Introduction

Charles Groves was a thatcher who lived in North Lane from the 1820s until he died in 1860. He moved to Hardington in the 1820s at the behest of Lord Ilchester to serve as the estate thatcher. After the death of his second wife in 1857, he married Jane Chester, whose first husband had been transported to Australia.

Early life in Dorset

Charles was born at Melbury Osmond in about 1778, the son of Richard and Eleanor Groves.

On 9 March 1801, Charles married Jane Ellery at Long Bredy. They probably lived at Wynford Eagle in about 1801, Long Bredy from 1802 to 1803, and Toller Porcorum from about 1805.

Jane died in December 1811, and on 23 June 1813, Charles married Ann Laver at Chilfrome.

Charles and Ann had one daughter and four sons. Two sons probably died in infancy.

Hardington

In the 1820s, Charles moved from Toller Porcorum to Hardington at Lord Ilchester’s instigation to provide Hardington with a thatcher.[1] Lord Ilchester and his estate managers would have known Charles because he was born and raised at Melbury, where Lord Ilchester lived.

Charles’s will refers to him owning four cottages in North Lane, a cottage at Hardington Moor and a field called Warren.[2]

Shortly after the death of his second wife in February 1857, Charles married Jane Chester, a widow whose husband had been transported for fourteen years in 1839 for theft.

Charles died in January 1860 at the age of 83, leaving an estate valued at under £200. Jane Chester died in February 1876 at the age of 69.

The will of Charles Groves[3]

Charles appointed his son, William, as his sole executor.

He left “Jane Chester otherwise Groves” £10, his effects, four cottages in North Lane, and half the rent from a field called Warren for life.

He left to his three children, William Groves, Charles Groves and Ann Brake, his four cottages in North Lane and half the rent from a field called Warren after the death of Jane Chester, a cottage at Hardington Moor and the residue of his estate.

References

[1] Letter among Ilchester papers at the Dorset Heritage Centre.

[2] The will of Charles Groves, dated 21 September 1859, proved at Taunton on 7 March 1860.

[3] The will of Charles Groves, dated 21 September 1859, proved at Taunton on 7 March 1860.