Introduction
John Eastment was unusual among young men from Hardington in migrating to the North of England, where he found work on a Yorkshire farm. In his late twenties, he left agricultural work to enlist as a soldier, but service in India damaged his health, leading to years of recurring illness.
Childhood
John was born in 1882 at Hardington Mandeville, the eighth of nine children of James Eastment and his wife Thirza Jane (née Chester).[1] His father was a farm carter, and the family lived in the High Street. Between 1886 and 1891, they moved to Pendomer, and then to East Coker, where Thirza died in May 1894 from heart disease.[2] After her death, the family lived at Hardington Marsh for several years before returning to the High Street. James died in the Union Workhouse on 11 September 1902, at the age of sixty-three, from paraplegia and exhaustion.[3]
Yorkshire
John left home before his father’s death. By March 1901, he was a cattleman on a farm at Lund, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He was boarding with a farm foreman at Hinds House and appears to have been working for Charles Mitchell of Enthorpe House.
Military career
After Charles Mitchell’s death in August 1909, John’s position may have become uncertain. On 18 June 1910, he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery at York, stating his age as 24 years 11 months, although he was actually three years older. He was five feet seven and a quarter inches tall, weighed 152 pounds, and his physical development was rated as good. His medical examination found no defects or ailments, and he was rated as category A.
He completed his initial training at Seaforth Barracks, Liverpool, from June to September 1910. On 12 October 1911, he was examined for service in India and found fit. He arrived at Bangalore on 16 December 1913.[4]
His service number was 61993, and he served as a gunner.[5] In January 1915, his name appeared on Hardington’s Roll of Honour. He was then serving with the 44th Battery, Royal Field Artillery; later records place him with the 13th Brigade.[6]
Illness and death
While in India, he contracted malaria, from which he suffered recurring attacks. In 1919, he spent 49 days in Leicester General Hospital with disorderly action of the heart or DAH ( a contemporary term for cardiac symptoms) and 30 days at Ripon Military Hospital with malaria. He was discharged on 11 October 1919 with 40% disability. [7] He continued to suffer attacks of malaria about once a month and remained under close medical supervision.
He went to stay with his brother Frank at Ivy Cottage, Hill End, Hardington Mandeville. A doctor visited him there on 28 September 1920 and noted that he had an enlarged and painful spleen, recurring rigors, a pulse of 100, and was generally in poor health. The doctor recommended transferring him to hospital by motor ambulance.[8]
The 1921 census recorded him in a hospital in Bath. It states that he was a farm labourer employed by Mr Mitchell, a farmer of “Emthorpe, Yorks,” but this was probably a reference to his employment prior to joining the army. His condition continued to deteriorate, and in May 1922, his disability was assessed at 100%.[9] John died at Hill End on 10 March 1923 at the age of forty-one. His death certificate recorded the cause of death as valvular heart disease and exhaustion. Frank’s wife, Edith, was with him at the end and registered his death.[10]
Conclusion
John’s life took him far from Hardington, first to Yorkshire and then to India. However, serious illness ultimately brought him back to the village, where he spent his final years in the care of his brother’s family.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; family reconstitution.
[2] Death certificate of Thirza Jane Eastment.
[3] Death certificate of James Eastment.
[4] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[5] Silver War Badge Records, 1914-1920.
[6] Western Chronicle, 5 February 1915, p.6; British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
[7] World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.
[8] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[9] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[10] Death certificate of John Eastment (age mistakenly recorded as 37).
