Thomas Lister was the second child of John Lister & Elizabeth born July-September 1852 at Ormesby, Yorks.
In 1861 Thomas was living at home with his parents at Ormesby.
In 1871 Thomas, now 18, was a blacksmith living with his aunt Margaret Lister who had married Henry Brown, a blacksmith & innkeeper, living at Thornaby.
Thomas married Phoebe Jane Bissell on April 2nd, 1876 at St John’s Middlesborough. Witnesses at the wedding were Thomas’ brother Benjamin & Mary Hannah Wright. Phoebe was the daughter of Jane & Samuel Bissell, a mill furnaceman, christened August 27th, 1854 at Houghton-le-Spring, Co. Durham.
By 1881 Thomas & Phoebe were living at East Terrace, Lazenby, Wilton
& had 2 children – Frederick (4) & Margaret A (2). With them
at the time of the census was Phoebe’s younger sister Hannah Bissell
(20).
Thomas was still a blacksmith.
Sadly Thomas died at the age of 38 on December 31st 1890, at Lazenby & was buried on January 3rd,1891 at St Cuthbert’s, Wilton.
At the time of the 1891 census widow Phoebe was living at High St, Lazenby & noted as ‘carrying on business as blacksmith’. Her son Frederick was a blacksmith’s apprentice, & children Margaret, Alfred (10) & Thomas H (6) were also living at home. There was a boarder, Henry Johnson, a 25 year old blacksmith. Thomas & Phoebe also had a son Samuel, aged 8, who was visiting his grandfather Samuel Bissell at the time of the census. His grandfather, a 64 year old widower, was an ironworker living at Knutton, Wolstanton, Staffs with his children, William, Hannah & Samuel.
Daughter Margaret married Ernest Dent in 1897 & by 1911 they & daughter Phoebe & son Charles were living in Lazenby where Ernest was an ironstone miner.
In 1901 Phoebe was still living at High St, Lazenby with her sons Frederick (24), described as a country blacksmith, Alfred, an ironstone quarryman, Samuel (18), a blacksmith’s apprentice & Thomas, also a blacksmith’s apprentice.
In 1909 son Samuel emigrated to Canada. The ship’s manifest for the ‘Laurentic’, on which Samuel travelled on to Quebec, showed his occupation as blacksmith & his ultimate destination was Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The record showed that Samuel was married but no family was listed with him. Samuel had married Lucy Oakley in Middlesbrough in 1906 & he & Lucy were listed in the 1910 census of Salt Lake City. Their first 2 sons, Lenard & James O were born in Utah & it appears that the family then moved to Alameda, California as shown in the 1930 census. Listed with Samuel & Lucy at that time were children James (14), Barbara G (9), Billie (7) & David (3).
[We are grateful to Jen Bottorf for information on Samuel’s life in USA.]
Son Alfred also emigrated to Canada in 1909. Little is known of Alfred’s life in Canada apart from the fact that he never married & his death certificate showed that he was a labourer at the time of his death in 1954. Alfred’s cause of death was multiple myeloma & pneumonia, & he was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver.
Phoebe was still at the same address in Lazenby in 1911 with son Thomas Henry who was described as a horse shoe smith. Son Frederick had married Mary Elizabeth Thompson in 1904 & they & 4 year old son Thomas E were living at Yearby, Kirkleatham, N. Yorks in 1911 & Frederick’s occupation was ‘horseshoes & smith’.
Phoebe died on November 9th, 1926 at High St, Lazenby, Eston-in-Cleveland. Administration of her estate was granted on December 8th, 1926 to oldest son Frederick, blacksmith. Her effects were £333.17s.1d. Son Thomas, aged 41, married 4 days after his mother’s death. On November 13th he married Florence May Holdsworth, a 27 year old spinster at Wilton, N Yorks. The 1939 register shows Thomas & Florence living at High St, Lazenby & Thomas was a master blacksmith.
The 1939 register shows widowed son Frederick living at Beacon Hill Petrol Station, Darlington & working as a blacksmith, garage proprieter. With him was son Douglas, a joiner, & Rachel A Thompson (50), housekeeper.
The children of Thomas Lister & Phoebe Jane Bissell were:
li.5.2.1 Frederick Lister born January 18th, 1877 at Middlesborough; died Jan-March 1961 at Darlington
li.5.2.2 Margaret Ann Lister born August 28th & christened September 11th, 1878 at Middlesbrough; buried July 4th, 1944 at St Cuthbert’s, Wilton
li.5.2.3 Alfred Lister born April 19th, 1881 at Lazenby; died December 2nd, 1954 at Shaughnessy Hospital, Vancouver, Canada
li.5.2.4 Samuel Lister born January 12th, 1883 at Lazenby; died July 24th, 1965 at Almeda, California, USA
li.5.2.5 Thomas Henry Lister born January 6th, 1885 at Lazenby