Anne Thompson was born in Bilston on 23 Feb 1801. Her parents were Isaac Thompson, a Japanner, and his wife Sarah (nee Astley). She married Edward Bagnall Dimmack at the age of 30 on 17 Oct 1831 – and was about seven years older than him. They only had one daughter who lived into adulthood, Frances Anne Dimmack.
Edward Bagnall Dimmack, an iron master, had a co-partner called John Thompson in the 1830’s. It is assumed that this is Anne’s brother and is the main basis of the supposition about Anne’s parents. In the 1851 census Caroline Thompson is listed as a member of the Dimmack household as a niece. This would be the eldest daughter of John and Anne’s brother, Joshua, who was the Inn Keeper of the Green Dragon in nearby Darlaston.
Anne Dimmack in 1879
John Thompson, the business partner is listed in the 1851 census as an Ironmaster and coincidentally is living in Barnhurst. The property would appear to be part of the old Hellier estate and listed in his household is a governess, Sarah Amelia Agard. Sarah Amelia Agard from Manchester was to marry Thomas Evans. So there is a connection between the Evans and Dimmack families, at this early stage. John Thompson’s wife also came from Manchester, where his eldest children were born – including Astley Thompson. The name Astley allows us to clearly identify Anne Thompson’s mother as Sarah Astley, who marries Isaac Thompson in St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton on 25 Apr 1795.
Anne Dimmack lived to the age of 80 and survived her daughter who died in 1862 and her husband, who died in 1875. She spent the last six years of her life at the Birches, Codsall – the home of Henry Marten and his family.
She died in December 1881.
The picture shown here is only probably of the widow Anne Dimmack. It is from the collection of her granddaughter Florence Marten, with whom her grandmother would have lived. This photo is ambiguously described as “gt grandmother Martin – the beret” (sic) in the hand of Molly Downing. It is therefore possible that it is instead a photo of Eliza Marten (nee Warmington) who similarly shared a roof with the Marten family but who died in 1865. Because of the dates and the age of the photo it is on balance more likely to have been taken in the late 1870’s.
Family of Edward Bagnall DIMMACK and Anne THOMPSON
| Husband: | Edward Bagnall DIMMACK (1808-1875) | |
| Wife: | Anne THOMPSON (1801-1881) | |
| Children: | Sarah Jane DIMMACK (1832-bef1846) | |
| Frances Anne DIMMACK (1834-1862) | ||
| Marriage | 17 Oct 1831 | Kingswinford, Staffordshire |
Husband: Edward Bagnall DIMMACK
| Name: | Edward Bagnall DIMMACK | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | Jeremiah DIMMACK (bap.1781, bur.1848) | |
| Mother: | Jane BAGNALL (bap.1787, bur.1850) | |
| Birth | 19 Nov 1808 | Bilston, Staffordshire |
| Baptism | 25 Dec 1808 (age 0) | St Lawrence, Darlaston |
| Residence | 1841 (age 32-33) | Church Street, Bilston |
| Occupation | btw 1841 and 1864 (age 32-56) | Ironworks Proprietor; Staffordshire and South Wales |
| Residence | 1850 (age 41-42) | |
| Described as Edward Bagnall Dimmack of Pontypool | ||
| Occupation | 17 Dec 1852 (age 44) | Appointed director of South Staffordshire Water Company (Henry Marten chief engineer) |
| Occupation | 1 Feb 1853 (age 44) | Appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Staffodshire |
| Occupation | 1856 (age 47-48) | JP and High Sheriff for the county of Monmouth |
| Occupation | 1856 (age 47-48) | Went into partnership with Henry Marten |
| Occupation | 30 Jan 1856 (age 47) | attendant of ceremony; Buckingham Palace in front of Queen Victoria |
| All high Sherrifs attend Buckingham Palace | ||
| Occupation | c. 1870 (age 61-62) | JP for Staffordshire |
| Occupation | 1875 (age 66-67) | – |
| Parkfield Iron Company wound up after EB Dimmacks death | ||
| Death | Q1 1875 (age 66) | |
Wife: Anne THOMPSON
| Name: | Anne THOMPSON1 | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | Isaac THOMPSON (1772-1838) | |
| Mother: | Sarah ASTLEY (bap.1772, d.1844) | |
| Birth | 23 Feb 1801 | Bilston, Staffordshire |
| Baptism | 23 Feb 1803 (age 2) | Temple Street Chapel |
| Census | 1851 (age 49-50) | |
| 1851 Census shows niece called Caroline Thompson staying with Dimmacks | ||
| Residence | Apr 1881 (age 80) | Birches, Codsall with Henry J Marten, Son in law, aged 80 |
| Death | Q4 1881 (age 80) | Codsall |
Child 1: Sarah Jane DIMMACK
| Name: | Sarah Jane DIMMACK | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 22 May 1832 | |
| Baptism | 23 May 1832 (age 0) | Oxford Street, Bilston – Non conformist |
| Death | btw 1835 and 1846 (age 2-14) | |
Child 2: Frances Anne DIMMACK
| Name: | Frances Anne DIMMACK2 | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Spouse: | Henry John MARTEN (1827-1892) | |
| Birth | 1834 | Bilston, Staffordshire3 |
| Baptism | 25 Jun 1837 (age 2-3) | Oxford Street, Bilston – Non conformist |
| Death | 26 Mar 1862 (age 27-28) | Penn Fields, Staffordshire |
| Burial | 31 Mar 1862 | Wolverhampton |
Sources
| 2 | “Oxford Street Congregationalist Church Baptism Records”. |
| 3 | “Oxford Street Independent”. |