Caroline Mary Gearing was born on the 18th April 1854 in Greenwich London. She was one of the ten children of John James Gearing and Emma Gearing (Nee Sweetlove). Caroline’s father John was a sailor in the Royal Navy who was awarded the Naval General Service Medal for a campaign in Syria 1840-1841. Caroline is wearing his medal in the photo.
In 1887 at the age of 33, Caroline married Henry William Tomlin in Christ Church Greenwich, London. Henry was a storehouse man and the couple had two children, Caroline born in 1888 and William born in 1890.
By 1911 the family had moved to Gosport in Hampshire where Caroline lived until her death in 1939 aged 85.