Born at the turn of the century, Thomas had an uncle and an elder brother who were shoemakers. These were well-educated craftsmen and Thomas was apprenticed into this trade under John Bagnall, a fellow churchwarden of his father’s.

As an apprentice, Thomas lived and worked with John Bagnall for a period of seven years. During his apprenticeship, he was not permitted to marry, gamble, or visit public houses. Many of the tools would have been familiar from his father’s workshop but he also learnt to use the round “moon” knife of the trade. He measured each customer’s feet and made wooden “lasts” to replicate them. He soaked leather and beat it with a hammer to flatten its tissues, making it more resilient to wear and damp. He then transferred the measurements to a pattern and cut the leather accordingly. Next came shaping, pinching, and sewing the leather around the last to form the shoe. Instead of a needle, holes were made with an awl. Waxed linen was then threaded through a “pig’s bristle” which was finer than a metal needle and enabled greater dexterity. The shoes were then sewn together. Finally, shoes were trimmed and waxed, and the sole burnished with a “shoulder stick”.

During Thomas’ apprenticeship, every pair of shoes would have been made to order. By the time he took his own apprentice in 1743, he would have made some “speculative” shoes to have available for faster sales.

Thomas had Anglican and Protestant relations. His uncle, Daniel Payton, was a Presbyterian dissenter and trustee for a charity school connected with their meeting house. Thomas too was a dissenter. He may have been influenced by the riots in his youth, but his beliefs are evident from the time he married Ann Booth in 1730.

Thomas and Ann did not believe in baptising children. Their eldest son, John, died in infancy. They took care to register the birth of their second son, Thomas, at the Church of England as this was the only legal proof of age.

Religion remained the great topic of the times and, in 1748, John Wesley (founder of the Methodist church) preached in the marketplace just outside their home. A relative, Catherine Payton, was a renowned Quaker orator who spoke in England, Ireland, and America.

Thomas was the younger son of a younger son but, partly thanks to the Payton connection, he owned at least seven properties including his house and shopfront in High Street.

Thomas and Anne may have attended town events at Dudley Castle. In the summer of 1750, they would have been alarmed to see it on fire. Burning lead from the roof ignited the surrounding grass causing the hill itself to look afire. The townsfolk kept clear as gunpowder was said to be stored there. The fire burned for three days, destroying the remaining habitable portion of the castle.

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Sources & Notes

Son of Edward & Apprenticeship: No record of Thomas’ baptism was found but his apprenticeship record indicates his father as Edward. Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, Country Registers, Ancestry, 1716 (suggests birth c1702) & Will of Edward Hodgetts junior 1742 refers to Thomas as his brother. Thomas’ master, John Bagnal appears in the churchwardens book with Edward.

Shoemaking 1600 to 1850, Martel Fashion, Rtd 19/5/2022.

Catherine Payton Phillips, Wikipedia Rtd 19/5/2022.

Castle Fire: Charles Twamley, History of Dudley Castle and Priory, p98.