Introduction
Leonard William Marsh spent his early life at Hardington Moor. He initially worked as a baker’s assistant before entering the building trade, eventually becoming a bricklayer. He enlisted in the Dorset Regiment shortly after the outbreak of the First World War and served in France. After the war he married Elsie Withey and settled at Hew Hill, West Coker, where he remained until his early death in 1940.
Early life at Hardington
Leonard was born at Hardington Moor on 24 September 1896, the first of four sons born to John Marsh and his wife Beatrice Selina (nee Partridge).[1] His father, John, was a general labourer; his mother, Beatrice, had worked at the Rectory as a domestic servant before her marriage.
In October 1909, while climbing a chestnut tree, Leonard fell and was taken to Yeovil Hospital with a suspected broken arm. Fortunately, the injury proved to be a broken blood vessel in his shoulder.[2]
After leaving school, Leonard became a baker’s assistant.
First World War
On 26 July 1914, a young man with shooting rights saw Leonard, his brother Arthur, and Albert Hawkins on land occupied by James Saint Partridge, working the gorse and hedges with two dogs. By the time the case came before the magistrates on 2 September, Leonard had enlisted in the Dorset Regiment and did not appear.[3]
During the war, he served as a private with both the 6th and 2nd battalions under number 11025.[4] He was included in Hardington’s Roll of Honour of January 1915.[5] On 13 July 1915, he landed in France.[6] On 27 July 1919, he was demobilised from active duty and transferred to the Class Z Army Reserve, which meant he was legally liable to recall if fighting broke out again.[7] He was awarded the Victory, British War and 1914-1915 Star Medals.[8]
After the war, Leonard found work with a building firm, but lost his job during the economic slump of 1920 to 1921. The 1921 census recorded him as an unemployed labourer who previously worked for the building firm Childs of Kingston, Yeovil.
Life at West Coker
In 1922, Leonard married Elsie Withey, of Hew Hill, West Coker. Elsie’s mother died when she was four, after which she was brought up by her father, William, who was a carpenter and joiner.
Leonard moved into William’s home, where Elsie’s older brother, Sidney, also lived. On 8 September 1923, Elsie gave birth to a son, William Raymond.
In 1936, Leonard was one of the executors of his uncle Frederick Marsh’s will and was also entitled to one-sixth of his “money,” as the self-drafted will expressed it.[9]
In September 1939, Leonard was working as a bricklayer, while his son was training as an aircraft apprentice.
Death
In 1940, Leonard was admitted to Yeovil District Hospital with severe internal bleeding caused by a duodenal ulcer. He died there on 29 November 1940, at the age of forty-four, and was laid to rest at West Coker.[10] His brother, Arthur John Marsh, registered his death. Elsie survived Leonard by thirty-seven years, dying in 1987 at the age of eighty-nine.
Conclusion
After his wartime service, Leonard returned to the area in which he had grown up. He married a young woman from the adjoining parish of West Coker, made his home with her family and established himself locally as a bricklayer. His life was cut short in 1940, when he died from complications of a duodenal ulcer at the age of forty-four.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] Western Chronicle, 8 October 1909, p.5.
[3] Western Chronicle, 4 September 1914, p.4; 5 February 1915, p.6.
[4] World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[5] Western Chronicle, 5 February 1915, p.6.
[6] British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920.
[7] British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920; World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[8] British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920; World War I Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920.
[9] The will of Frederick Marsh, dated 15 August 1934, proved at Bristol on 16 November 1936. His estate was valued at £157 11s 1d.
[10]
Death certificate of Leonard William Marsh; memorial inscription on headstone of John and Beatrice Marsh at Hardington Mandeville.
