Corporal Thomas Samuel Carlisle Joiner died of influenza/pneumonia on 24th September 1918 at 79th General Hospital, Taranto, Italy whilst serving with the 8th Battalion Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry. According to the Solihull Parish Magazine October 1918, He was en route to England from Salonika after three years on active service.
Born in Solihull in 1891, he was the second of the four children of parents, Thomas (a postman) and Mary (née Middleton) (a coffee house keeper). He had an elder sister – Ethel (1890-1918) – and two younger brothers – William Joseph (1894-1972) and Clifford Arthur (1898-1973). Cliff became a professional photographer and many of his photos were published in the Warwick County News (later Solihull News). It’s partly thanks to him that so many images of old Solihull have survived.
The marriage to Thomas Joiner was Mary’s second marriage. She had previously married John Biden (a shepherd) in 1877 but he died in 1882 leaving her with three young daughters under five years old. She married Thomas Joiner on 26th June 1889 at St Alphege Church, Solihull, at which time she was living in Henley-in-Arden.
By 1911, the Joiner family had moved from the High Street to 7, Grove Avenue, Solihull, at which time 29-year-old Thomas Samuel Carlisle Joiner ws recorded as a domestic gardener. We don’t known when he volunteered for the Army, but he first entered a Theatre of War on 18th September 1915.
His youngest brother, Cliff, also served in the Army, joining the Warwickshire Yeomany on 30th October 1915, at which time his occupation was given as confectioner. He later transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Corporal Thomas Joiner is buried at Taranto Town Cemetery Extension and is also commemorated locally on Solihull war memorial.
If you have any further information, please let us know.
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
tel.: 0121 704 6977
email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk
Solihull Life 
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