Dent family connections
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Thomas Dent |
Mary Coucher |
Thomas served his apprenticeship with his father, John Dent Snr., glove maker, at 26 Sidbury and received his "Freedom" to trade on 24 September 1804. After his "Freedom" he continued to work with his father in the firm of John Dent & Son. John drowned in the Severn river in 1811 and after his death Thomas continued to run the family business. His elder brother John was already established in his own glove manufacturing business several years before his father's death and was later joined by their younger brother William. This firm became known as J & W Dent & Co. Between them the three brothers made the Dent family one of the prominent glovemakers in both Worcester and England.
Thomas was elected a member of the "48" of the Corporation of Worcester, 28 August 1815 but, unlike his brothers John and William, he did not attain higher office.
According to family oral history Thomas Dent and Mary Coucher had a child (Mark) born four years prior to their marriage. Mary was only 15 at the time and Thomas arranged for his cousin Mark Dent and his wife Mary Jewell raise young Mark as their own.
After their later marriage, 2 Mar 1819, Thomas and Mary had two sons and a daughter. John Coucher, the eldest son of the marriage, was to inherit Sudeley Castle and the Sudeley Estate from Thomas' brothers John and William. Thomas and Mary did not take Mark into their family when they married even though his adoptive parents had both died by that time.