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Thomas HawkerThomas Hawker was born in Frampton in 1867, the son of Thomas Hawker, a brickmaker, and Ann Maria née Goulding. When he volunteered at Woolwich for the Royal Artillery on 20 May 1884, Thomas was a well-built labourer and added two years to his age. He suffered an injury the following June for which he spent six weeks in hospital. Despite the use of a 'lead potion' he recovered well enough to be posted to India and arrived at Secunderabad on 15 November 1885. During his six years there he also served in the military cantonments of Bangalore and Mhow, earning a short-lived promotion to bombardier (corporal equivalent) and being transferred into the Royal Horse Artillery. In January 1892 he returned to Britain on the troopship HMS Crocodile and was discharged at the end of his engagement on 16 May 1896. Thomas became a police constable and on 9 December 1896 he married Minnie Edith Wales at St Leonard's, Shoreditch. By 1901 their home was in Hackney and their eldest son, Thomas Miles, was four. In 1911, with the addition of Edith Annie and William, the family were living in a three-roomed property at nearby Kingsland. Thomas' involvement in the First World War has not been established due to the loss of records, but it seems likely that his past experience would have been put to good use in the training of those sent to front line combat. For this, of course, he would have seen no award of medals and the only remaining tangible recognition of his war service comes from his inclusion in the list of Frampton men commemorated on the plaque in the village hall. After the war Thomas returned with his family to Frampton to live at Brooklyn, The Street. Thomas Hawker was buried in St Mary's churchyard on 12 May 1933. After Thomas' death, his wife lived at The Stores in Frampton with their son William. |