Introduction
William Chapman joined the Royal Marines around the age of 21, possibly attracted by the prospect of participating in the Crimean War. After being discharged early, he worked briefly as a railway platelayer before becoming a farm labourer and later a roadman. Following the premature death of his first wife, he remarried a much younger woman and eventually moved to Coker Hill, West Coker, where he died in 1890.
Childhood
William was born in about 1833 at East Chinnock, the first of nine children born to William and Elizabeth Chapman. His father worked as a weaver and later as a labourer. His siblings included Walter, Edwin and Charles Chapman.
Although his parents probably lived at Hardington, William’s mother returned to her own mother’s home at East Chinnock to give birth. He was baptised at Hardington on 19 January 1834.
In March 1851, William was living at home with his parents and working as a canvas weaver.
Military career
On 27 November 1854, William enlisted in the Royal Marines as a volunteer from the Somerset Militia. He was five feet seven and a half inches tall with brown hair, grey eyes, and a fair complexion.[1] Marines typically served a minimum of twelve years, and he was still enlisted when he married in 1857. However, he had been discharged by April 1861.
It is possible that he saw action during the Crimean War, which lasted from 1853 to 1856.
First marriage
On 28 December 1857, William married Susan Purchase at Hardington. At the time, William was 24 years old, and Susan was 27. She was the daughter of Richard and Hester Purchase. Since Richard’s death in December 1847, Susan had lived with her mother and sister in North Lane.
William moved into Susan’s home in North Lane. The 1861 census recorded him as a railway packer, but he later became a farm labourer.
Family life for William and Susan was difficult. They had five children, but tragically, three of them died in infancy. Then, in October 1868, Susan’s mother, Hester, died in the Union workhouse at the age of 75. Two years later, in mid-July 1870, Susan began to show symptoms of a gastrointestinal problem. After six weeks of illness, she died on 28 August 1870 at the age of forty.[2]
Second marriage
By April 1871, William had moved to a house in the High Street at Hardington, where he lived with his sons, Edward, aged 12, and George, aged 4.
Later that year, William married Eliza Pike of East Chinnock. At the time, William was about 38 years old, and Eliza was 20. Eliza was the daughter of James and Louisa Pike.
Their first child was born at Hardington on 24 May 1873.[3]
West Coker
Between October 1873 and January 1877, the family moved to West Coker. By April 1881, they lived at Coker Hill, West Coker.
The 1881 census recorded William’s occupation as a labourer. Since he was a roadman when he died in 1890, he may have held that position for several years.
Death
William died on 17 December 1890 from bronchitis at the age of about 57.[4] His son, George, from his first marriage, was at his side.
Eliza’s later life
By April 1891, Eliza lived in West Street, West Coker, with five of her six children and worked as a charwoman. Her oldest son, James, lodged in Yeovil.
In about March 1893, Eliza married George Burt, a farm labourer of Coker Hill, whose first wife had died four months earlier.
By 31 March 1901, Eliza, George and Eliza’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Frances Rose, were living in a four-room house in West Coker High Street. George was ill and receiving parochial relief. He died two days later, aged about 68.[5]
Eliza died in November 1903 at the age of 52.[6]
Sadly, her youngest daughter, Frances Rose, survived her mother by only three years.
Children
William and Susan had five sons, but only two survived infancy.
William and Eliza had four sons and two daughters.
References
[1] ADM 158/216/15.
[2] Death certificate of Susan Chapman. The certificate gives the cause of death as “Diarrhoea 6 weeks. Certified.”
[3] 1939 Register.
[4] The Civil Registration Death Index and West Coker burial register incorrectly record William’s age as 50.
[5] The Civil Registration Death Index and West Coker burial register incorrectly record George’s age as 63.
[6] The Civil Registration Death Index and West Coker burial register incorrectly record Eliza’s age as 51.
