Thomas Wildey and Amelia Charity Ellis

Thomas¹ Wildey was born in 1805 and baptized on 14 April at St. Mary's Church in Faversham in the County of Kent, England. He was the son of John Wildey and Mary (last name unknown). [1]

Thomas married Amelia Charity Ellis, also born in England. On her death certificate, her age was given as 77 years, 11 months and 5 days, thus providing a date of birth of 22 January 1808. Her father's name is given as "Lou Ellis" but her mother's name is blank. [2]

In England Thomas followed the trade of shoemaker but was unable to make a sufficient living at it. When he was examined by the Justices of the Peace in St. Giles in Camberwell, Surrey in 1829 he stated that at the age of 14 years (c. 1819) he had been apprenticed for seven years to a shoemaker, Mr. Hoad, in Faversham, Kent where he was born. [2] (This is presumably the Thomas Hoad, shoemaker, whose numerous children were baptised at St. Mary's church in that town.) [4] He served only six years of that apprenticeship, continuing to live at home with his father during that time. [5] At some point he moved to Camberwell, Surrey where he pursued the trade of shoemaker, given as his occupation in the baptismal record for his son Edward. [6] Unable to support even his small family of wife and child, he became a burden on the parish. After being examined before two Justices of the Peace in Surrey at the request of the churchwardens and overseers of the poor in the parish of St. Giles, he and his family were judged to be the responsibility of the parish of Faversham and on 31 December 1829 were ordered to return there. On 4 January 1830 the Wildeys were turned over to the Overseer of the Poor in Faversham. [7]

The Wildeys were still in Faversham on 9 September 1831 when their daughter Harriet was baptized at St. Mary's Church. [8] Soon after, however they emigrated to Canada, where their daughter Amelia was born c. 1833.[9]

Like many immigrants to Canada, the Wildeys did not stay long. By 1840 they were living in Boonville, Oneida Co. NY. One individual in the household was working in "manufacturing and trade", suggesting that Thomas was continuing to follow the trade of shoemaker. [10]

The family's travels finally settled in Rome, Oneida Co. NY. around 1849, according to daughter Harriet's obituary. [11]There Thomas and remained until their deaths. The 1850 census showed Thomas still working as a shoemaker and son Edward was now employed as a "boatman," likely on the Erie Canal. [12] In later census records he was described simply as a laborer, and in 1870, the last U.S. census in which he appeared, he was working as a lock tender. [13] He died sometime before 1880, when widow Amelia was found living with her daughter Harriet and son-in law Archibald Farr. [14] He is buried in Rome Cemetery, section B, plot 15, but does not have a headstone. [15] Amelia died of an umbilical hernia on 27 December 1884 in Rome, Oneida Co. NY and is buried in the Rome Cemetery. [16]

Thomas Wildey and Amelia Charity Ellis had the following children:
 

+	2	i.	Edward Henry Wildey was born on 28 February 1829 in Camberwell, Surrey, England and was baptized at the church St. Giles [17]
+	3	ii.	Harriet Sarah Wildey was born in Faversham, Kent, England on 21 August 1831 and was baptized in the Church of England on 9 September at St. Mary's. [18]
	4	iii.	Amelia C. Wildey was born in Canada c. 1833. She did not appear with the family after 1850 and no subsequent reference has been found to her. [19]

Return to Once Wildey: A Farr Genealogy