheram) b either 1840 or 1834. His father being James. The Smitham family tree on Family Search is a bt of a mess, so quite a lot of work to be done here to sort cousins

Next Moves for Research

The National Archives store military records but these are thus far un-digitised. Analysis of THS's military history (and hopefully more detail on his birth date and place) will therefore require a personal visit to Kew. (WO16 is the file we need to look at)