When Thomas was an older teenager, he met a beautiful young lady from nearby Mansfield named Mary Sudbury. Mary had been bom in Mansfield on April 19, 1811, the daughter of Thomas Cates Sudbury and Sarah Marshall Sudbury. Although never proven, the Sudbury's claimed they were descendants of a "Lord Sudbury" of Suffolk. Thomas and Mary were married in the Mansfield Parish Church on the day after Christmas (the day his parents were married 23 years earlier) December 26, 1831. Thomas was 19 and Mary was 20. They had a home in Mansfield where Thomas worked as a "stockinger" during the winter months and they rented various apartments in Nottingham City where Thomas worked in the Spring, Summer, and Fall as a gardener doing landscaping on some of the larger manors and estates. However, in as much as all of the last five children were born in Mansfield, even during the Spring and Fall, he may have stopped doing the landscaping in Nottingham City in about 1843. It may have become just too difficult to keep moving the children back and forth.

The children of Thomas and Mary were born in the following order:

As soon as they were old enough, all of the children, whenever they could, attended school. Their schooling included reading, writing, and math. Thomas and Mary were frequently in attendance at the Sunday Service in the Mansfield Parish Chapel of the Church of England but they did not believe some of the doctrines that were being taught. In 1849, Mormon Elders: Andrew Robinson, Abraham Hamford, J.T. Hardy, Claude Rodgers, Thomas Davenport, and Martin Slack, under the direction of Orson Pratt, were teaching on the busy street comers in Mansfield. Thomas and Mary heard the message of the restored gospel and invited the missionaries to their home. As they were being taught by the missionaries, the spirit testified to them of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. They heard and recognized the "voice of the Good Shepherd" and committed to baptism.

Thomas was baptized by Andrew Robinson and confirmed by Thomas Davenport on the 11* of March, 1849. Mary was baptized and confirmed by Andrew Robinson on the 2nd of May 1849. Thomas was ordained a deacon on August 4, 1849 by Claude Rodgers, ordained a priest on May 16, 1850 by Martin Slack, and ordained an Elder on July 20, 1851 by J.T. Hardy. The older children were baptized and confirmed by their father.

In 1852 they made the decision to obey the call to "gather to Zion" and started making plans for their journey to Utah. They were not poor, according to Sarah Jane they had best of everything, the best linens, the best silverware, and the best clothes to wear. It took the sale of everything they had, however, to raise the necessary funds to travel to America. By April 1853 they had sold their home, their furniture, and all of their personal belongings that they couldn't take with them.

The fare and amount of luggage that each passenger was allowed was based on their ages which at that time were: Thomas 40, Mary 41, John James 16, Sarah Jane 12, George Sudbury 10, Harriet 8, Samuel 7, Joseph (Josh) 5 and Hyrum 2. The least expensive class was as steerage passengers (the lowest part of the ship up front near the steerage mechanism) and the least expensive route was Liverpool to St. Louis via New Orleans. For those one year and older this fare was 9 English pounds (in 1853 an English pound was equal to about $5.00) so the total family cost was about $400., a year's wages for Thomas. Passengers 12 years and older were allowed 75 pounds of luggage and ages 3 to 12 were allowed half that amount, assuming they took die maximum luggage allowed they would have had 488 pounds. This included their own bedding, 1 broiler, 1 saucepan, 1 frying pan and a box to hold a number of quarts of water that was issued daily from the ship's stores.

On the 6th of April 1853, they took their last long look at their native England and sailed with the tide out of Liverpool aboard the 717 ton American ship "Camillus". The ship was bound for New Orleans with 228 passengers aboard. The ship's Captain was Charles R. Day. All of the passengers were Mormon emigrants and the group leader was Curtis Bolton. The group leader selected a committee that planned: programs, entertainment, inspections and keeping order aboard the ship.

In his autobiography, George Sudbury Humpherys writes: "We were steerage passengers, that is, the passengers paying the lowest fare aboard the ship. We were quartered around that part of the ship containing the steering mechanism which is towards the front of the ship and this made our voyage more rough than ever. Our food consisted almost entirely of hard tack, which is a kind of a sea biscuit, and molasses. I was sick for the first four weeks but completed the rest of the journey, such as it was, in better health. For the first two months, our craft was driven and buffeted by about every kind of fortune and all of us despaired of ever reaching land again."

Finally, after 62 days at sea, the ship tugged into the harbor at New Orleans on the 7* of June 1853. Through the assistance of the Church, they booked passage aboard the steamboat "Aleck Scott" (a boat on which author Mark Twain would later work and mention several times in his book "Life on the Mississippi") and steamed up die Mississippi River to St. Louis. Trials and tribulations in St Louis In the words of George Sudbury Humpherys: "Here our funds became depleted and we were forced to remain in St. Louis until more funds could be secured to make the long trek across the plains to the promised land."

There may have been some restrictions on the amount of assets that they could take out of England but in any event, they just barely had enough funds to reach St. Louis and they apparently planned on finding work in St. Louis, at least everyone that could, to earn enough money for the family to complete their journey across the plains. Every family member did what they could to earn money to complete their journey to "Zion". Thomas found work on the docks, loading and unloading barges and river boats. Mary, in addition to caring for the two youngest children, did cooking, washing, ironing, cleaning, mending and caring for the sick. John James worked in a foundry, 11 year George Sudbury worked in a boarding house doing dishes and waiting on tables, 13 year old Sarah Jane and 9 year old Harriet worked as "live in" nannies in wealthy homes, and even 7 year old Samuel had a job in a wealthy home washing dishes and carrying them to the dining room.

The plan was, that in several months, they would have the funds diey needed to complete their journey. However, Thomas, who was never too strong even in England, became ill. The sea voyage and his job on the Mississippi river docks had weakened him and with an aggravated heart affliction, passed away at the young age of 41 on the 19* of November 1853. His name is included on the pioneer memorial in Nauvoo, located very near the Mississippi River at the end of Parley street, listing all of pioneers who died on their journey to Zion. His Last Name is spelled as it was listed on the passenger list of the ship Camillus, Thomas Humphreys.