• BIRTH: 28 Jan 1863, Cripplegate, London
• DEATH: 3 Mar 1918, London
• EVENT: Add. when m.: 103 Murray Street, Hockston, London
• CHRISTENING: 15 Feb 1863, St. Bartholomew Moor Lane, London [1]
• BURIAL: Forest Hill Cemetry, grave No. 25224
• REFERENCE: 16

[NI016]
Thomas (William?) Markham Thomas and Emily's page
Thomas is presently believed to have been a boy trainee on the training ship Goliath, moored off Grays in Essex, UK.
On Thursday 22 December 1875, the TS Golith burnt to the waterline. Shortly afterwards, a relief fund (The Goliath Fund) was established by the Lord Mayor of London.
On 10 August 1876, from this fund all boy members of the ships company received a leather purse containing 5 shillings. Thomas was aged 12 at the time of the disaster.
Although presently no documented evidence has been gained to support that Thomas was in fact a member of the Goliath, the fact that he was presented one of the purses should indicate this, as the purses were only given to boys of the ships company at the time of the disaster.
We have no reason to believe Thomas had the purse in his possession by any means other than it being presented to him; his son Thomas, was given the purse by his father, who told him that "he had been given it because he was a strong swimmer and had saved someone from drowning", although this statement is not entirely true, or may be a understandable mistake. There is also a possibility that he may have received an additional award for bravery
Being a boy member of the Goliath also means that he was a pauper boy. The Goliath was loaned from the Admiralty under the management of the Forest-gate School District. The Forest-gate School District placed boys on the Goliath from the workhouses of the parishes of Poplar, Hackney and Whitechapel (but he could also have come from one of 46 other parishes).
More about this, plus images of the purse on Thomas and Emily's page
 
Thomas was a waiter when he married (source: m. cert.) ; And later ran an antiques/second-hand business. He had two shops in London.
Grandson's quote: "Grandmother was never very happy with the bits and pieces of rubbish that he kept bringing home and once even threw a suit of armour down the stairs at him after he had been away for a whole weekend without telling her that he intended to be away that long. The only one that seemed to appreciate his stuff was my Grandmother (his daughter-in-law's mother) who was interested in antiques."
Members of the family have been under the understanding that he was involved in an accident, or at least, sustained an injury at work in a munitions factory during WW1, which resulted later in his death. The nature of the accident is not exactly known. One son is said to have believed that it was gas poisoning, whilst another grandchild was under the impression that he had been hit by a door.
There are also members of the family, who are of the impression that he had been at sea, or in the Navy.
Thomas was living at 103 Murray Street, when married.
The marriage of Thomas and Emily Elizabeth was witnessed by an unknown Frederick Markham.
It has been merely a speculation that he may have had a middle name of William, the reason for this being:
His eldest son Thomas was named after him. The next son (William Ralph), may have been given the middle name of his father, then Ralph, after his mother's maiden name. But there are other members who are sure that he did not have a middle name, and there is no documented evidence of the existance of a middle name.

[1] [S2147] Christening of Thomas, son of Mark Anthony

• PAGE: IGI, London.
  
• DATA:

  15 February 1863, St. Bartholomew Moor Lane, London, parents, Mark Anthony and Jane.
  IGI Record - LDS online information:
  Batch No. P021481
  Source Call No. 0374425 Type: Film
  Printout Call No. 6903806 Type: Film