Introduction

Esau Eastment was born at Hardington and worked as a farm labourer in the parish for over thirty years. In about 1861, he and his family briefly moved to Cattistock, where he worked for a farmer who had moved there from Hardington. In the late 1870s, when Esau was in his late forties or early fifties, he and his family moved to Wool in Dorset.

Birth

Esau, the third child of Robert and Amy Eastment, was born at Hardington in about 1826. He was the brother of Reuben and James. Their father was a weaver.

Occupation

Esau worked as a farm labourer throughout his life. The 1871 census describes him specifically as a carter.

Marriage

On 25 November 1856, Esau married Elizabeth Chester at Hardington. She was the daughter of Levi Chester, who had been transported to Australia in 1839.

Married life at Hardington

Esau and Elizabeth spent more than twenty years together in Hardington, with the exception of a brief period in Cattistock, where Esau worked as a farm labourer in 1861, employed by John Purchase, a farmer who had moved there from Hardington.

In April 1871, Esau Eastment, aged 44, was a farm carter living in the High Street.

Wool

Between May 1875 and April 1881, Esau and his family moved to Wool.[1] By April 1881, they lived at New Buildings, Wool. By this time, Esau’s four sons lived at home while his two daughters were in service—one in Yeovil and the other at East Stoke.

Death

Esau died in the Dorchester area in 1889, aged 61.

Elizabeth’s later life

In April 1891, Elizabeth was at Charlton Mackrell, Somerset, a nurse in the household of Henry Marsh, a farmer.

She died in the Wareham area in 1897, aged 63.

Children

Esau and Elizabeth had five sons and three daughters. One son and one daughter died in infancy.

References

[1] Esau and Elizabeth’s last child, Levi John, was baptised at Hardington on 6 May 1875. His birth was registered in the Yeovil district in Q1 1875.

Wool Bridge, Wool, Dorset (Peter Trimming).