Thomas Bishop

I have not yet been able to positively this man. Worfield World War 1 Deaths (an anonymous list found on the Internet) Suggests T. M.[sic] Bishop, (son of Mr. John Bishop, Davenport Gardens, Worfield) or T Bishop, a private in the Worcestershire Regiment who was born in Cleobury Mortimer. Of these, the former seems the most likely - though he appears not to have died on active service.

John Bishop and his wife Ann were living in Worfield by the time of the 1891 census. John appears to have been the gardener at Davenport House. They had previously lived at Stockton where they had a son, Thomas Henry, who was baptised at the parish church in February 1863.

Thomas became a sea-going marine engineer - probably on a merchant ship. He married Mary Ellen Lashmar in 1897 and settled in Cowes, Isle of Wight. By 1911 the couple had four children: three boys and a girl.

At the start of the war Thomas was 51 years of age. He joined the Royal Naval Reserve in June 1916 as an Engineer Sub-Lieutenant and was based at the Royal Naval Barracks in Portsmouth. He died in 1917 (not 1916 as is suggested by Worfield World War 1 Deaths). His death was recorded in the Civil Register - so he may no longer have been a serving officer.