Thomas BAILEY is identified as the father of Joseph BAILEY on Joseph's wedding certificate of 1838, at which time he was described as a labourer, however on his Thomas' death certificate he was described as a grazier.
A Thomas Bailey STANTON married Elizabeth GREWCOCK in Hinckley in November 1808. The marriage by banns, so likely this was their first marriage. Neither could sign their names. Shortly afterwards, in October 1809, Thomas Stanton and Elizabeth BAILEY christened a Joseph BAILEY, which fits nicely with Joseph's age of 41 years on the 1851 Census. Another child Elizabeth BAILEY followed in 1811, William BAILEY in 1813, Sarah STANTON in 1815, Ann STANTON in 1818 and Thomas BAILEY in 1820. Where given, Thomas' profession was recorded as labourer, except for his youngest child, Thomas, when he was a framework knitter.
The use of two alternative surnames is uncommon, however is sometimes seen in Leicestershire, where it was usually recorded as an alias e.g. "BAILEY als STANTON" or similar. In this case his name was recorded variously as Thomas BAILEY, Thomas Bailey STANTON, Thomas Stanton BAILEY and Thomas STANTON.
Further circumstantial evidence of this being the correct parents of Joseph BAILEY is provided by the 1841 census which has Ann GREWCOCK, 14, working in a domestic capacity for Joseph and Esther BAILEY.
Thomas died of a fever in Hinckley on 1/2 Nov 1839 aged 56 and is buried in St Mary's Barwell churchyard alongside his wife and other members of the GREWCOCK family. (The headstone gives his date of death as 2 November 1839 while his death certificate gives 1 November.) At his death, Thomas was described as a grazier which fits with Joseph's later career as a dairyman.
Thomas' parents
His reported age on 1 Nov 1839 was 56 suggesting a birth date between Nov 1782 to Oct 1783. Possible baptismal records:
- Thomas BAILY - 1 Apr 1784, Sharnford by Willam and Anne (but an unmarried Thomas BAILEY, born 1784 is living in Sharnford in 1841/51/61. This Thomas was mentioned in his grazier grandfather Christopher BAILEY's will of 1790, noting that Thomas' father William BAILEY had died.)
- Thomas BAILEY - 5 Nov 1788, Hinckley by Thomas and Elizabeth nee NEWHAM (too late for reputed age at death, but 30 when married in 1808). They also baptized Elizabeth 1786.
- Thomas STANTON - 24 May 1778, Norton by Twycross by Thomas and Ann STANTON (15 miles away). Possibly the Thomas STANTON mentioned below.
There are a couple marriages of a BAILEY and a STANTON (or similar):
- Priscilla BAILY married Joseph STANTON on 29 Oct 1776 in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire by license.1 Paulerspury is 40 miles south of Hinckley. Thomas STANTON BAILEY's granddaughter was also named Priscilla, and was a witness to the marriage of her cousin Esther BAILEY in 1862.
- William BAILEY married a Mary STANTON on 16 Feb 1784 in Donington in Holland, Lincolnshire, which is 63 miles east of Hinckley and is two years too late for the estimated date of birth of Thomas, but fits nicely with the names. They baptized William (1786), Richard (1786, died 1787), Stephen (1787), Ann (1788), William (1789) and Ann (1791), but no Thomas. Not thought to be relevant.
Possible siblings
- William Stanton BAILEY, a miner, was buried 25 Dec 1850 aged 70 in Bilston, Wolverhampton. He was not from Staffordshire (1841 census). Was this Thomas' brother born ~1780?
- A Joseph S BAILEY, born in 1777 in Brigg, Lincolnshire, was a seaman and was in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1851.
Other information
The second less likely possibility is a farmer named Thomas BAILEY of Little Claybrooke, also married to an Elizabeth. In 1841 they are 56 and 50-54 respectively living with five children including William aged 25-29. But there is no baptismal record for a Joseph BAILEY.
The Thomas STANTON who married Sarah SHIPMAN in Hinckley in November 1798 was not Thomas Stanton BAILEY. Although a Sarah STANTON died in 1807 in Warwick, which fits with Thomas' November marriage to Elizabeth GREWCOCK a year later, Thomas and Sarah STANTON had four children including a Sarah 1801 and Thomas 1803, which conflicts with Thomas and Elizabeth BAILEY having Sarah 1815 and Thomas 1820. There were no burials of a Sarah STANTON, but a Sarah STANTON married John PRICE in Earl Shilton (4 miles from Hinckley) in 1829 implying that she was alive when Sarah 1815 was baptized. The key evidence though is that Thomas STANTON could sign his name on his wedding record and "Thomas Bailey Stanton" (the name Thomas used when he married in 1808) could not.