Thomas Nelson of Hastings

A carte-de-visite showing the grave of Thomas Nelson, who died on 26 September 1862.

Although his headstone says he was aged 75 when he died, which would mean he was born in or about 1787, according to the 1851 and 1861 censuses, he was born in 1793. He was, moreover, baptised at Piddlehinton in Dorset on 20 March 1793, so he was probably about 69 years old when he died.

Thomas Nelson appears on the 1851 census living at 7 York Place, Hastings, Sussex. Also present on the night of the census were his wife Jemima, aged 57, his daughter, Jane, aged 22, and son George, aged 21. Thomas gave ‘China Dealer’ as his profession.

At the time of the 1861 census he was living at 14 Wellington Place in Hastings. His business was recorded as a ‘China and Glass Shop’.

According to the abstract of his will, Thomas Nelson - a ‘Dealer in China’ who was ‘late of Hastings’ - died at Hastings on 26 September 1862. He left effects valued at under £1500.

Photographed by JW Thomas of Hastings.