The Conisbrough and Denaby 100 Project
Thomas Sewell
Thomas Sewell was the son of James Sewell and was born in Lincolnshire in around 1892. In the 1901 census James, who is 40 years old and 10 years older than his wife Sarah is listed as ‘Horseman on farm’ along with eldest son Henry who is 15, and the family are living at ‘Farm House’ in Minting.
By 1911, Thomas is nineteen and has flown the nest and is boarding with the Hill Family in Nettleham, Lincolnshire. He is listed as single, and is working as a Farm Waggoner. At the same time, his family were still living in Lincolnshire and had grown to include another son – Alfred – and a daughter, Edna. James was now fifty years old and was working as a ‘Yardman on Farm’. Henry has left home and next eldest sons John (older than Thomas) and James (younger than Thomas) are both working as ‘Farm Labourers’.
The 1911 census includes fields to indicate how many children have been born to the (present) couple, how many survive and how many have died, along with years of marriage. For the Sewell Family, this shows that Sarah is James’ second wife, as the couple have only been married for 15 years, and eldest sons Henry (approx. 25), John (approx. 21), Thomas (approx. 19) and probably James (approx. 16) are all older than that. To back this up, the census was originally incorrectly filled in, with the figures for ‘children born alive / surviving / died’ being put on James’ row, instead of Sarah’s. This was then crossed out and put in on Sarah’s row, with different figures. The census shows that James had 9 children born alive and that two had died in infancy, leaving seven still living (Henry, John, Thomas, James, George, Alfred, Edna). In contrast, Sarah has seen five children born alive, with three surviving – also seeing two children dead (presumed the same as James); Edna, Alfred and George are the children born to James and Sarah. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to identify Henry, John, Thomas and James’s mother. Thomas’s army paperwork backs this up in listing Sarah as his ‘Step Mother’ and George, Alfred and Edna as his half-blood siblings.
Thomas married Elizabeth Houlet on Monday 2nd February 1914. The couple had three children together before Thomas went to war; Thomas (born April 1914), Fred (August 1915) and James (June 1917). He was not a tall man, measuring just 5’2inches tall, and weighing 123lb (just under 9st). He had fair hair, a fresh complexion and brown eyes. His physical development was described as ‘good’ and he had a tattoo on his forearm. Under the section entitled ‘Defects or ailments’ it states that Thomas had ‘Dental caries’ (tooth decay).
Thomas attested for the army on Monday 27th May 1918 at the age of 26, entering the 4th (Hallamshire) Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, and being posted to C Company. At the time of his enlistment, he lived at 3 Ouse Terrace with Elizabeth and their children. Somehow, Thomas had managed to evade conscription, perhaps because of his bad teeth, his work as a miner, or because of another medical condition which rendered him unfit for service (possibly the Albuminuria was a longstanding condition, but I have been unable to identify this).
Thomas was repatriated on 7th November 1918 and died of ‘influenza’ four days later on Armistice Day 1918; presumably he had contracted the Spanish ‘Flu. He died in what is now known as Calderstones Hospital in Whalley, near Burnley but which at the time was Queen Mary’s Military Hospital. This hospital was originally built as an asylum but was offered to the War Office in May 1914 to be used as a military hospital during the First World War. It opened in May 1915 and was reached by a purpose built branch railway. The laundry at the hospital was manned by Belgian refugees, and a company of Grenadier Guards kept order. The paperwork relating to his death includes the Medical Officer’s report as follows...
“This man was admitted to Hospital 10-11-18, diagnosed as Albuminuria, but in addition was suffering from acute Pneumonia from which he died on 11-11-18, after being 29 hours in Hospital. The cause of death was due to Military Service.”
Albuminuria is the term for too much protein in the urine and is classed as kidney disease, also found in 1/3 of diabetes patients. Other conditions such as high blood pressure can also cause increased protein. According to the National Kidney Foundation www.kidney.org;
“If the test is done during periods of illness, heavy exercise... it may show a positive result... In some people without kidney disease, upright standing can result in a positive test for albuminuria.”
Given that Thomas had been repatriated to ‘Blighty’, his case must have been quite severe – anything that could be cured by the RAMC in the field was, and men were only given a ‘Blighty ticket’ if absolutely necessary.
The paperwork also shows that the funeral took place on 16th November, at Conisbrough Cemetery. Local news reports state that there was a firing party from Pontefract at his funeral.
The Spanish ‘Flu affected around 500 million people worldwide, and caused the deaths of up to five percent of the world’s population. In contrast to most flu deaths, the 1918 outbreak affected young, healthy adults; people just like Thomas.
Thomas is buried in Conisbrough Cemetery.
Queen Mary's Military Hospital Staff 1917 (click to enlarge)