Henry Burt was a shoemaker at Hardington Moor from the early 1860s until the 1880s.

Life at Odcombe

 Henry was born at Odcombe in about 1807. He was the son of Mark, a farm labourer, and his wife, Jane.

Henry’s mother died in January 1819, aged 36.

Henry was a boot and shoemaker for most of his adult life.

On 27 December 1829, he married Ann Chick at Kingstone. She died in July or August 1855, aged 54.

On 13 May 1856, he married Elizabeth Chant at Odcombe. She died in February 1859, aged 36.

Life at Hardington

On 28 December 1861, Henry married Elizabeth, the widow of John Hallett, the thatcher. They may have lived at Odcombe for a few years before moving to Hardington. The Guardian Valuations show he was at Hardington by 1864.

In August 1863, Henry was brought before the Yeovil magistrates charged with leaving his ten-year-old daughter chargeable to the parish. He paid a sovereign and promised to pay the rest in a fortnight.[1] The daughter Henry failed to maintain must have been Jane, who was 6. By April 1871, she lived with her father and stepmother.

In December 1865 and March 1866, Henry testified in a court case concerning the theft of some ducks from John Yeandle.

Henry’s stepdaughter, Jane Lucinda Hallett, married Giles Hutchings in 1872. When Giles was imprisoned in 1877, she moved in with Henry and her mother.

Henry died in 1885, aged 80; Elizabeth died in 1887, aged 78.

References

[1] Western Gazette, 29 August 1863, p.4.