Thomas John Joseph – Welsh Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Private Thomas John Joseph – Welsh Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Early Life and Family Background

Thomas Joseph and Mary Ann Watkins marriage certificate Parish Church of Swansea

Thomas John Joseph was born in 1884 in Morriston, Swansea, the son of Thomas Joseph and Mary Ann Watkins, who had married in 1881 at the Parish Church of Swansea.

1891 Census

The 1891 Census records the family living at Pentre’avn, Llangyfelach, where Thomas, aged thirty‑seven, worked as a moulder, and Mary Ann, aged twenty‑six, managed the home. Their children present were Sarah Jane, nine; Thomas John, seven; Philip, three; and Charlotte Ann, aged one, with the two eldest attending school.

1901 Census – A Growing Morriston Household

1901 Census

By 1901, the Joseph family were living at 54 Cwmbath Road, Morriston. Thomas, now forty‑seven, continued working as a moulder, while Mary Ann, aged thirty‑six, oversaw the household. Their children present were Thomas John, seventeen, employed as an assorter in the tin works; Philip, thirteen, also working in the tinplate industry; Charlotte Ann, eleven; David Daniel, nine; Mary Ann, six; and Llewellyn, aged five. A boarder, Edward Davies, aged forty‑eight, was also living with the family.

Marriage and 1911 Census

In 1910, Thomas John Joseph married Catherine Buckland at Swansea.

1911 Census

The 1911 Census records Thomas living at 680 Neath Road, Llansamlet, in the home of his brother‑in‑law John Buckland, aged twenty‑five, a bar catcher, and his sister Catherine, aged twenty‑three. Also present were John’s siblings: Mell, nineteen, a dressmaker; David, sixteen, a tinplate catcher; and William, fourteen, employed as a doller in the tin house. Thomas John, aged twenty‑seven, was recorded as a baller helper, reflecting the industrial character of Llansamlet at the time.

Military Service – Welsh Regiment

Thomas later enlisted as a Private in the Welsh Regiment, 2nd Battalion, one of the regiment’s regular battalions with a long history of service on the Western Front during and after the First World War.

Death and Burial, June 1919

Thomas John Joseph died on 17 June 1919, during the difficult post‑war period when many soldiers continued to suffer from illness or the lingering effects of wartime service. He was buried at St. Samlet Churchyard, Llansamlet, where his grave stands among the parish’s earliest post‑war military burials.