At 18, Tom was 5' 6¾", fair complexion, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Later, his record states, "Right little finger amputated through second phalanx."
There's a record of a marriage, in the 1st quarter of 1889, between
Tom Stone and
Margaret Knapman. However, the British Royal Marines Marriage Registers, gives the date they married as 5 Apr 1893 and list the place of marriage as the Register Office, East Stonehouse. As
there was no such thing as a Register Office (until after 1929), I wonder if this marriage took place in Stonehouse Barracks. There are civil registrations for both dates. This comment from
Peter Calver at Lost Cousins, potentially provides the explanation, as it probably applies to Marines too, "
... soldiers needed the permission of their commanding officer if they wanted the marriage to be recognised (which is why you will sometimes come across a couple who married each other twice)."
Either marriage was a little late and you can imagine, in the haste to legitimise their eldest, that they may have forgotten to ask permission of the CO:
- Archer Henry Stone (Archie), born 28 Mar 1889 in Plympton, Devon, bap. 21 May 1889, at the Wesleyan Methodist church, Tamerton Foliot
- Frederick Thomas Stone, born 20 Jan 1892
- Beatrice May Stone, born 14 Mar 1894, in Plympton (not yet found >1911)
- Bertram Charles Stone, born 24 Feb 1899 (died 2nd quarter of 1899)
- Leslie Victor Stone, born 1901. On 11 Apr 1919, aged 18, Leslie Victor Stone joined the Royal Tank Corps. Looks like he married Lilian Letts (1903-1984), issue included a daughter and may have died in 1964.
- Rosina Kathleen Stone, born 14 Apr 1903
In 1901 the family were living at
9, St Paul Street, East Stonehouse, with Tom Stone (39) listed as a Marine Pensioner. (Tom served in the
Royal Marines for 21 years (+ 2 days), from 11 Mar 1880 until 13 Mar 1901, and then enlisted in the
Royal Fleet Reserve on 3 Jul 1901.) Also listed were Margaret (35), along with children; Archie (12), Frederick (9), Beatrice (7) and Leslie (0).
Archer Henry Stone enlisted in the
Royal Marines, aged 14, on 11 Nov 1903.
Tom Stone, General Labourer and Marine Pensioner, died, aged 43, on 2 May 1905, from Pulmonary
Tuberculosis, at 3 Ashley Place, Plymouth.
In 1911, Margaret Stone, widowed and in receipt of
Parochial Relief, was living in East Stonehouse, with her two youngest, Leslie V (10) and Rosina K (7). Frederick had enlisted in the
Royal Navy in 1907 and Beatrice (17) was working as a Servant for Samuel Reed, Hairdresser and Tobacconist, in Devonport.
Margaret Erne Stone died, on 1 Sep 1921, at around 55 years, and probate was granted to her son, Frederick Thomas Stone, on 24 Dec 1921.