Introduction
John Yeandle was a baker and shopkeeper at Hardington Moor from about 1851 to 1867. He took over from his father-in-law, Richard Genge, after Richard’s death in 1851. John was born at Timberscombe and lived for a few years on Jersey. After leaving Hardington, he ran a shop in Yeovil before retiring to Stoke-sub-Hamdon. He later returned to Yeovil, where he died in 1876.
Childhood at Timberscombe
John was born at Timberscombe in about 1822, the seventh of nine children born to Robert and Christiana Yeandle. His father, Robert, was a farm labourer. In June 1841, John may have worked as a servant at Manor Mill, Chipstable.
John’s father died in 1845, and his mother died in 1851.
Life on Jersey
In 1848, John married Ann Genge in the Yeovil district. Soon after, they moved to Jersey, where Ann’s older sister, Mary, lived with her husband, Samuel Gifford, a cooper.
John and Ann’s first child, Mary Elizabeth Gifford Yeandle, was born in St Peter, Jersey, around 1849, presumably named in honour of Samuel. A second daughter, Susan Maynard Yeandle, was born about a year later.
Life at Hardington
When Ann’s father, Richard Genge, died in December 1850, John and his family moved to Hardington to take over the bakery business and care for Ann’s mother. Although the census taken on 30 March 1851 records John’s occupation as ‘tailor’, this may denote the occupation he pursued in Jersey rather than Hardington. The baptism entry for his third child, William Richard, on 5 February 1852, gives John’s occupation as ‘baker.’ Unfortunately, William died in infancy.
John ran the bakery and shop at Oil Moor for about sixteen years.
Jewellery theft
On 29 March 1861, Ann went to London. Upon her return, she found that her jewellery box, which contained two gold earrings, a pair of wedding rings and other articles, was missing. She reported the theft to Sergeant Clarke, who discovered that a thirteen-year-old boy from Martock named Robert Pitman had visited Ann’s home on 1 April to deliver flour. Clarke searched the boy and found the missing box and jewellery. In Court on 19 April, Pitman pleaded guilty, and the Magistrates handed him over to the Yeovil police to be whipped.[1]
The Extraordinary Duck Case
From December 1865 to March 1866, John was entangled in what the local newspapers called “the Extraordinary Duck Case.”[2] He accused Hugh Cox, a miller of West Coker, of stealing his ducks, which led to Cox’s arrest and prosecution. After the Yeovil magistrates acquitted Cox, he sued John for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment. The Assizes jury ruled in favour of Cox, ordering John to pay him damages of £15. While this was a manageable amount, John’s legal expenses must have been substantial. Following the verdict, he declared bankruptcy on 25 April 1866.[3]
New venture in Yeovil
By 1868, John had recovered sufficiently to open a grocery shop in Yeovil, located on the corner of Silver Street and Vicarage Street, which ran until 1873.[4]
John advertised the shop in the Western Gazette from April 1868 to June 1868, announcing that he had commenced as a ‘grocer, baker, corn-dealer and general provision merchant.’[5] From June 1872 to January 1873, he ran another series of adverts to promote himself as the Yeovil agent for the Standard Measure Wine Company of London.[6]
Move to Stoke-Sub-Hamdon
In about 1873, John and his family moved to Stoke-sub-Hamdon, where John ran a farm or smallholding. In March 1875, he was elected as an overseer. In August 1875, he was fined £3 for moving cattle infected with foot and mouth disease.[7]
While the family lived at Stoke-sub-Hamdon, John and Ann’s youngest daughter, Susan, married James Aplin Warr, a farmer’s son.
Return to Yeovil
It is possible that the foot and mouth disease harmed him financially, forcing him to give up farming and return to Yeovil. His health was also declining. On 10 June 1876, he died from diabetes and erysipelas, at the age of 54, leaving effects valued at under £300.
Ann’s later life
After John’s death, Ann remained at Yeovil, living in at least three different addresses. John died in a property in Sherborne Road, but when probate was granted to Ann on 18 July 1876, she was living in Middle Street. By April 1881, she was an annuitant living at 13 Market Street with her unmarried daughter, Mary, and two male boarders.[8] Later that year, Mary married Thomas Lydford, a prosperous builder of Castle Cary. However, she died five years later.
In the later part of her life, Ann suffered from diabetes, similar to John. In May 1887, she developed a carbuncle, which proved fatal. She died on 18 June at the home of her daughter, Susan, at Alvington, at the age of 63. [9]
John Yeandle’s will
John appointed his wife as his executor.
He left his estate to his wife for life and then to their two daughters equally.
References
[1] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 23 April 1861 p.2; Langport & Somerton Herald 27 April 1861 p.4.
[2]Langport & Somerton Herald 16 December 1865 p.5; Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 20 December 1865 p.7; Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 16 December 1865 p.5 p.5; Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 31 January 1866 p.5; Western Gazette 2 February 1866 p. 7; Bristol Times and Mirror 29 March 1866 p.6; Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 29 March 1866 p.5; Western Gazette 30 March 1866 p.5; Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 4 April 1866 p.8.
[3] Perry’s Bankrupt Gazette 28 April 1866 p. 6.
[4] Western Gazette, 10 April 1868 p. 1; Western Gazette 20 December 1872 p. 4.
[5] Western Gazette, 10 April 1868, p.1; 26 June 1868, p.1.
[6] Western Gazette, 28 June 1872, p.5; 3 January 1873, p.6.
[7] Western Gazette, 2 April 1875, p. 7; 3 September 1875, p.8.
[8] A seven-year-old boy, Leonard Lewington, a draper’s son from South Petherton, also lived with Ann.
[9] Death certificate of Ann Yeandle.
