Film director. Brother of David William Gobbett (1884-1973).
Thomas James Gobbett was born on 13 February 1882, the eldest of the seven children of David William Gobbert (1855-1929) and Ann Gobbett née Ward (1857-1907). His birth was registered in the 1st quarter of 1882 in the St George in the East registration district.
On 31 August 1884 he was baptised in St George in the East Church, 14 Cannon Street Road, London, E1, where the baptismal register shows the family living at 14 Stubfield Street, Tower Hamlets.
In the 1891 census he was shown as a scholar, living at 72 Blackthorn Street, Bromley-by-Bow, with his parents and three siblings, David William Gobbett (1884-1973), Phillip Frederick Gobbett (b.1888) and Elizabeth Ann Gobbett (1890-1969). His father was shown as a matting manufacturer and his mother as a matting weaver.
He was admitted to Knapp Road School, Tower Hamlets on 23 March 1987 , when the family were living at 72 Blackthorn Road, Tower Hamlets. Having attended the Devons Road Wesleyan School, Bow Common, on 14 June 1892 both he and his brother, David William Gobbett, were registered at Dr Barnardo's School, later known as Copperfield Road (Doctor Barnardo's Free) School, but they both left this school on 3 September 1892. The register shows the family address as 19 Kirks Place, Tower Hamlets.
The 1901 census lists him at 52 Wouldham Street, Canning Town, with his parents and five siblings, David William Gobbett, Elizabeth Ann Gobbett, Ellen Martha Gobbett (b.1893), Alice Betsy Gobbett (1896-1972) and Ann Gobbett (b.1899). His occupation was recorded as a mat manufacturer as were his parents and his brother David William Gobbett.
On 17 January 1904 he married Ann May Groves at All Hallowes Church, East India Dock Road, Bromley-by-Bow, where the marriage register showed that he was an electrician and that they were both recorded as living at 33 Portree Street, Poplar. They had two sons: Thomas James Gobbett (1904-1983) and David William Gobbett (1907-1971).
The Internet Movie Datebase website lists eleven films he directed. One of the films, Anarchy in England (1909), reconstructed the events of the Tottenham Outrage.
In the 1911 census he is described as a director and works manager of a company designing and making cinematograph machines and films, living at 47 Liverpool Road, Whipps Cross, with his wife and their two children. On 16 October 1913 he was initiated as a freemason in The Lodge of Stability No.217 that met at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, London, giving his occupation as an electrician and living in Leyton..
He died from pneumonia, aged 33 years, on 29 November 1915 at The Hospital, Walthamstow, Essex, Probate records confirm that his home address had been 47 Liverpool Road, Leyton, Essex and that when administration was granted to his widow on 20 December 1915 his effects totalled £340-4s-6d.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk and Andrew Behan.
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