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| back_to_england_c.1803-38 [2022/06/13 15:10] – [Eliza Portraits?] judith | back_to_england_c.1803-38 [2023/08/19 15:18] – [Two Wives, Two Daughters and Two (surviving) Sons] judith |
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| ====== Back to England ====== | ====== Back to England ====== |
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| ==== Thomas Murray Prior/Thomas Prior, 1 August 1790-July 1864 ==== | **Thomas Murray Prior/Thomas Prior, 1 August 1790-July 1864** |
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| {{:col_mp_cropped.jpg?direct&200|}} This photo is from TLM-P’s photo album and labelled by him as ‘Colonel Murray-Prior’. It was taken by Symonds Photographer who operated from the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, near where this 2nd Thomas Murray Prior lived.((Provenance: J. Godden))\\ | {{:col_mp_cropped.jpg?direct&200|}} This photo is from TLM-P’s photo album and labelled by him as ‘Colonel Murray-Prior’. It was taken by Symonds Photographer who operated from the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, near where this 2nd Thomas Murray Prior lived.((Provenance: J. Godden))\\ |
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| This Thomas Murray Prior, the eldest son of Thomas and Catherine Murray Prior, called himself Thomas Prior.((to do: check to see if 'Murray" was part of his name))\\ | This Thomas Murray Prior, the eldest son of Thomas and Catherine [Murray] Prior, called himself Thomas Prior.((to do: check to see if 'Murray" was part of his name))\\ |
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| He was born in 1790((Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//,Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, p.49 Cf Family Bible has his birth year as 1789.)) when his father was 17 years old, indicating that his parents eloped when very young. His mother's family relented enough for her to go to her parent's place at Cuffsborough (Country Laois, Ireland) for the birth.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) With his father still living and drawing on the family estate to provide for his children from his first and second marriages/relationship, this Thomas had to find another way to earn his living. He did so by leaving Ireland and joining the British army. He never permanently returned, understandably given that his father appears to have lost the Rathdowney estate during bankruptcy proceedings in 1824.\\ | He was born in 1790((Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//,Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, p.49 Cf Family Bible has his birth year as 1789.)) when his father was 17 years old, indicating that his parents eloped when very young. His mother's family relented enough for her to go to her parent's place at Cuffsborough (Country Laois, Ireland) for the birth.((‘Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry.)) With his father still living and drawing on the family estate to provide for his children from his first and second marriages/relationship, this Thomas had to find another way to earn his living. He did so by leaving Ireland and joining the British army. He never permanently returned, understandably given that his father appears to have lost the Rathdowney estate during bankruptcy proceedings in 1824.\\ |
| As seen in the above link, Thomas Prior took part in the Battle of Waterloo which marked Napoleon's defeat. That battle also marked the decline in his career prospects. The army was reduced by a staggering 232,000 men; the navy by 124,000 men. They were put on half-pay but that pay was low, fixed at 1794 levels. Many seized the opportunity to emigrate to NSW and Van Dieman's Land, enticed by offers of land grants, a freer life and warmer climate.((Wright, //Wellington's Men in Australia//, pp.18-29.)) While not all were successful, ex-officers who had fought in the Peninsula War formed an influential and prosperous network in Australia.((Wright, //Wellington's Men in Australia//, p.177.)) Perhaps because he had a wife and children, Thomas Prior did not join his fellow officers and emigrate. Did he regret staying in Britain? Was an awareness of lost opportunities behind his teenage son's decision to migrate? | As seen in the above link, Thomas Prior took part in the Battle of Waterloo which marked Napoleon's defeat. That battle also marked the decline in his career prospects. The army was reduced by a staggering 232,000 men; the navy by 124,000 men. They were put on half-pay but that pay was low, fixed at 1794 levels. Many seized the opportunity to emigrate to NSW and Van Dieman's Land, enticed by offers of land grants, a freer life and warmer climate.((Wright, //Wellington's Men in Australia//, pp.18-29.)) While not all were successful, ex-officers who had fought in the Peninsula War formed an influential and prosperous network in Australia.((Wright, //Wellington's Men in Australia//, p.177.)) Perhaps because he had a wife and children, Thomas Prior did not join his fellow officers and emigrate. Did he regret staying in Britain? Was an awareness of lost opportunities behind his teenage son's decision to migrate? |
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| | ==== Military items ==== |
| | A number of swords most likely belonging to this Thomas Prior or his immediate family have survived, along with other items. They were used in combat, at least up until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. **For more on these click [[**army gear**]]**.\\ |
| | {{:m-p_swords_1_.jpeg?400|}} Some Murray-Prior swords.((Provenance:T.A. & M.T. M-P; they were restored by Hayden Vesty on behalf of T.A. M-P))\\ |
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| ==== Portraits ==== | ==== Portraits ==== |
| {{:mp6.jpg?300|}} The family has a number of paintings of this Thomas Prior. The one shown here is the most gorgeous of them all!((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) It shows him in dress uniform. It presumably is the painting described in TLM-P's will as 'one portrait of my Father in regimentals of the Eighteenth Hussars'.((TLM-P, Last Will and Testament, QJO, donated by T.A. & M.T. M-P.)) One of the medals is the {{http://dorchesters.com/waterloo-medal-miniature|Waterloo medal}} for those who fought in that momentous battle.\\ | {{:mp6.jpg?300|}} The family has a number of paintings of this Thomas Prior. The one shown here is the most gorgeous of them all!((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) It shows him in dress uniform. It presumably is the painting described in TLM-P's will as 'one portrait of my Father in regimentals of the Eighteenth Hussars'.((TLM-P, Last Will and Testament, QJO, donated by T.A. & M.T. M-P.)) One of the medals is the {{http://dorchesters.com/waterloo-medal-miniature|Waterloo medal}} for those who fought in that momentous battle.\\ |
| Two unidentified images - click on [[Mystery Images]]\\ | Two unidentified images - click on [[Mystery Images]]\\ |
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| ==== Military items ==== | |
| A number of swords most likely belonging to this Thomas Prior or his immediate family have survived, along with other items. They were used in combat, at least up until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. **For more on these click [[**army gear**]]**.\\ | |
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| {{:m-p_swords_1_.jpeg?400|}} Some Murray-Prior swords.((Provenance:T.A. & M.T. M-P; they were restored by Hayden Vesty on behalf of T.A. M-P))\\ | |
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| ==== Books ==== | ==== Books ==== |
| It can be a matter of serendipity what books survive - and some of those the owner most treasured may well be deemed too battered to keep by his or her heirs. The books the family owns that belonged to this Thomas Murray-Prior were mainly those required in the army or for the expected church attendance. F**or more, click on [[**books**]]**.\\ | It can be a matter of serendipity what books survive - and some of those the owner most treasured may well be deemed too battered to keep by his or her heirs. The books the family owns that belonged to this Thomas Murray-Prior were mainly those required in the army or for the expected church attendance. F**or more, click on [[**books**]]**.\\ |
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| **Summary:** \\ | **Summary:** \\ |
| |Thomas Prior|m (1) [[Jemima Dickson]]| [[Jemima and Louisa]]|and William Amhurst| | |Thomas Prior|m (1) [[Jemima Dickson]]| [[Jemima, William Amhurst, Louisa]]| |
| | |m (2) [[Eliza Skynner]]|and had two sons: TLM-P (the focus of this history) and (another) [[William]].|\\ | | |m (2) [[Eliza Skynner]]|and had two sons: TLM-P (the focus of this history) and (another) [[William]].|\\ |
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