Birth

Stephen was born at Eastbourne, Sussex, in about 1822. His father, William, was a farm labourer. His mother, Ann, died in 1837.

West Coker

In April 1861, Stephen was a railway labourer boarding with a widow at West Coker in a beerhouse called “The Case is Altered.” Nothing is known about his life up until then. A nomadic existence as a railway navy may have contributed to his being still single at 38.

Stephen soon began a relationship with Mary Jane Caines, a glove sewer thirteen years younger, who lived with her widowed mother in Duck Street. On 28 September 1861, Mary gave birth to Stephen’s son, William Allcock Caines.

Marriage

Stephen stood by Mary, and on 14 November 1861, they married at West Coker church.

Initially, they probably lived with Jane’s widowed mother at 159 Duck Street.

Married life at Hardington

Stephen and his family moved to Hardington between 1865 and 1867. In April 1871, he lived in Pen Lane with his wife, five children, and mother-in-law. The 1871 census recorded his occupation as a farm labourer.

Stephen probably had a steady income, and everything seemed stable and secure. But then tragedy struck.

Catastrophe

In February 1873, Mary gave birth to a son, Robert. More than four years had passed since her previous child, and the birth did not go well. Mary died in early March, and her newborn baby died two weeks later.

To make matters worse, Mary’s mother died in January 1874, aged 81.

The loss of these two women plunged the family into squalor. Lack of proper care probably contributed to the death of Stephen’s six-year-old son, George, in January 1875.

A hovel on the moor

In May 1876, the rector of Hardington, William Vassall, wrote to the Poor Law Guardians expressing concern for Stephen and his four children who were living in a wretched hovel “on the moor in Hardington.” The children were half-starved and too ragged to be admitted into school.[1] Later that month, the Inspector of Nuisances reported that the Allcock family had been ordered to quit their house.[2]

Eastfields

By April 1881, Stephen lived at Eastfields with his son, Charles. Both were railway platelayers.

Stephen’s other children, including Sarah Ann, a housemaid in Abraham Partridge‘s home, had left home.

Later life

By April 1891, Stephen had moved into lodging with George Abbott at Broadstone. By then, he had left the railway and worked as a general labourer.

By March 1901, he was drawing a railway pension.

After George Abbott died in 1905 (or his widow died in 1908), Stephen lodged with Frank and Mary Ann Eastment at Hill End.

Death

Stephen died in 1913, aged 89.

Children

Stephen and Mary had four sons and two daughters.

References

[1] Western Gazette, 19 May 1876, p. 5; Langport & Somerton Herald, 20 May 1876, p.5.

[2] Western Gazette, 2 June 1876 p. 5.