We know that Thomas Nye was buried 3 March 1831 at Leigh, Kent, England. He was 81 years old and his birth year has been estimated as 1750 from this information. Although many family members have reported that Thomas' parents are Thomas Nye and Barbara Gearing it has been proven that information is incorrect.
Trying to find the parents of Thomas Nye has been a very tedious and long task and as of August 2011 the search continues.
We do know that Thomas married Ann Walker on 12 October 1775 at Leigh. This information was found at the LDS Genealogy Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and is recorded in the Parish Registers of Leigh, Kent. England.
Another interesting bit of information was found in Salt Lake City also and following is a transcription of a court entry-
The 1797 Quarter Sessions Meeting House, recorded in Leigh:
Whereas Thomas Hopkins, Joseph Gateward, John Harmon, Thomas Nye and William Medhurst protestant injectors of the denomination of General Baptist have certified to the justices of the peace at the General Quarter Sessions of the peace to house of William Medhurst in the parish of Leigh in the said County as the place of meeting of a congregation or assembly for religious worship and desired that it may be recorded in the court for that purpose. It is ordered by this court that the said house behind the same is hereby for that purpose pursuant to the statute in that case made and provided.
This proof of Thomas being a non-conformist helps us to understand why his granddaughters
Anne and
Sophia Nye paid to have the Baptist Church on Pembury Road built and also why his grandsons
John and
Thomas Cotton Nye chose to marry their brides at the Wateringbury Baptist Church.
Ann Walker had been christened on 15 July 1750 in Bidborough, Kent, the youngest child of John Walker and Mary Peckam.
According to the Parish Registers of Leigh the following Nye children were baptized:
Click on the links to see the children's individual stories on this blog.
There is another problem that is believed by some family members. The spelling of Walker on one record appears to be Walther or Wather so it has been reported that Thomas Nye had two wives.
Reason reminds us that names were commonly misspelled, very few people could read or write and those who could certainly tried to be accurate but weren't always.
If Ann Walker had died and Thomas had married again there would have been records to that effect, I have been unable to find either one. Divorces were extremely rare and there would definitely be a record.
If anyone has a source or a copy of a record that is different to what I am posting in this blog please send it to me, I would be happy to receive it.
Ann Walker Nye died 14 November 1837 at Tonbridge Wells at the age of 88. Her death certificate reports that the cause of death was gangrene. Her son
William was with her at the time of her death. She was buried 19 November 1837 in Leigh, Kent.
