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Thomas Rea (1899 - 1961)

Thomas Rea
Born in Gurrankeagh, Effin, Co. Limerick, Irelandmap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 2 Apr 1929 in Thornaby on Tees, Yorkshire, Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Father of [private son (1930s - 2000s)], [private son (1930s - unknown)] and [private daughter (1930s - unknown)]
Died at age 62 in Thornaby on Tees, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 2 Feb 2011
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Biography

Ireland Native
Thomas Rea was born in Ireland.

Thomas Rea went to live with with his uncle in Gurrankeagh, Effin as an apprentice carpenter starting at about the age of 14 - presumably after leaving school. It is not hard to understand why he would leave home at such an early age. It must have been very crowded with all twelve children eating, sleeping and playing in that small cottage. Ailbe and Margaret must have been hard pressed indeed to feed, clothe and look after them all on the wages of an agricultural labourer. Fr. Crowley remembers going to school with the Rea children who often went bare footed.

Father once told me that he had worked for Guinness in Dubin as a cooper and after that he had worked on wood carvings in the dining room of the passenger ship Mauritania. (Built on Tyneside) He also mentioned that he had made and did the carvings for the confessionals and statue plinths in St Patrick's Church in Thornaby-on-Tees.

He also told me that he had intended to emigrate to Australia and in fact left Ireland with that in mind. It seems that he called in at Thornaby to visit his Aunt Ellen MacDonough (nee: Nellie Ryan) and she must have persuaded him that there was an opportunity in Thornaby because that is where he stayed. (I remember that when I was working in Australia, he was very keen to come out for a holiday. He was planning a trip to Australia for the winter of 1961 but he died in the June of that year. I was actively looking for a car (a Holden Falcon or a VW) because of his intended trip so that I could show them around Australia.)

In England he worked for the Craig Taylor Shipbuilding Company in Thornaby-on-Tees as a joiner circa 1919 and was a lodger at 2 Cambridge Road Thornaby at that time. In 1922 and 1923 he took evening classes in Building Construction at Constantine Technical College in Middlesbrough (see certificates in file). During this period he worked for MaCreaton Builders, a local builder in the Grangetown and South Bank area. In 1928 he bought an undertaking and joinery business from a man called Dougherty in Thornaby. Dougherty was said to be a drunken old Irishman. A copy of the invoice for the fees disbursed by him for the first funeral he directed is on file.

In April, 1929 he married Elizabeth Maguire. I never heard how they came to know each other but presumably it was through attendance at St Patrick's Church, Thornaby. Nellie Maguire (nee Eden) apparently lent him the money to buy his first automobile for use in the business. The first house he built is still standing and is located on the lane leading to what used to be the Head Wrightson Recreational Park. This lane runs from the north side of Acklam Road just East of the Tees-Side Golf Club in Thornaby-on-Tees.

Sources

See also:

  • Notes written by John C. Rea in January 1996




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