Thomas Stocking and Susan Brown had three sons who lived to maturity. Son Thomas was born on Christmas Eve 1836 according to his baptism record (in 1837, on the same day as siblings Susannah and James Thomas). A Thomas Stocks junior marries Annie Hill on 28 February 1858, at St Mary Lambeth; they both give Regent Street [Lambeth] as their address at the time. Thomas is ‘of full age’, a Mat Maker, and his father is named Thomas Stocks senior, a Rope Mat Maker.
I haven’t found any other Thomas Stocking b1836 in burial records or censuses after 1851, so am taking a leap of faith that this Thomas Stocks and his father Thomas Stocks senior are part of my family. The occupations ring true, although the location – Lambeth – is not where I would have expected Thomas to marry, although it’s not far from Southwark and Kent Road where his family was living. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the couple in the 1861 census at Ancestry, FindMyPast nor The Genealogist.
By 1871, Thomas Stocks and wife Annie are living at
Arbor Place, Mile End Old Town, where Thomas is working as a Twine Spinner. He
is 33 years old (b1838), birthplace Southwark, which is reasonably close to ‘our’
Thomas. By 1881 he has moved on from the mat/spinning trade to become a
Carman, living with Ann at 6 Love Lane, Rotherhithe. The whole family (parents
and five children) still use the surname Stocks.
In 1901, Thomas Stocks, aged 64, born 1837,
Bermondsey, Carman, is occupying two rooms at 647 Kent Road with his wife
(recorded as Agnes, not Annie, but I think they're the same couple). Four other rooms of the building are occupied
by William J Stocking, aged 34, b1864, who is the son of Thomas Stocking’s
brother William. The latter is living a few doors along at 643 Kent Road,
described as a Mat Maker.
In the 1911 census at Ancestry, Thomas Stocks is still living on Old Kent Road at no.647. Now aged 74, like his wife Annie, they are both described as old age pensioners. They occupy two rooms, with their son William Stocks, a 28-year old Colour Grinder for a paint manufacturer. In the column where disabilities are recorded on the census, Annie is shown as 'deaf 50 years'. They have been married for 53 years, had 12 children, only six of whom survived. Annie must have gone deaf a few years after their marriage. William Stocking, a Carman, is also at 647 Old Kent Road, and William Stocking senior, a Mat Maker, is still at no.643.
I believe the names, ages and occupations, and their living in close proximity indicates that Thomas Stocks is indeed Thomas Stocking, my 3xgreat grand uncle, son of Thomas Stocking and Susan Brown, and that he changed his name to Stocks at the time of his marriage.
My own grandfather also used the name Stocks instead of Stocking for his builder’s and builders' merchant’s business J Stocks & Sons in the 1950s (Pictured, 29A Brightside Road, Hither Green). My aunt says that when the shop was first pointed out to her by her later husband-to-be, she thought 'Stocks' sounds ok, although she was later to become Mrs. Stocking. Perhaps Annie Hill didn’t like the idea of being Mrs Stocking, which led to the change to Stocks?
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