Thomas Currie Sigsworth (1882-1916)
South Shields man served with Canadian Army killed in Belgium
William Sigsworth died in 1885, three years after Thomas’s birth in South Shields, leaving Mary Ann a widow with nine children at home. By 1901 Thomas was an apprentice shipwright and, ten years later, only he and his older brother, George, were still living at home with their mother. But not for long, as on 9 June 1913 both Thomas and George set sail for Canada on the SS Corsican, making for the prairies.
Thomas married Sarah two years later on 16 July 1914, and they settled in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where Thomas found work as a labourer. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on 29 May 1915 in Moose Jaw, naming Sarah as his next of kin and mentioning his twelve years in the Royal Horse Artillery in England. Thomas became Private 104722 of the 68th Battalion and sailed with them to England. December 1915 saw him as a Gunner at Westenhanger, Kent, attached to the 7th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. In January he was transferred to the 3rd Trench Mortar Battery based at Shorncliffe Camp.
Travelling to France in April, he joined his unit at Poperinghe, Belgium and just five weeks later he was reported as missing presumed dead after an attack at Sanctuary Wood. Gunner 104722 has no known grave and is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.
Civil Parish: South Shields
Birth date: 16-Jul-1882
Death date: 03-Jun-1916
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 13 Campbell Street, South Shields (1891 census)
38 Eglesfield Road, South Shields (1911 census)
926 Athabasca Street E, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (enlistment papers)
Religion: Church of England
Employment: apprentice shipwright (1901 census)
Family: Parents: William Sigsworth, Mary Ann Sigsworth nee Brown
Siblings: Isabella Brown Sigsworth, Barbara Johnson Sigsworth, Cuthbert Sigsworth, Sarah Ann Sigsworth, Margaret Jane Sigsworth, Alice Sigsworth, George William Sigsworth, Adam Brown Sigsworth
Wife: Sarah Sigsworth
Military service:
Royal Horse Artillery (pre-war)
104722
Gunner
68th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
7th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery
3rd Trench Mortar Battery , Canadian Field Artillery
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Memorial(s): Menin Gate Memorial, Belgium
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham
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I have been researching Thomas's wife for a while & knew she married a Sigsworth but didn't know his given names until yesterday when I found them on CWGC. His wife was the former Sarah Wilson born 1880 to John Wilson & Ann Fishwick. I have searched for their marriage but have been unable to find it until I saw this article. I had thought she married in St Augustine, Florida which is where she lived, on & off, for many years with an aunt & uncle..You have the date of marriage & I wonder if I can ask where the marriage took place please.
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Judithk
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