Thomas Rench was born in Hunningham in April 1862 to Joseph, a shepherd, and his wife Sarah. He was baptised there on 15 June 1862. He worked as a gardener for some time in various locations before becoming a bricklayer.
Emily Mitchell was born in Stoneleigh in April 1865, the youngest of the five children of James Mitchell and Hannah (nee Hewitt). She was baptised in Stoneleigh on 30 April 1865. Although Emily lived for almost her entire life in Stoneleigh, she and Thomas were married in Atherstone on 13 June 1888 before returning to Stoneleigh. They had a family of seven children, of whom five survived, Thomas, James, Syd, Bert and Bill.
The family lived for much of the time in "School Cottages" in Vicarage Road (known today as Church Meadow Cottage) but Emily's maternal family could trace their residence in Stoneleigh back to the sixteenth century, astonishingly mostly in the same road.
Emily died on 26 February 1932 aged 62; Thomas died on 3 March 1936 at the age of 73.