George Martin, Blaisdon (General)

by sidtoomey01 , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Tuesday, November 03, 2015, 20:53 (3308 days ago) @ annrh32

Hi Ann

This information probably isn't much help to you but Thomas Toomey is part of my family tree. He and his wife worked around Westbury on Severn as agricultural labourers for a good part of their lives and were quite poor. On at least one occasion they had a lodger paying rent to them, also caring for a farmers aged servant and doing washing to supplement their meagre income. Therefore I assume the Martins you referred to would have been boarders and not sons.
If you are interested Thomas Toomey was involved in a court case called "The Toomey Case" where he was persecuted for being an early member of an Agricultural Union. The case received extensive coverage in the Western Mail Newspaper during September 1874. One of the reports gives a good description of the families income, or lack thereof, which would have probably been typical for that occupation at the time.

Sid Toomey