Reeves, Joseph Thomas

Summary

Father: William Henry REEVES
Mother: Sophie/Sophia SAXBY

Birth: 1888
Birth Source: FreeBMD and Census

Death:
Death Source:

Spouse1:

Narrative

Joseph Thomas REEVES is the fourth of seven known children of William Henry REEVES and his wife Sophie/Sophia (nee SAXBY). The birth of Joseph Thomas REEVES was registered during the third quarter of 1888 in the Hastings Registration District.

At the time of the 1891 census Joseph appears as Joseph T Reeves in his parent's household at 129 St Georges Road in the St Mary in the Castle area of Hastings, Sussex. His age is given as 2 years and his place of birth as Hastings, Sussex. In addition to his parents, his elder siblings Agnes (10), William J (7) and Edith F (5) are joined by a boarder, Tom EDMONDS.

By the time of the 1901 census he appears simply as Joseph Reeves in his parent's household, now at 100 St Georges Road, St Mary in the Castle, Hastings. Whilst his place of birth remains consistent as Hastings, his age of 11 is probably under reported. In addition to his parents, his elder siblings William J (17) and Edith (15), plus younger siblings Mable (sic, 9), Olive (7) and Freddy (3) are again joined by boarder Tom EDMUNDS.

Joseph has NOT been identified on the 1911 census. He is NOT in his widowed father's home at 17 Hardwicke Road, Hastings. See Research Note 1 below.

There are no strongly matching entries for this Joseph T Reeves within FreeBMD's death indices.

Research Notes

(1) Joseph's mother Sophie had died less than six months prior to the 1911 census and although he was a widower, information is provided against the name of William Reeves, her husband, indicating that nine children had been born to the marriage of whom seven were then surviving and two had died.

It is suspect that Thomas Henry Reeves whose birth and death were both registered during the first quarter of 1892 in Hastings Registration District was the son of William & Sophie/Sophia Reeves. (Note this has not been confirmed from sight of birth and death certificates.) It had been considered possible that Thomas Henry REEVES, whose birth and death are recorded during the first quarter of 1892 in the Hastings Registration District, might have been the son of William and Sophie. This proposition is now considered very unlikely. Mabel Emily REEVES, whose birth was registered during the first quarter of 1892 in Hastings Registration District with page reference 28, appears in a family context on both the 1901 and 1911 as the daughter of William Henry REEVES. The birth of Thomas Henry REEVES was also registered during the same quarter of 1892 and in the same district but with page reference 15. This significant difference in page reference numbers between known daughter Mabel and potential son Thomas make it highly improbable that Thomas was also the son of this William and Sophie.

Thomas Henry Reeves is not with his suggested parents on the 1901 census and has not been identified elsewhere on the 1901 census either, adding credence to the idea he died as an infant.

It is strongly suspected that Joseph Thomas Reeves assumes the identity of Thomas Reeves who was some four years younger than Joseph. Perhaps he simply picked up the wrong birth certificate on the day he went to enlist in the Army in February 1911. Joseph's age of 11 on the 1901 was under reported and perhaps he was economical with his age on enlistment in February 1911.

As noted above, Joseph has not been identified on the 1911 census, but an individual who enlisted in Hastings and purports to be Thomas Reeves has been identified in the Chichester Barracks. Private Thomas Reeves died in 1919 in British India during the Third Anglo-Afghan War.

NB Certificates have NOT been acquired, so this should only be regarded as a working hypothesis.

See also the Research Notes on the page for Reeves_Thomas_5370 for further information regarding the possible identity of Thomas Reeves.

Sources

Birth:        FreeBMD - 1888, September quarter, Hastings Registration District
Baptism:  
Marriage:
Death:     
                 
1891 Census: RG12, Piece 761, Folio ??? reverse, Page 28 - Folio number not discernible
1901 Census: RG13, Piece 0866, Folio 108 face, Page 23 and continued Folio 108 reverse, Page 24
1911 Census:

1911 Census: Father - RG14, Piece 4738, Reg.Dist. 069 (Hastings), Sub Dist. 2 (All Saints), Enum.Dist. 8, Schedule 186