Who was Thomas Ivey TRENDALL?
On 31st July 1850 Thomas Ivey TRENDALL, aged 32 years, a Cab Driver, died of Consumption (TB). He died at an address in Camden, Middlesex, just a couple of miles north of where my Trendall forebears were living. His death was registered by a W BAXTER (?) who was, in the language of death registration, 'present at the death'. There is no further clue as to who BAXTER was, or his or her relationship with Thomas.
The problem is this is the only appearance in the records of this chap. There are no baptism, marriage, burial or census records (1841) that mention him. He does not appear in any newspaper reports (in so far as it has been possible to check) or in any, on line, court or probate records.
He could of course been from another branch of the family. He could have moved to London from Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire or Kent. But this does not explain why no other record exists.
I suppose the most likely explanation is that the person registering his death got his name wrong. As a cab driver he may have led a transient lifestyle, moving from lodging to lodging. Perhaps he used the name TRENDALL as an alias.
The middle name 'Ivey' is also intriguing. I have tried searching for this as his surname. This is not easy but there are no records that stand out as obviously being him..
Unusually the death certificate does not indicate who certified the cause of death. It merely says 'certified'.
If anybody has any ideas about how to solve this mini mystery I would be pleased to hear from them.
Oct 2020
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