Thomas Halkon Jnr was the second child, and only son, of Thomas and Sarah Halkon. They lived in Belton, near the River Trent in Lincolnshire. His mother Sarah Richardson was from Belton and his father Thomas came from Fishlake about 20 km away. Thomas Jnr seems to have been an only child as his older sister Mildred, alas, didn’t survive infancy. Of course we are reliant on the records we can find and Thomas may have had many siblings we just don’t know about.
The next record we have of him is his marriage at Luddington, about 20 km downstream. His wife Winifred Naylor was born there, the daughter of an innkeeper. Maybe her parents had business with Thomas, who was a blacksmith. Both Thomas and Winifred signed their names, an indication that they were educated and “middle-class” as we might say today.
Thomas and Winifred settled at Owston Ferry, right on the banks of the Trent. The “Ferry” was an actual ferry, busy at that time and a main port of call on the river route between Gainsborough and Hull. There is, in fact, a blacksmith’s shop museum there, but unfortunately it’s from Victorian times and did not belong to our Thomas! Still well worth a visit.
Winifred was soon pregnant but her first baby Sally died at five months old. Three years later Mary was born and then Thomas.
In 1788 Winifred’s father died and left Thomas a guinea in his will. It would be something between £1700 and £1900 in 2020. Not an enormous amount but enough to buy a new coal forge today (beware, though – you shouldn’t make direct price comparisons). The Halkons had a new baby a couple of months later so let’s hope she had a good start in life – she was our ancestor Sarah.
I have found no further records of Thomas or his wife, or of any other children born to them.
Father of Sarah Halcon and son of Sarah and Thomas Halkon Snr
Baptised on 16 May 1749 at Belton, Lincolnshire
Married Winifred Naylor on 9 August 1778
No record of death found