Thomas was born in Northumberland in 1768, son of Rev. John Fenwick.[1]
He owned a shop in Penzance and provided support and refuge for Eliza Fenwick on at least one occasion.[2] He went bankrupt in 1803 and moved to Portsmouth.[3][4]
At some point he set up shop in the Limehouse district of London, where his oldest two children were born. The "Old Bailey Proceedings" (cited in sources below) show that he was doing business as a linen-draper in partnership with Edward Evans on Whitechapel-road in September of 1824.[5] This was, of course, a location which would become infamous later in the century.
By May of the following year, he had set up shop as a tailor and draper in a rented house on Fore-street, St. Anne parish, Limehouse, which was down closer to the docks.[6] By January of 1829, he was still living on Fore-street, listed as a tailor and slopseller. The OBP Online records show that he was robbed three times in five years while in business in the Limehouse district. Despite the draconian punishments imposed for theft - (Two of the perpetrators were boys aged thirteen and sixteen, both sentenced to death) - it would appear that the Limehouse district was already evolving into the little horror show that it would become in Dickens' time. [7]
He would move the shop to the more suburban (and presumably safer) environs of Gravesend and by 1841, he is listed as a slopseller at that location. In the census, it shows that he had a staff of six, including his sons Melvin and Orlando who are listed as fellmongers.[8]
Interestingly, his last three children (Orlando - 1822, Priscilla - 1825, and Pascoe - 1827) all reported that they were born in Gravesend, even though the records show that the family lived in Limehouse at the time. The court records clearly state that Fore-street was Fenwick's residence as well as place of business. There is no question that, as youngsters, they moved to Gravesend, and given that it was considerably more 'respectable' and suburban than Limehouse, they may have adopted it as their birthplace. I have been unable to locate any baptisms or birth records to settle this matter.
There also does not seem to be a record for Fenwick's marriage to Catherine Pascoe, and it would appear that they may never have solemnized their marriage in a formal fashion and they may have had a common law union. In his will Thomas refers to Catherine as "Catherine Pascoe known & reputed as Catherine Fenwick" and when the will is proved she is described as "Catherine Pascoe otherwise Fenwick Widow".[9]
Thomas died in Gravesend and was buried on July 22, 1850 in Gravesend Municipal Cemetery, Kent.[10]
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F > Fenwick > Thomas James Fenwick
Categories: Newcastle upon Tyne, Fenwick Name Study