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Thomas Kingston

1978–2024

Born
22 Jun 1978, Evesham
Country of birth
United Kingdom
Died
25 Feb 2024, Gloucestershire
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth22 Jun 1978, EveshamProbable1 source
  • Death25 Feb 2024, GloucestershireProbable1 source
  • ParentMartin KingstonConfirmed1 source
  • ParentJill BacheConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Evesham

    Birth, Evesham

  2. Died · Gloucestershire

    Death, Gloucestershire

What was it like?

The world around Evesham, 1978: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Thomas was born the same year as Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, and Rachel McAdams.

Born the same year

  • Frank Lampard

    English association football player and manager

  • Rio Ferdinand

    English association football player (born 1978)

  • Rachel McAdams

    Canadian actress (born 1978)

  • Nelly Furtado

    Portuguese-Canadian singer and songwriter

  • Rani Mukerji

    Indian actress (born 1978)

  • Kobe Bryant

    American basketball player (1978–2020)

Fashion

Wide trousers and scarves for football fans

In the mid-1970s, football fans were known for wearing exceptionally wide trousers and carrying two scarves, one on each wrist, to display their team colours.

The origin of Dr. Martens boots

Dr. Martens boots, which became a staple of various subcultures, were originally marketed as orthopaedic gardening shoes for older women.

Music

Rise of English country dance music

During the 1970s, a revival of English country music led to the popularity of ceilidhs or barn dances, where people danced to music played by melodeon-led bands.

Concertina revival among young people

In the late 1960s and 1970s, young people began reclaiming concertinas from junk shops and attics, making them a key instrument for accompanying traditional song in the folk revival.

Getting around

Increasing distance of everyday trips

The average distance per trip increased from 4.7 miles in the early 1970s to 6.9 miles by 2006, as personal mobility grew through expanded road networks.

Stable travel times for daily trips

In the United Kingdom, the average time spent on a single trip was approximately 22 minutes throughout the period from 1973 to 2006.

Daily life

Daily showering became more common

Between 1970 and 1980, many households shifted from a daily campers wash to a daily shower as instant hot water became widely available.

Blackouts forced living by candlelight

During the 1970s energy crisis, planned blackouts were a regular feature, forcing people to use candles and limit heating to just one room.

Food
Around 1976–1976

1976 potato shortage and high prices

Due to a severe potato shortage in 1976, prices for old potatoes reached 13.2p per lb during the spring, leading families to shift toward frozen potato products and pasta.

Widespread adoption of home freezers

Freezer ownership in British households jumped from 15 percent in 1974 to 94 percent by 2000, transforming diets with frozen convenience meals.

Prices and wages

Time to earn a loaf of bread

In 1978, a married man with two children working a manual job had to work 10.5 minutes to afford an 800g loaf of white bread.

Work time for beef sirloin

A manual worker earning an average wage in 1978 had to work over 200 minutes to afford 3 pounds of beef sirloin.

Work

Common factory and manual labor jobs

Factory work was common, with many laborers performing monotonous, repetitive tasks such as capping bottles or inspecting thousands of cuffs weekly. Others worked in skilled crafts or manual roles in industries like coal, metal, and construction.

Longer working hours for British employees

The standard working week lengthened from 40 hours in the 1970s to 44 hours by 1999, with many employees frequently working 50-hour weeks or more. This culture of long hours often involved exhausting shift work, including night shifts that disrupted body clocks.

News and letters
Around 1970–1977

Rising cost of first-class postage

In 1977, a first-class letter cost 12p, which was nearly six times the 1970 price of 2.08p.

During their lifetime

  1. 1994

    Channel Tunnel opens in 1994

    The Channel Tunnel, linking Britain and France, officially opened on 6 May 1994.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.