Our Family History

When William Thomas Thorne was born on 5 October 1891 in Buckland, Buckinghamshire, his father, John, and his mother, Sarah were both 30 years old. He had four brothers and one sister, but his two youngest brothers both died whilst in their teens. William was 16 when Harry died in 1908 and 21 when his brother James died in 1913.

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After the birth of his sister Bessie in 1869, William’s family had moved from rural Buckland and had set up home in West Ham on the East London and Essex borders. William’s father found work as a builder’s labourer, and in 1911 William was working as a labourer in a cork makers and living at the family home in 20 Morely Road, West Ham.

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On Christmas Day 1914, 22 year old William Thorne married Maud Alice Bayliss at West Ham Parish Church.

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Whilst a Christmas Day wedding sounds like a very romantic idea, there were also a number of practical reasons why William and Maud Thorne decided to get married on 25th December.

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Firstly, Christmas Day and Boxing day were one of the few days that Edwardian people did not have to go to work, so William wouldn’t lose a day’s wages for taking any extra time off to marry.

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Secondly, it was traditional for Churches in London to offer free Marriages and baptisms on Christmas Day and at Easter. Many people on lower incomes took full advantage of this and saved themselves money.

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Thirdly, working class weddings in 1914 were fairly simple affairs, with the Bride and Groom wearing their “Sunday Best” clothes and only having to wait 3 weeks for the Banns to be read on 3 consecutive Sundays before they could marry. After the church ceremony, there may have been a few drinks and a knees up at the pub or in the bride or grooms family home and at Christmas time more family members could get together to celebrate , and have Boxing day to recover at their leisure .

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Fourthly, Maud’s parents John James Bayliss and Eliza Grover had also married on Christmas Day in 1887, so she may have wanted to carry on the “family tradition”.

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After their marriage in 1914, William and Maud lived at 137 Plaistow Road, West Ham. William was working as a Tram Conductor for West Ham Corporation Tramways who operated a service in the Borough between 1901 and 1933. the company had a fleet of 134 tramcars in a chocolate and cream livery (See Image). Tram conductor was an occupation that would soon be undertaken by women for the very first time, as working class men like William joined up and went off to fight for their King and Country in the 1st World War, which had begun in July 1914.

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Maud had fallen pregnant in the winter of 1915, and was expecting her first child when conscription was introduced in West Ham in January 1916. William’s daughter Doreen Maud Thorne was born on 8 July 1916 and one month later on 8th August 1916 William joined the 12th London Battalion, and was then transferred to 62 Battalion Machine Gun Corps as a driver on the 14th October.  His Army number was 63949 and he gained promotion from Private to Corporal.

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The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front.  From this date onwards, Machine guns were crewed with specially trained men who were not only thoroughly conversant with their weapons but who also understood how they should be best deployed for maximum effect. The Machine Gun Corps had Infantry, Cavalry, and Motor branches, followed in 1916 by the Heavy Branch. A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and there was also base depôt at Camiers in France.

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The MGC saw action in all the main theatres of war, including France and Belgium, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Salonika, East Africa and Italy. In its short history, the MGC gained an enviable record for heroism as a front line fighting force. Indeed, in the latter part of the war, as tactics changed to defence in depth, it commonly served well in advance of the front line. It had a less enviable record for its casualty rate. Some 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, with 62,049 becoming casualties, including 12,498 killed, earning it the nickname 'the Suicide Club'.

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In his military service records (which were badly damaged and very difficult to read) it gives a physical description of William who was 5ft 6 inches tall, with a 33 inch chest. William had a lot of tattoo’s on both his arms and his  hands – these included a Robin on a perch, two swifts, a snake, a ship, butterflies, flowers, various names, hearts, the words “True Love” and a naked sailor lady to name just a few.

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On 21st July 1920 William and Maud’s second daughter Irene Ivy Thorne was born in West Ham.

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On the 18th September 1937, William’s eldest daughter, Doreen Maud Thorne, married Alfred John Hillery in West Ham.

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In the 1939 Register, William and Maud were living at 86 Holbrook Road, West Ham and he was employed as a Tram Driver for the London Passenger Transport Board. Doreen and her husband Alfred Hillery, who was a bus driver, were living at 42 Diamond Road, Watford along with 19 year old Irene Ivy Thorne who was a Lyon’s teashop “Nippy” Waitress.

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On 16th May 1940 Ivy Irene Thorne married John William Allen in West Ham.

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William’s wife Maud Thorne died aged 81 in September 1971 in Wells, Somerset, but I could find no record for William’s death.