Ampthill, Bedfordshire, Record 5: The Tomblin Household

Record 5: The Tomblin Household 

Record five, the last from this part of the street (10 Dunstable Street), brings us the Tomblin's.

Head: Sarah Ann Tomblin (nee Smith)

Sarah Ann Smith was born in Ampthill in 1844. The daughter of shoemaker William Thickpenny Smith (1810-1879) and his wife Rachel Battison (1811-1885). Sarah was third of four children to the couple, the others being Elizabeth (1839-1904), William George (1841-1913), and James Battison (1848-1910). As a teenager, Sarah, like most of her age, went into work. She was hired as a dressmaker by the time she was 16 and by 25 she worked as the postmistress at the post office on Bedford Street.

By the mid 1870s, Sarah, now in her 30's, had not yet married. This changed when she met and married 37 year-old Edward Tomblin in 1877. Edward was originally from Edmondthorpe in Leicester and worked as the post offices postmaster. The couple later moved to Bedford Street and rented out their home to various young workers. They never had children, and Edward died on the 4th of April 1891, aged 51.

10 Dunstable Street
Image copyright © Google 2016

Eventually Sarah moved back to Dunstable Street, now moving into number 10. During this time she still rented out the house and continued to do so for many years as by the time of her husband's death she had left the post office. She eventually passed away on the 11th of December 1928, aged 84.

Boarder: Marion Lennox Paton

Marion Lennox Paton was born on the 17th of November 1856 in Selkirk, Scotland, to weaver Thomas Patton (1814-c.1865) and Margaret Scott (1824-c.1865). She had several siblings, Isabelle (1848-), Jane (1850-), Catherine B (1854-) and Alexander (1859-). Although she was born in Scotland, by 1871, Marion was an orphan, living in an orphan house in Gloucestershire.

Exactly what happened to Marion after this is mainly unknown. She seemingly never returned to Scotland, and by 1911 she was bordering in Ampthill, working as a sorting clerk and telegraphist. Interestingly it would appear that during her time living in Ampthill with Sarah she seemingly became acquainted with the Tomblin family. After Sarah's death in 1928, Marion apparently went to stay in Wood Green, London with Ada Martha Tomblin, the daughter of William Tomblin, brother of Edward, Sarah's husband. During this time Marion now worked as a civil servant for the post office and continued to do so until the start of WW2.

Interestingly, at some point during 1940, Marion ended up leaving London for Newton in Montgomeryshire (now Powys). Here she was admitted to the Montgomery County Infirmary where she passed away on the 11th of January 1941, aged 84.