Birth

John Bartlett was born at Hardington on 9 October 1809.

Marriage

John married Elizabeth Apsey Haggett at Hardington on 5 April 1836. Elizabeth’s father, John Haggett, was a sailor who died in November 1821.

When she married, Elizabeth had two illegitimate children: Albert Haggett, who was four or five, and Elizabeth Bartlett Haggett, who was a similar age.[1] Given her daughter’s middle name, John may have been the father.

Occupations

John was a farm labourer until the late 1840s. The 1851 census recorded him as a farmer of fifteen acres, and the 1861 census as a farmer of sixteen acres.

A trade directory of 1861 lists John as a beer retailer.

Wife’s inheritance

In 1846, John’s wife, Elizabeth, inherited the income for life from one-third of the residue of the estate of her maiden aunt, Dorcas Apsey, with the remainder to her children.[2]

His wife’s inheritance helped John’s elevation from farm labourer to farmer.

Residences

In June 1841, John and his family lived in the High Street. By 1843, they lived in Pen Lane (plot 54 on the tithe map).

The 1851 census shows John and his family living with his mother-in-law at “Lyatts,” but the enumerator may have applied this address to Pen Lane. His mother-in-law died in 1855.

In 1860, John engaged a blacksmith of Ryme Intrinseca named Pomeroy to put up some railings in the front of his house.[3]

Adoption

In May 1862, John’s family was changed significantly by the death of a relative. Sarah Haggett, the second wife of Elizabeth’s brother, Joseph Haggett, died soon after giving birth to a baby girl. Incapable of looking after a baby, Joseph entrusted his daughter, whom he named Adeline, to Elizabeth’s care.

Emigration

Albert Haggett and Wyndham Bartlett emigrated to New South Wales in 1855.

In 1863, John and Elizabeth made a life-changing decision to join them. They travelled under an assisted passenger scheme with their two dependent children (John Ernest, 16, and Selina, 14) and Elizabeth’s one-year-old niece, Adeline Haggett. The anguish of Adeline’s father, knowing he would never see his daughter again, must have been unbearable. Sadly, the child never even reached Australia, passing away on board the ship on 24 August 1863.

Records show that John had three children in the colony, and Mrs William Gritten of Sydney was another relative. This information suggests that John’s daughter, Elizabeth, was also in Australia.

John’s son, Herbert, married Jane Gear at North Perrott on 11 July 1861, and the couple emigrated to Australia in 1864.

Death

John died at Dapto, Wollongong City, New South Wales, on 14 March 1871, aged 61.

Elizabeth died at Taralga, Upper Lachlan Shire, New South Wales, on 15 November 1881, aged 72.

References

[1] Elizabeth Bartlett Haggett was baptised at Hardington on 14 June 1835. However, the 1841 census recorded her as ten.

[2] The will of Dorcas Apsey, dated 19 May 1843, proved at Wells on 10 February 1846.

[3] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 25 July 1860, p.5.