Introduction
Although she never married, Ethel Purchase made an independent living by keeping poultry, running a market garden and letting part of her home.
Early life
Ethel was born on 15 November 1894 at Hardington Mandeville, the youngest of eleven children born to George Purchase and his wife, Sarah Ann (née Partridge).[1] George worked as a farm labourer and rented a cottage and garden at Hardington Moor from the Portman estate.[2]
At sixteen, Ethel had left home and was working as a domestic servant for a draper and his wife at 38 Hendford Hill.
In February 1918, her father died at the age of seventy-three.[3] After his death, Sarah remained at the cottage and purchased it as the sitting tenant in the estate sale of October 1920. The lot also included an enclosure of arable land previously used as allotments, making a total area of one acre, three roods, and three perches.[4]
Return home
By 1921, Ethel was living with her mother, and the census listed her as a general servant in private employment, although it is unclear whether this was her current occupation or one she identified with. The rate book for 31 December 1923 listed Sarah as owning two acres three roods and three perches, suggesting that she purchased more land at some point.
Sarah died in August 1933 at the age of eighty-two, leaving an estate valued at £266 18s 9d, which she divided equally among her four unmarried daughters, Emily, Elizabeth, Annie and Ethel.
Later life
Ethel continued to live at the cottage, later named Beech Cottage due to the nearby beech trees, for the rest of her life. The 1939 Register listed her as a poultry keeper and market gardener. She also let part of her home to Ann Lawrence, the mother-in-law of Arthur Charles Edwards, a local farmer. Ann died in November 1948 at the age of eighty-two, although she may have left Beech Cottage earlier.[5]
According to the recollections of Desmond Danes, who delivered her weekly newspaper in the early 1970s, Ethel lived quietly alone at Beech Cottage.[6]
In February 1973, Ethel made her will dividing her estate among various nephews and nieces and great nephews and nieces. She died on 2 June 1977 at the age of eighty-two, leaving an estate valued at £2,458.[7]
Conclusion
Ethel Purchase’s life demonstrates how even a small holding could provide a means of independent living during the mid-twentieth century. Remaining unmarried throughout her life, she successfully supported herself through poultry keeping, market gardening and careful use of the modest property her mother had acquired.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; civil registration death index; family reconstitution.
[2] Hardington rate for 28 November 1891.
[3] Monumental inscription in Hardington churchyard.
[4] Eddy Colin Turner’s copy of the estate sale catalogue.
[5] Western Gazette, 12 November 1948, p.8.
[6] Recollections of Desmond Danes.
[7] The will of Ethel Purchase, dated 26 February 1973, proved at Bristol on 5 October 1977.