Thomas Philpot (1774 - 1857)

Born 4 Sep 1774 in Margate, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Stone) Philpott — married 26 Nov 1803 in Margate, Kent, England

Descendants

Died 11 Apr 1857 at age 82 in Margate, Kent, England

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Biography

Genealogically Defined

Thomas was born 4th September 1774^[1] at Margate, Kent, England^[2]and baptised 5th September 1774 at St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England, the son of Thomas Philpot & Martha Philpot^[1].

Thomas Phillpot married Mary Stone on the 26th November 1803 at St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England. Witnessed by Vincent Kennard, Esther Langham, Richard Mummery {Parish Clerk} & James Dixon {Parish Clerk}^[3]

Thomas was originally occupied as a shoemaker^[4][5][6] and he became Town Crier of Margate in 1814^[7].

On the 2nd July 1842, Thomas was a witness at the marriage of his daughter Mary Martha to George Grigg at St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England^[8]

Signature of Thomas Phillpott at marriage of daughter Mary Martha to George Grigg in 1842.

In 1853 Charles Knight wrote "We have omitted many of the performers; but of one of those we have enumerated we must say a few words. And this is the Bellman - the famous Margate Bellman - in his blue coat, gilt buttons, red collar, gold lace, and gold laced hat - the noble Margate Bellman! rough and weather-beaten, and who always looks tipsy, without ever being known to be so. Many of the years we have known him, and his bell and his jokes. A friend, a humourist, a man of wit, who could find fun everywhere and in everything, but who, woe the while ! is gone where there is no more laughing - used to say that were there no other public amusements in Margate, the Bellman would be enough. He is a poet, our Bellman, and has often been the cause of Poetry in others. He announces tea and cakes, tea-gardens and skittle-grounds, in rhyme; he bids you to Tivoli or St. Peters in verse; he has rhymes for auctions and lost pocket handkerchiefs, and a standing rhyming joke for a lady's lost bustle; he tells you of the departures and arrivals of steamers in rhyme; he will sell you for four pence, the history of his life and adventures written in verse."^[9]

He passed away aged 82 years on the 11th or 15th^[10] April 1857 and was buried 20th April 1857 at St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England^[11][12].

"The Margate Bellman - Poor Toby Phillpott, the king of bellmen, is no more. He died recently at Margate, at the good old age of eighty-two, and may truly be said to be crying for for the last half century, though, as he used to say -

When ladies lose their reticules, Why loud, then, do I cry, But not like those who loses them, Mine is not a tearul oye.

Few, indeed, who have paid a visit to Margate will fail to recollect the merry old man, the tones of whose bell was a signal for a general rush around him; nor was ever request with such earnestness as his - "Don't laugh for I'm going to cry" - more generally disregarded. Thus he made himself an amusing and attractive channel of communication. It may well be said of him as of many less worthy, "we may ne'er look on his like again!"^[13]

Thomas is buried at Margate Cemetery, Margate, Kent, England in grave 315, one of the first burials in the cemetery which had only been opened a few years earlier.

His gravestone reads:

CAMPANA SILET {Latin for silent or lifeless bell}

• NEAR THIS SPOT
• ARE DEPOSITED
• THE REMAINS OF
• THOMAS PHILLPOTT
• WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE 15th APRIL
• 1857
• IN THE 83rd YEAR OF HIS LIFE
• HE FILLED THE OFFICE OF TOWN CRIER
• FOR A PERIOD OF FORTY THREE YEARS....
• ....IN ______ WHICH HE PERFORMED
• THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE THE VISITORS
• AND INHABITANTS HAVE ERECTED THIS
• TABLET TO HIS MEMORY^[14]

Children

1. George Kennard Philpot bapt. 1804 at Margate, Kent, England^[15]
2. Richard Vincent Philpot bapt. 1805 at Margate, Kent, England^[16]
3. Thomas Lovell Phillpot bapt. 1808 at Margate, Kent, England^[17] bur. 1816 at Margate, Kent, England
4. Mary Ann Philpot bapt. 1810 at Margate, Kent, England^[18] bur. 1810 at Margate, Kent, England^[19]
5. Robert Edward Phillpott bapt. 1811 at Margate, Kent, England^[20]
6. Mary Martha Phillpott bapt. 1814 at Margate, Kent, England^[4]
7. Edward Stone Phillpott bapt. 1818 at Margate, Kent, England^[5]
8. Sarah Esther Phillpott bapt. 1820 at Margate, Kent, England^[6]

Census

1841 Census of England & Wales: 6th June 1841
King Street, Margate, Kent, England

1851 Census of England & Wales: 30th March 1851
3 Lomabard Street, Margate, Kent, England

Research Notes

Thomas Phillpot was stated to be the uncle of Maria Kennett nee Phillpott who is recorded as being the niece of Toby Philpot bell ringer and town crier of Margate^[22], although Toby's birth in 1774 make's him more likely to be Maria's grand uncle rather than uncle.

Thomas "Toby" Phillpott has often been associated with the "Toby jugs" however, the Toby jugs appear to have been derived from the song "Toby Reduced or Toby Philpot" ...however, this song appears to have been published by Luke Lively (Dublin 1757), amongst other sources^[23], and may have been published prior to Thomas "Toby" Philpot's birth in 1774. The song had certainly been published by 1793^[24] when Thomas "Toby" Philpot was only 19 years old.

On the 20th March 1987, an article in the Isle of Thanet Gazette reported that the "Birchington Parish Council had found a town crier with impeccable credentials to introduce it's week-long summer spectacular. He is Mr. Thomas Phillpott who inherited his booming voice from his uncle, famous 19th century Margate town crier Toby Phillpott. He will step into his uncle's shoes to proclaim the grand start of Birchington on Saturday, 25 July (1987)......"^[25].

However, any nephews of Toby Phillpott, town crier of Margate would have been the grandsons of Thomas Phillpott and Martha Phillpott, and long deceased by 1987....so who was this Thomas Phillpott, supposed nephew of Toby Phillpott, who was still alive and able to perform in 1987?

Photo of Thomas Phillpott, supposed nephew of Thomas using the original bell in 1987

The attached photo of supposed nephew Thomas Phillpott, suggests he was probably born in the 1920s-1930s (estimated aged 50-60 from photo).

The only Thomas Phillpott who appeared to be living in Thanet at that time was Thomas Samuel Phillpott (1917-1988) who would have been 70 years old in 1987. Thomas Samuel also lived in Birchington with his wife Violet.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Baptism of Thomas PHILPOT" St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism register entry 1774. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "1851 England and Wales Census" Class: HO107; Piece: 1629; Folio: 317; Page: 15 Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1851. Image available at Ancestry.co.uk and FindMyPast
3. ↑ "Marriage of Thomas PHILLPOT & Mary STONE" St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Marriage register entry 1803 Pg. 158 Entry No. 628. U3/140/1/15. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25 June 2018
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Mary Martha PHILPOT" 1812. Pg. 29 Entry No. 228. U3/140/1/6. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Edward Stone PHILLPOTT" 1816. Pg. 82 Entry No. 653, U3/140/1/6. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Sarah Esther PHILLPOTT" 1820. Pg. 196 Entry No. 1567, U3/140/1/6. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
7. ↑ jdwetherspoon
8. ↑ " St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Marriage Register entry of George GRIGG & Mary Martha PHILPOT {sic}" U3/140/1/19 1842 Pg. 139 Entry No. 278. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMyPast Accessed 15th November 2018
9. ↑ "Knight's Tourist's companion through the land we live in by Charles Knight published 1853" Section Margate Pg. 11 available at [Google Books] Accessed 10th November 2018
10. ↑ "Gravestone of THOMAS PHILLPOTT" Margate Cemetery , Margate, Kent, England Grave No. 315
11. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Burial register entry of Thomas PHILPOTT" 1857 Pg. 245 Entry No. 1953. U3/140/1/27. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
12. ↑ FindAGrave Accessed 20th July 2019
13. ↑ " Bolton Chronicle 18 July 1857" Pg 5 Column 6. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
14. ↑ "Gravestone of THOMAS PHILLPOTT" Margate Cemetery , Margate, Kent, England Grave No. 315
15. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of George Kennard PHILPOT" 1804. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
16. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Richard Vincent PHILPOT" 1806. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
17. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Thomas Lovell PHILPOT" 1808. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
18. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Mary Ann PHILPOT" 1810. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
19. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Burial Register entry of Mary Ann PHILLPOTT" 1810. U3/140/1/5. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
20. ↑ "St. John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England Baptism Register entry of Robert Edward PHILPOT" 1811. Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Image available at FindMypast Accessed 25th June 2018
21. ↑ "1841 England and Wales Census" Class: HO107; Piece: 468; Book: 3; Civil Parish: St John The Baptist Margate; County: Kent; Enumeration District: 8; Folio: 44; Page: 7 Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Image available at Ancestry.co.uk and FindMyPast
22. ↑ "Thanet Advertiser 28 March 1939" Pg. 12 Column 2. Image available at FindMyPast Accessed 25th June 2018
23. ↑ Lancaster University Accessed 1st August 2020
24. ↑ " Edinburgh syren" Published by Jean Auchenleck, 1793" Pg. 158 Available at The National Library of Scotland Accessed 1st August 2020
25. ↑ "Isle of Thanet Gazette" 20 March 1987 Pg 24 column 6 Image available at FindMyPast (£) Accessed 12th February 2024