Family Details:

Thomas Rowlandson was born c.1882 at Willington the son of Joseph and Mary Rowlandson.  There were 4 children, all born at Willington: [1]

• Thomas bc.1882
• Benjamin bc.1884
• Joseph bc.1889
• Florence bc.1892

Mary Rowlandson died 19 February 1893 aged 35.[2]  Joseph married Laura Plummer in 1895 at Hunwick [3] and they had 2 children:

• Ivy bc.1898
• Walter bc.1900

By 1901, the family lived at 22 Albert Street, Willington and 42 year old Joseph worked as a coal miner (hewer) and 17 year old Benjamin as a putter. There is no record of Thomas Rowlandson in the 1901 census.  He served in South Africa with the military. [4]

13 April 1903: Thomas Rowlandson married Hannah Elizabeth Foster at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Willington.[5]  Hannah was born 27 April 1882, the daughter of William and Margaret Ann (nee Bainbridge) Foster at Willington.

By 1911, Thomas (aged 29) & Hannah (aged 28) Rowlandson lived at 82 Russell Place, Willington with their 2 children, both born at Willington:

• Mary Jackson aged 6 born 6 May 1904 [6]
• Benjamin aged 2

Thomas then worked as a coal miner (hewer)[7] eventually retiring as a “deputy overman.”

Hannah was referred to as “Lily” (not Lizzie) and their daughter Mary was known as “Polly”.[8]

28 December 1956: Thomas Rowlandson died aged 74.[9]

References:

[1] 1891 & 1901 census

[2] England & Wales Death Index 1837-1915 Vol.10a p.211 Durham 1893 Q1 and Probate 1903

[3] England & Wales Marriage Index 1837-1915 Vol.10a p.313 1895Q3

[4] Thomas served abroad in South Africa – see Military Record

[5] Marriage certificate

[6] Death certificate

[7] 1911 census

[8] Details on postcards and notes to identify people on photographs – I have checked ancestry, census, births and marriages to see whether there was a Lily and a Polly Rowlandson.  No-one has been identified. See  a family tree at http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/66386327/person/44151542693?ssrc=

[9] Death certificate

Photographs:

Probably the marriage of Thomas Rowlandson and Hannah Elizabeth Foster
13 April 1903

c.1913 The Rowlandson Family
Tom, Hannah (oka Lily)
Mary (oka Polly) & Benjamin