The Death of Thomas Kindle

In my last post, I wrote about Thomas Kendill who was recorded in the 1841 census living in Sandford with James Kindell, his wife Martha and their children. The census said Thomas was aged 60 (i.e., born 1781).

There’s no other record of a Thomas born circa 1781, and he doesn’t appear in the 1851 census with James & Martha (or anywhere else).

The Ringwood Parish record contains an entry for the burial of one Thomas Kendall on 11 July 1847 (which would explain his absence from the 1851 census!). But this Thomas was aged 86 (i.e., born 1761 rather than 1781).

I obtained a copy of the corresponding record of death. It says Thomas was a labourer, and that he died at Sandford on July 7th. The informant was one Mary Kendall, who had been present at his death. It doesn’t describe her relationship to Thomas.

Mary Ann Harder was the wife of Thomas's grandson, Thomas Kendall (1821-1899), a son of Stephen. Mary Ann and young Thomas both lived in Sandford in 1841, she with her parents and he with his. They married in 1844, and by 1851 they lived in Sopley. It is possible that they still lived in Sandford in 1847, but in every recorded instance, Mary Ann used her full name, and never called herself Mary.

Mary Mist was the wife of William Kendall (1794-1879). William was born in Sandford. He and Mary were married in Ibsley in 1819, and lived in Hightown in 1841. But in the 1851 census, they were recorded living in Sandford, next-door to Stephen, who lived next-door to James and Martha. (Stephen and his wife Sarah Head were also married in Ibsley.)

My favorite theories are as follows:

• Thomas’s age in the 1841 census of Sandford was recorded or transcribed incorrectly. It was written as "60", but should have been "80".
• This was the same Thomas who died in Sandford in 1847, aged 86.
  
• William and Mary lived in Sandford by the time Thomas died, and she was present at his death.

With Thomas being born in 1761, I'm convinced that he was the same man who married Amy Hatcher in 1785 (aged 24) and fathered Stephen in 1791 (aged 30).

It's possible that Thomas was a brother of James's father Charles Kindle (born 1760), who was a son of George Kindle. That would mean Thomas was the uncle of James, with whom he lived in 1841. Unfortunately, there is no record of the baptism of Thomas in the Ringwood transcripts, but there are baptism records for seven children of George.

Finally, William living next to Stephen and James, and his wife Mary attending to Thomas at his death would be an indication that they might be related, and many assert that William was a son of Thomas. Unfortunately, there's no record of the baptism of William in the Ringwood transcripts either.

Update: see the results of DNA testing of descendants of Thomas, William and James.