Thomas Henry George Reid was born late in 1890, the youngest of the three children of Thomas Harrison Reid (1860-1945) and Eliza Jane Reid, née Burrows (1860-1894), his birth being registered in the 1st quarter of 1891 in the Paddington Registration District, London. On 1 February 1891 he was baptised at St Marks Church, Hamilton Terrace, Marylebone, London where in the baptismal register his family were shown as living at 25 Elgin Terrace, Paddington and that his father was a stoker.
When the 1891 census was taken on 4 April 1891 he was shown as aged four months old, living there with his parents and two elder sisters, Emily Matilda Reid (1885-1975) and Ann Mary Reid (1888-1952). His father was described as a stoker, electric light.
His mother died in early 1894 and his father was remarried on 6 August 1894 at St Mary’s Church, West Kensington, to Harriet Flora Adams Prior (1860-1945), where in the marriage register his father is shown as aged 33 years, a widower and an electrician, living at 10 North End Road, West Kensington, the son of Henry Reid, a deceased tailor, whilst his step-mother was described as aged 33 years and a spinster, also residing at 66 North End Road, the daughter of John Prior, a deceased engineer.
When the 1901 census was undertaken he was shown as Thomas Henry George Reid, aged 10 years and living in three rooms within 4 Pretoria Terrace, Wolseley Road, Acton, Middlesex (now Greater London), with his father, his step-mother and his sister Anne Mary Reid. His father was listed as a general labourer.
He was shown as Thomas Henry Geo. Reid, aged 20 years and a railway carriage cleaner employed by the District Railway on the 1911 census return form that was completed by his father. His father described himself as a worker at the Science Museum and that the family were living in a six roomed property at 4 Elthorne Villas, Thornton Road, Hounslow, Middlesex (now Greater London). Also listed on the census form were his step-mother and his sister Emily Matilda Reid.
During World War One he was a Private with the 2nd Cavalry Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, service number 491 and he entered his Theatre of War on 19 August 1914. He became an Acting Corporal, but had to revert to Private on his return to the UK on 11 December 1917.
He married Maud Bootman (1891-1973) in the 1st quarter of 1918 in the Hartismere Registration District, Suffolk.
Following the war, he was awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal 1914-1918, the Victory Medal and the General Service Medal with clasps for Iraq & N.W. Persia.
The 1928 electoral registers show him and his wife living at 65 Ravenswood Road, London, SW12.
In April 1929 he was appointed as a porter with the London Postal Service, West London, and the 1932 electoral register has them still living at 65 Ravenswood Road. The 1935 electoral register shows that they had moved to 47, Cambridge Road, London, W6 and the 1936 register lists them at 14 Royal Crescent, London, W11.
During World War Two he was a Private in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, service number 7250632, and he died on 6 July 1944, aged 53 years, at the Army Depot, North Woolwich, West Ham, Essex (now Greater London). He was buried in , Rowan Road, Streatham Vale, London. There was no headstone so he is commemorated there on Square 24 of the Cross of Sacrifice’s Screen Wall.
Probate records show that at the time he was residing at 17 Northbourne Road, Clapham Park, London and that administration of his estate was granted on 7 June 1946 to his widow. His effects totalled £350-12s-6d. On 21 June 1946 his widow was sent a gratuity payment of £188-6s-9d by the Royal Mail for his service as a mail porter at the London Postal District's Western District Office.
He is shown as 'REID T.H.G.' on the Western Postal District war memorial in Mount Pleasant, London, WC1. He is also commemorated on the and on .
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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