Introduction

James Chapman was born in East Coker in 1844. As a teenager, he moved to London, possibly travelling on the newly opened railway. Had he stayed his life would have taken a different direction. However, he ultimately decided to return home, where he eventually married and had seven children. After spending many years in the parishes of East Coker, Hardington, and West Coker, where he worked as a farm labourer, he and his family moved to Yeovil around 1890. In Yeovil, he took on the role of a road mender, probably working until he turned 70 and could claim his retirement pension.

Birth at East Coker

James was born in 1844 at East Coker, the fourth of eight children born to Robert and Charlotte Chapman. He was probably born at Atherstone near Lyatts. His father, Robert, was a weaver and later a farm labourer.

Robert and Charlotte married at East Coker on 5 February 1838 and lived there for the following six to nine years.

While residing at East Coker, Robert and Charlotte took James, their eldest son, to West Coker Church to be baptised on Christmas Day, 1844. West Coker held significance for the family as the resting place of Charlotte’s parents.

Move to Hardington

Between December 1844 and June 1847, the family moved to Hardington, Robert’s home parish, where they settled.

London

During his youth, James spent time in London. The 1861 census recorded him working as a pot boy at an inn at 27 Upper King Street, Bloomsbury. The landlord’s wife, Jane Hogg (nee Hallett), came from Hardington. Unlike his only brother, Charles, who moved to London a few years later, James eventually returned home.

Marriage

In November 1867, James married Jane Pike, the daughter of Charles and Jane Pike of Fordhay, East Chinnock. Jane’s father, Charles, was a farm labourer, while Jane was a glove sewer before her marriage.

West Coker

James and Jane spent the first two or three years of their married life at West Coker, where their first three children were born.

Hardington

In about 1870, they moved to Hardington, where, in April 1871, they lived at Moor Lane, Hardington Moor, next door but one to James’s parents. The 1871, census recorded James’s occupation as a carter.

James’s mother, Charlotte, died in 1876, and his father remarried two years later.

By April 1881, James and his family lived at Barry Lane.  During this time, Jane’s brother, Albert Pike, stayed with them briefly after leaving the army.

Yeovil

James and his family moved to Yeovil in about 1890. In April 1891, they lived at 68 Park Street. Five years later, they lived at 43 Beer Street; by April 1911, their address was 46 Beer Street.[1]

While living in the town, James earned a living as a labourer, initially as a general labourer and later as a road labourer.

Jane’s death

Jane died in 1919 at the age of 75.

James’s death

After Jane’s death, James lived with his eldest son, Alfred, at 21 Belle Vue Terrace, Mudford Road. James died in 1923 at the age of 78.

Children

James and Jane had five sons and two daughters. One son died in infancy.

In April 1891, their oldest daughter, Ann, was a housemaid in a private house in Lyonsdown Road, East Barnet, and their son, Gilbert, was a labourer staying with his mother’s sister in Petersfield. The other four children were still at home.

Ann returned home and, by April 1911, she was the only child still living with her parents.

James and Jane’s youngest child, George Robert, became a print compositor and lived at Pontypridd for several years before turning to Yeovil.

References

[1] Western Gazette, 28 August 1896, p.1.