Zelda still had the watch she had stollen from Thomas, which had the words “ Saxon Shore” carved on the back, so she told Erasmus that his father was the Duke of the Saxon Shore. When Erasmus became older, he asked his mother who his father was and Zelda told him a false story. Although Thomas returned from war in 1918, he never tried to contact Zelda and she raised their son alone. In early 1915, while Thomas was in France fighting in WWI, Zelda gave birth to their child, a son called Erasmus Shelby. Her father wanted to kill Thomas, but before he could do so, Thomas was sent away to fight in WWI, along with two of his brothers. Zelda became pregnant with Thomas’ child and when her father found out, he shot Thomas in the chest with a squirrel gun. Zelda stole Thomas’ watch and chain, but despite this, later that day they had sex underneath a hazel tree. In May 1914, Thomas met a Romani girl called Zelda, while at the Appleby Fair. Greta eventually died from her illness, which broke Thomas’ heart. A few months later, Greta became extremely ill with consumption and although the disease was contagious, Thomas stayed by her bedside for three months, holding her hand. Her parents didn’t approve of a Gypsy boy dating their daughter, but Thomas eventually won them over with his charm and sweetness. Sometime before 1914, Thomas fell deeply in love with an Italian girl, Greta Jurossi. This resulted in the Shelby siblings gaining immense respect for Polly as they got older since they were extremely grateful for all she had done for them. Polly was left alone to raise her niece and nephews, and became the head of the house, as well as their mother figure. He eventually abandoned them all in the care of his sister, and left Birmingham.
Shelby’s death, Thomas’ father began finding it hard to cope, raising five children on his own. Shelby’s body from the canal, which broke his heart, as he was secretly in love with her. Shelby jumped into the canal and committed suicide, like her own father before her. Charlie believed she was better, however he was wrong. She watched Thomas ride the pony around for a few weeks, seemingly in a much better mindset than she was before her trip. When she returned from her trip, she bought back a white pony and gifted it to Thomas. Their father was no help, so Charlie intervened and convinced her to go on the road, so she left Birmingham and travelled to Worcester. In 1909, when the youngest Shelby sibling was still an infant, their mother became severely depressed and contemplated suicide. Their mother had a close friend, Charlie Strong, who was around a lot during their upbringing, which resulted in them looking up to him as their ‘uncle’. Thomas pinned Arthur against the ground and began hitting him several times over the head, later winning the fight, although Thomas acknowledged that Arthur let him win. Thomas would also fight with his brothers over cigarettes and one time, when Thomas was 9 and Arthur was 12, they got into a massive physical argument. However, because they were so little, it would take two of them to carry one bucket back to their house. Thomas and his siblings would have to get their fathers beer from The Garrison. While growing up in Small Heath, Birmingham, Thomas carried a switchblade and a screwdriver on him and would tell the other children in the area that he could lay curses, so they were afraid of him and didn't pick on or tease him because of it. It is also heavily implied that their father was a partial Irish Traveller. They also have Irish Traveller ancestry, this is because Polly mentioned that alongside Romani, they should not speak Shelta around Karl Thorne, which is the language spoken by Irish Travellers.
It is implied by Thomas’ paternal aunt, Polly Gray, that the Lee Family are the Shelby Family’s kin, through their mother. Thomas’ parents were both Gypsies, making him and all of his siblings full-blooded Gypsies as well. Over the years, Thomas’ parents welcomed three more children, John, Ada and Finn Shelby. He was born on a boat, in a barge called ‘The January’ and had an elder brother, Arthur Shelby, who he was extremely close with as a child. Thomas Michael Shelby was born in 1890, to Arthur and Mrs.
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