Author: Carpenter, Thomas
Biography:
CARPENTER, Thomas (1775-1852: ancestry.co.uk)
The son of Thomas and Ann Carpenter, he was born in Blackwall, Tower Hamlets, London, on about 15 Sept. and baptised on 1 Oct. 1775 (the baptismal record states that he was born 16 days before being baptised). Nothing is known about his education. On 8 Jan. 1798 he married Martha Flint in Barking; a son Thomas, born the same year, died in 1799. They had at least three other sons. The 1841 Census shows Thomas and Martha living in West Ham, Essex; in 1851 they were living at 130 Church Street, West Ham with a son, Frederick (aged 29) and four lodgers. Carpenter gave his occupation as “former schoolmaster.” His educational books identify him as “Master of the Academy” in Barking, Essex. The books include The Scholar’s Spelling Assistant (1796), The Young Scholar’s Manual of Useful Knowledge (1837), and The Young Scholar’s Manual of Elementary Arithmetic (1842); of these, his spelling book was the most enduringly popular and continued being revised and reissued until the 1860s. Carpenter died in West Ham and was buried at All Saints church on 22 Mar. 1852. (ancestry.co.uk 1 Nov. 2023) SR