Thomas was born in Eltham on 14th July 1900 the sixth child of Charles and Annie Matilda Whiting. Charles was born in Nether Compton, Dorset to a farming family. He married Annie Matilda Martin at St Nicholas Plumstead on 24th February 1889, and the 1891 Census, shows they have already settled to family life and are living in the Lodge of Jackwood House on Shooters Hill where Charles is a domestic gardener.
At the time the Whiting family were living on the estate, it was owned by an American Vaudeville actor, Nat C Goodwin and his third wife, English Actress Maxine Elliot. The main house was demolished in 1927 but the Lodge and some of the terraced gardens remain, with that area being referred to as Mayfield.
The 1901 census shows a growing family, some children having left home by now. However, when Thomas started school at Foster’s on 14th August 1905, the family were living at 13 Edison Road in East Wickham. Thomas moved on to the Upper School in January 1908.
The 1911 Census shows Thomas as a schoolboy, and his father still a domestic gardener, although it is not known if he still worked at Jackwood.
Thomas saw service with the Land Drainage Company of the Labour Corps. The Labour Corps was raised in 1915 and undertook an incredible variety of tasks both at home and in all theatres of war. These tasks could be the maintenance of military installations within the UK; assisting with salvage works; building and maintaining roads and rail tracks in the Western Front; even helping to clear battlefields of casualties. Labour Corps units were often deployed for work within the range of enemy guns and sometimes for lengthy periods. By the Armistice, the Labour Corps had grown to almost 390,000 which was more than 10% of the total size of the Army. The official documents kept by the Labour Corps including records of those men who served the Corps were stored in a building totally destroyed by second world war bombing.
Thomas Alfred Whiting died on 12th November 1918, just 18 years old. His death came less than three months after his brother William in France. Thomas was buried in St Michael’s (East Wickham) Churchyard.
Commemorated
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial
- East Wickham War Memorial
- East Wickham and Welling War Memorial Hall
Links
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Thomas Alfred Whiting, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.