254620 Pte Thomas Albert Stead British Army 7th Btn King's Royal Rifle Company from:Oulton, Leeds, West Yorkshire (d.1949) Thomas Albert Stead came from a large Rothwell mining family which had its roots in the area going back to at least the middle of the 18th century.
Tom, as he was known, joined the King's Royal Rifles Regiment on 1914-10-14 as a private and was given the number R5968.
He served in France from May 1915 but was discharged at the end of July 1917, "no longer fit for military service," after being wounded.
In common with those who fought and survived the war, he was awarded the Victory Medal, British War Medal, and the 1915 Star.
Before he went off to war in 1914, Tom Stead had two children with Mabel: Albert born in 1912, and Joseph, a year later.
Albert also joined the army but died in a swimming accident in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1936
For a while Tom and Rachel lived in one of the council houses on Fourth Avenue on Rothwell Haigh, with Tom probably working at Fanny Pit nearby, but in about 1934 they moved to the Kent coalfield where Tom got a job at Betteshanger colliery near Deal.
He was very active in politics and union work and had many letters published in the Kent Times about the conditions miners worked in.
When the 1939 Register was compiled it indicated he had been working as a ripper but by that time was "incapacitated".
A few years later, Tom, Rachel and their son moved back to Yorkshire where they lived near Doncaster.
He died in 1949.
Joe Stead followed his father "down 't pit" and went with him to Kent. He also became a soldier and served in the Second World War. He was 88 when he passed away in 2003.
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