Thomas Kell(e)y (1781 - )

[Gordon163]

Hi,

I have found  the baptism record of Thomas Kelley (1781 - ) at Ide, Devon on 12th Sep 1781. It says that he was the son of Thomas and Ann Kelley.

I am sure that the parents are my 4th gt-grandparents: Thomas Kelly, of the Parish of Ide and Ann Sanford of the Parish of Tedburn St Mary, who married at Tedburn St Mary on 2nd Oct 1780.

After 1781, I have not been able to find any conclusive record for Thomas Kell(e)y.

Thomas Kelly (the father) died before 1788, when Ann Sanford married William Hern/Hearn at St Sidwell, Exeter on 14th April 1788.

I have looked at several possibilities:
(i) Married at Iddesleigh, Devon c1800;
(ii) Military service in the Napoleonic Wars;
(iii) Moved to Monmouthshire c1821, with his brother William Kelly (1783 - 1868), my 3rd gt-grandfather.

I have not been terribly convinced by any of these possibiities.

Any assistance would be much welcomed.

Thanks,

Gordon

[Gordon163]

It very much looks as if Thomas moved to Monmouthshire with his brother, William.

He appears in both the 1841 and 1851 Census Records, where he is working on farms, near Caerleon.

In both cases the surname is a variant spelling of Kelly. In 1851, he gives his birthplace as Bassaleg (rather than Devon), which is where his brother was living. There is no sign of a Thomas Kelly being baptised around Bassaleg in the early 1780s.

I think by the 1850s he was getting confused, as he entered the Newport Workhouse between 1853 and 1855. He died in the last quarter of 1858, when he would have been 77.

Gordon