Introduction

William was a sawyer at Hardington from the late 1860s until the late 1870s. He moved to Hardington from West Coker, where he may have worked with his father, who was also a sawyer. He later returned to West Coker, probably after his father’s death in 1878. William had an unruly temper and could display violent and intimidating behaviour, yet he also had a gentler side that enjoyed keeping tame birds and cultivating his allotment.

Early life at West Coker

William was born at West Coker around 1836, the fifth of nine children born to William and Elizabeth Pitcher. His father, William, was a sawyer.

While William was a child, two of his siblings died young: Lavinia in March 1843 at the age of three, and Nathaniel in December 1844 at the age of two. A third sibling, Edward, died in April 1857 at the age of six when William was 21 years old.

In March 1851, William was a servant living with his parents in Yeovil Road, West Coker. In April 1861, he and his brother, Nathaniel, both lived with their parents and worked as sawyers.

Marriage

On 4 February 1864, William married Susan Rodber at Odcombe. At the time, William was 27 years old, and Susan was 20. Both signed the marriage register.

Susan was the daughter of Thomas and Phyllis Rodber of Odcombe. Her father, Thomas, was a blacksmith.

William and Susan initially settled at Camp, West Coker, where they had three children: Thomas Edwin, born in 1864; an unnamed infant, born in 1865, who died shortly after birth; and Sarah, born in 1866.[1]

Hardington

William and his family moved to Hardington between August 1866 and April 1871. In April 1871, they were residing at Lyatts. While living at Hardington, they had two more children: Kate, born in 1871 and Phillis, born in 1873.

Susan became pregnant again but unfortunately, developed placenta previa, which led to her death on 1 November 1874 at the age of 31.[2] Her death was registered by John Langdon of East Coker, a sawyer who probably worked for William.

In the fourth quarter of 1875, William married Ruth Hull of East Coker. She was the daughter of Jabez Hull, a woodman employed by the Helyar family, whom William probably met regularly when buying timber.

Return to West Coker

William and Ruth moved to West Coker between February 1875 and April 1881, possibly following the death of William’s father in December 1878.

By April 1881, William was working as a sawyer at West Coker. By April 1891, he had become a timber dealer and employer.

On 21 March 1889, he held a public auction of timber, which included the sale of a hoisting jack, timber carriage, wagon, putt, and a roan cart horse.[3]

Ruth died on 10 May 1899 at the age of 67. A newspaper notice of her death listed her address as Castle Terrace.[4]

In March 1901, William was a sawyer living in the household of his daughter, Phillis, in the High Street at West Coker. He died in August 1905, at the age of 69.

Children

William and his first wife, Susan, had five children: Thomas Edwin, an unnamed son who died in infancy, Sarah, Kate and Phillis.

Appendix 1-character

William’s life was marked by drama and tension. His lack of self-control often resulted in violent outbursts, especially when he was under the influence of alcohol. Four court cases illustrate this aspect of his character.

On 2 August 1865, William was fined 10s and 5s costs for injuring Mary Dalmount, the wife of the landlord of the Forester’s Arms.[5] William had gone to the pub with his brother, Nathaniel, the previous Saturday and drank two pints of beer. The two brothers quarrelled and began to fight, breaking glasses and overturning chairs. When the landlord intervened, he was attacked and had his hair pulled and his leg injured. When his wife ordered William to leave, he seized her by the hair, kicked her in the leg, and dragged her into the garden. Fortunately, some men intervened to protect her. One witness said that what William failed to do with his hands and feet, he did with his teeth.

William was about 29 years old at the time, while Nathaniel was 19. While it is impossible to know the exact cause of their argument, it may have been related to the family business.  A few years later, Nathaniel worked as an estate carpenter for the Helyar family at East Coker, serving them for nearly forty years, until his death in February 1909. Possibly, he had alluded to his wish to leave the family business that night in the Forester’s Arms, and William had reacted violently.

On 25 July 1872, William found himself in court again, this time as a result of an action by Sidney White to obtain full payment of the compensation that was due to him following an assault by William.[6] A few weeks earlier, while drinking at the New Inn, West Coker, the men quarrelled, and William struck White on the mouth with a cup, knocking out two or three of his teeth and loosening others, for which injury White required medical attention from Dr Parsons and a long break from work. William had agreed to pay £4 plus costs following earlier legal action. He had paid £2 9s, and White sought to recover the balance of £2, which the court awarded him.

The third court case provides evidence of another pub brawl and William’s willingness to use guile and intimidation to extract money from an unsuspecting neighbour.[7] On 1 April 1873, he visited Henry Jeans on his allotment at Cold Harbour, Hardington. Accompanying him were George Hutchings, who pretended to be the parish constable, and George’s brother, Peter Hutchings. William produced a document he claimed was a warrant for Jeans’ arrest. Believing they were there to arrest for an earlier row with William at the White Post Inn, Jeans paid them 7 shilling to avoid a trip to the Yeovil lock-up.

Jeans later discovered the deception, and William, along with the two Hutchings brothers, was charged with obtaining money by false pretences. In court, William claimed he was seeking compensation for injuries Jeans had inflicted on him at the White Post Inn. The Hutchings brothers insisted their main concern was to reach an amicable settlement. The Bench let them off with a warning and ordered them to repay the 7 shillings.

The fourth case involved a dispute with a former employee.[8] On 7 July 1897, the Yeovil County Petty Sessions heard how William had made several threats to kill John Guppy, his former employee. William had employed Guppy until the previous November, after which Guppy started his own business. On 27 May at around 8.30 p.m., after coming out of the church where he had been bellringing, Guppy ran into William, who got down from his trap, took off his coat and threatened to kill him, saying, “If I can’t kill him, I will shoot him”. William uttered similar threats against Guppy at Mr Voizey’s shop and the New Inn. Herbert Voizey, a saddler, confirmed that he heard the threat in his shop on 2 June. William interrupted witnesses so much that his solicitor left the court. William said that he did not know anything about threats, but said he and Guppy had fought in the public house while drunk. The Bench ordered William to find sureties of £10 to keep the peace for six months and pay the costs of £2 4s 6d.

William was also fined on two separate occasions for highway offences. In June 1888, he was fined 20s and 4s 6d costs for leaving his horse and cart unattended at West Coker. He said that while he was transacting business and “refreshing the inner man,” the horse walked towards home.[9] In July 1897, he was fined 5s for obstructing Yeovil High Street with a timber carriage.[10]

William also had a gentler side to his character. In January 1884, he won second prize for his entry in the foreign bird class of a caged bird exhibition held in Yeovil, which was the seventh of its kind organised by the Yeovil and Somerset County Poultry, Pigeon and British and Foreign Cage Bird Association.[11] He also enjoyed tending his allotment, winning prizes from the Live and Let Live Labourers’ Friend Society in September 1885 and September 1886.[12]

Appendix 2-Voting lists for West Coker

 1886 Martin and Gould, occupiers

1888-94 William Pitcher was an ownership elector for freehold cottages at West Coker.

1896-98 William Pitcher was a Division 1 elector for a Dwelling house at West Coker

1902 Nothing

References

[1] Thomas was probably born at Susan’s parents’ home at Odcombe. The birth of the unnamed male infant was registered in the third quarter of 1865; his death was not registered.

[2] Death certificate of Susan Pitcher.

[3] Western Gazette, 8 March 1889, p.5.

[4] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser,17 May 1899, p.8.

[5] Western Gazette, 4 August 1865, p.7.

[6] Western Gazette, 26 July 1872, p.5.

[7] Western Gazette, 18 April 1873, p.7.

[8] Western Gazette, 9 July 1897, p.6.

[9] Western Chronicle, 22 June 1888, p.5.

[10] Western Gazette, 9 July 1887, p.6.

[11] Western Gazette, 25 January 1884, p.3.

[12] Western Gazette, 2 October 1885, p.8; 24 September 1886, p.7.