Thomas Parnham
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Thomas was the son of Henry and Mary Parnham (née Roper). His father Henry was born in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire, in about 1850 and his mother Mary Roper in Barnstone, Nottinghamshire, in about 1853. They were married at Langar St Andrew in January 1879 and had three children who were born in Colston Bassett: Thomas b. 1879 bap. Colston Bassett St John the Divine 2 August 1879; Eleanor and Robert. Henry and Mary lived in Colston Bassett all their lives. In 1881 they were living at Vine Cottage, but later Census records gave their address as 'village'. Their three children were in the home on the night of the 1891 census, Thomas (11), Eleanor (8) and Robert (6). Also in the household was Henry's niece, Jessie Parnham (1), who was his brother William's daughter; William's wife Elizabeth had died the previous year. By 1901 only Robert, a baker's apprentice, was still living with his parents. Eleanor was a housemaid in Lenton, Nottingham, while Thomas was in Carlton, Nottingham, a railway labourer and a boarder in the household of Samuel and Maria Elvidge. Thomas married Eliza Burton in 1902. Eliza was born in Carlton in 1875 and was the daughter of James and Mary Burton; in 1901 whe was working as a hosiery machinist. Thomas and Eliza had five children who were born in Carlton between 1902 and 1911: Eleanor Mary, Cyril Henry, George Alwynne, Dorothy Eileen and Gladys May. Thomas, a crane fitter's labourer (GNR), his wife and their five children were living at 115 Station Road, Carlton, in 1911. His widow Eliza married Francis E Friskney in 1917 (O/N/D Basford). She died in 1941. Thomas' father Henry died in 1933 and his mother Mary on 16 April 1937. Both were buried in St Mary's Burial Ground, Colston Bassett.
10th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment). Thomas was killed in action on 10 August 1916 and is buried in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, France (grave ref. XXII. Q. 10). CWGC - History of Delville Wood Cemetery (extract): 'Delville Wood was a tract of woodland, nearly 1 kilometre square, the western edge of which touched the village of Longueval in the Somme. On 14 July 1916 the greater part of Longueval village was taken by the 9th (Scottish) Division and on the 15th, the South African Brigade of that Division captured most of Delville Wood. The wood now formed a salient in the line, with Waterlot Farm and Mons Wood on the south flank still in German hands, and, owing to the height of the trees, no close artillery support was possible for defence. The three South African battalions fought continuously for six days and suffered heavy casualties. On 18 July, they were forced back and on the evening of the 20th the survivors, a mere handful of men, were relieved. On 27 July, the 2nd Division retook the wood and held it until 4 August when the 17th Division took it over. On 18 and 25 August it was finally cleared of all German resistance by the 14th (Light) Division. The wood was then held until the end of April 1918 when it was lost during the German advance, but was retaken by the 38th (Welsh) Division on the following 28 August. Delville Wood Cemetery was made after the Armistice, when graves were brought in from a few small cemeteries [listed] and isolated sites, and from the battlefields. Almost all of the burials date from July, August and September 1916.' (www.cwgc.org)
Thomas' cousin, Arthur Parnham (b. 1896), the son of William Parnham and his second wife Mary Ann, served in the Machine Gun Corps (53283 Private) and was killed in action on 1 August 1917. (See record on this Roll of Honour) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 4 August 1917: ‘Parnham. In loving memory of Private Thomas Parnham, Sherwood Foresters, killed in action August 6th, 1916. Gone, but not forgotten. Father, mother, brother, sister, cousin Lizzie.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
