 Like his older sister Alice, he was educated at Hardcastle's Factory School, which later became Bessie Street School, before going out to work at fifteen and landing a job as a clippie on the newly established Weatherfield Bus Service.Harry and Alice both suffered from Mary's mental problems.During the Depression, Thomas had been so desperate for work that he joined a raid on Elliston's Raincoat Factory, only to be caught by the police and imprisoned.