Thomas FURBOROUGH was most likely born between December 1766 and December 1767. He was baptized in February 1678 in Frolesworth, Leicestershire by Robert and Jane FURBORROW.
His siblings would have been Richard, Robert, William, John and Edward. Of these, Richard was aged 80-84 working as a shoe maker in Frolesworth in 1841 suggesting that at least in the Robert and Jane family there are shoe making connections.
(There were two other possible Thomas FURBOROUGH/ FURBORROWs baptised around this time, however these were slightly too early (being 1763 and 1764) and discounted.)
Thomas was a shoemaker/cordwainer and the father of Alice FURBOROUGH who married in Kennington in 1837. It is believed that he was also the father of Dinah FURBOROUGH who was also married in Kennington a year and a half earlier.
There are very few FURBOROUGHs in England and those that do exist come almost exclusively from Leicestershire. My belief is that all FURBOROUGHs are closely related.
In the 1841 census Thomas was living with his wife Dinah and son Robert, and was working as a shoe maker. His recorded age of 70 gives a birth year of between 1766 and 1771, while his death certficate narrows it to between 5 Dec 1766 - 4 Dec 1767, the later part of that range most likely, being closer to his baptism.
Assuming that the above parentage is true then Thomas appears as a witness to his brother Robert's marriage to Martha GIMSON in Mancetter, Warwickshire in 1790.
Three of Thomas' daughters married in London: Sarah Brown (Shoreditch 1817), Dinah (Kennington 1836) and Alice (Kennington 1837) which suggests that either Thomas was living with his family in London during this time, only returning to Leicestershire in his late 60's or early 70's (his youngest daughter was baptised in Cosby in 1813 so the period might be approximately 1814 - 1838), or perhaps his daughters were sent to London to work with relatives. There is an entry in Post Office London Directory of 1802 Farborough and Dawson, Boot and shoemakers, 51, Borough [Road], and later in 1810 for Farborough and Dawson, Shoe-warehouse, 51, Borough [Road] and Farborough and Dawson, Leather-warehouse, 47, Borough [Road], which may explain the connection to London. A Joseph FARBOROUGH, aged 76 of Wallworth [Road?], was buried at Bunhill Fields, City Road (Non-conformist) on 7 Sep 1810. Walworth is 15 minutes walk from the above warehouses. Incidentally Roger DAWSON had apprenticed to Joseph FARBOROUGH as a cordwainer in 1780. Was Joseph related somehow to Thomas? Were the shoes made in Leicestershire sent up to London for sale? A Joseph FARBOROUGH was baptized in Lutterworth (5 miles to Frolesworth) in 1734 which fits with the above burial record, and suggests that the London connection was well established with the Leicestershire FURBOROUGHs. This connection also explains why so many Leicestershire FURBOROUGHs married in London, possibly after working in a shoe shop and attracting the eye of customers.
Thomas died age 78 on 4 Dec 1844 in Cosby. He may have died in his sleep as his time of death is recorded as 5:30am. Cause of death was "old age".
In his will, dated 1842, he leaves property in the occupation of his daughter Jane WITHEBED to his wife Dinah and apart from other small bequests the balance goes equally to his sons Daniel and Robert. Robert also gets Thomas' shoemaking business, and Dinah gets maintenance of 5s 6d. Small bequests include:
- £1 each for each of the children of his pre-deceased son Thomas. (Thomas christened the following children in Cosby: Ann (1822), Mary (1827), John (1829), Thomas (1831) and Daniel (1834))
- £8 to his spinster daughter Ann FURBOROUGH of Claybrook
- £8 to daughter Sarah Brown JOHNSON wife of George JOHNSON, cooper of City of London
- £8 to daughter Alice MAIN wife of John MAIN, baker of City of London
- £8 to daughter Jane WITHEBED wife of Thomas WITHEBED, labourer of Cosby
- £8 to daughter Dinah WEAVER wife of William WEAVER, tailor and draper of Bromsgrove
- £3 to son Ralph FURBOROUGH of Sapcote