Thomas Wilford

A inked inscription verso in a period hand reads: ‘Thomas Wilford / drowned / Jan. 16th 1865.’

Thomas Wilford spent the night of the 1861 census sleeping in the stables of the Bell Inn in Burgh Le Marsh, Lincolnshire. The census describes him as ‘A man of all work.’ He was apparently born at nearby Osbournby in 1804.

The following report on the inquest into his death appeared in the Stamford Mercury (20 January 1865) under the header ‘Death from Cold.’

‘Thomas Wilford, aged 60, [was] an eccentric character well-known throughout the district. Deceased had no regular means of livelihood, but occasionally went errands or carried messages, and every penny that reached him went at once to the beer-house. He was otherwise a harmless old man, and unfortunately for him a general favourite. He passed his life in wandering about, and at few houses was a pint of ale refused him, many persons, much to their shame, treating him in order to see how large a quantity he could really drink. He generally slept in hovels and stables, and it is believed that at the time of his death he had not been sober for many years. On Sunday last he walked to Skegness, and started to return to Burgh at about six o’clock in the evening, telling a person on the road that he should stop at several houses he named, where he was certain of being treated. At nine o’clock he was heard on the road two miles from Burgh wheezing and groaning heavily, but no notice was taken, as this was his habit when much intoxicated. The next morning he was found dead in the ditch on the road side. […] There was a depth of seven or eight inches of water, but the face was quite clear of the water: the body lay at full length, partly on its side. Deceased had taken off his coat, which was lying near his head: he always took off his coat before lying down to sleep. There were no marks of violence on the body, nor any sign of a struggle having taken place. The Coroner said there could be no mystery as to the cause of death.’

Photographed by Samuel Starbuck of Alford, Lincolnshire.