Thomas was born on 14 August 1803 in Ardara, Donegal in Ireland. He first enlisted on 18 April 1825 into the coastguard service at Killybegs. From there he moved to Dunstaff Head in the far NE coast of Donegal. By now he was married to Catherine McDevitt. He stayed for the maximum of 5 years, determined by the service to avoid developing friendships with local smugglers. Smuggling was at its peak in 1820-1840 due to very high duties on imported goods. First child Mary was born in 1827 and so began the connection with my family history. Thomas had several other positions in Ireland before he left for Rottingdean on the outskirts of Brighton on 21 July 1838
with his wife and 6 children. On 31 October 1839 he transferred to Flamborough and then to Filey on 1 July 1842 where he remained until 30 March 1851. He then went back to Flamborough until 1857 when he was discharged from the service with a pension of £37.10.0 a year. Catherine died on 24 March 1873 and was buried in Dean Road Cemetery in Scarborough. Thomas moved after losing his wife to 27 Union Street Leeds, the home of William Day, his son in law, who had married his daughter Elizabeth. He died on 14 March 1886 from chronic bronchitis and was buried at Beckett Street Cemetery on 17 March. His son in law was buried in the same grave in 1901 age 52, followed by his daughter in 1913 age 63. All Crimlisks in Filey, Scarborough and Flamborough, many of them fishermen, especially in Filey, descend from Thomas Crimlisk.
Date Added.:
2022-07-17 07:00:00
Notes
Description and photograph kindly supplied by Ian Backhouse
