Name

Frederick George Symes Smart was born in Maiden Newton in 1860.[1] He was illegitimate, and his mother added the name “Symes” because George Symes of Cerne Abbas was his father. In July 1861, Dorchester Magistrates ordered Symes to pay her maintenance of 1s 6d a week.[2]

When he was one year old, his mother married William Goldring, and he took his stepfather’s name. He appears to have preferred the name George to Frederick, so for most of his life, he was known as George Goldring.

Childhood

George was the son of Mariana Smart.[3] Her father, Jonathan, a farm labourer, died at the age of 38, his early death leaving his widow, Sarah, and their five children vulnerable, especially as Sarah never remarried.[4] The eldest daughter, Mary Ann, had an illegitimate son, Henry, in 1849.[5] The youngest daughter, Marina, had two illegitimate children: Emily in 1855 and George in 1860.[6]

Despite the difficulties, Sarah Smart and her children remained united and supportive. In 1851, Sarah looked after the two-year-old Henry.[7] In 1861, she looked after Emily and George while their mother, Marina, worked away as a wet nurse in the County Lunatic Asylum.[8]

On 2 April 1862, Marina married William Goldring at Maiden Newton.[9] He was a farm labourer thirteen years older than Marina, whose wife, Ann, had died three years earlier, leaving him with four children to look after. Marina became their stepmother and, over time, had six more children.[10] George and his sister took their stepfather’s surname and became part of this blended family.

After they married, William and Marian lived at Notton (a hamlet in the parish of Maiden Newton) for a year or two and then at Chantmarle (a hamlet in the parish of Cattistock).[11] In April 1881, they lived at Chilfrome.[12]

Early working life

George began his working life as a farm labourer.[13]

By April 1891, he was a “Dairy Chap” employed by William Harding at Galton Dairy, Owermoigne.[14] While there, he met Mary Maria Warner, a parlour maid at Holworth House.[15] Mary, the daughter of a farm labourer, was born at Bennington, Hertfordshire, in 1863. George and Mary were married in Hertfordshire in 1893.[16]

By September 1894, George and Mary lived at Yetminster, where George was a dairyman. There, they had two sons: Frederick Arthur and Herbert.[17]

By March 1901, George was a dairyman at Milton Farm, Corscombe.[18]

Life at Hardington

Frederick and his family moved to Hardington in about February 1907.[19] They probably lived at Prospect Farm, which was then called Townsend or Hill Dairy.[20]

On 23 January 1912, Frederick held a sale of his pigs and dairy utensils.[21]

By September 1916, George and his wife lived at Hardington Marsh, and their two sons were in the army. On Tuesday, 12 September 1916, George left home to travel to Yeovil. When he returned at 3.30, he found his wife’s body hanging from the bannisters of their house. He cut her down and sent for Dr Collar of West Coker, but he could only pronounce her dead.[22]

The coroner held an inquest at Marsh Farm with George White as jury foreman. The jury heard how Mary worried about the safety of her two sons at the front, so much so that she became mentally unbalanced. When she received the news that Frederick had been wounded in both legs, she interpreted it to mean he had lost both legs. Unable to cope, she hanged herself from the bannister, leaving a note on her table which said, “I cannot live without my dear boys. It is worse each day I live.” The jury returned a verdict that she died from suffocation from hanging while of unsound mind.”[23]

Fredrick Arthur Goldring died from his wounds on 17 September 1916. His body lies in the Mont Huon Military Cemetery. [24]

Their other son, Herbert, survived the war and became a civil servant in London.[25]

At the 1920 estate sale, George bought a twelve-acre holding in Hardington for £625.[26] At different times, this holding was called Bishop’s House, Bishop’s Holding, and Bishop’s Farm.[27]

In June 1921, George and his bailiff, Donald Frederick White, lived at Hardington Marsh in the household of Sidney George Pike, a platelayer.[28] Perhaps they lived there temporarily while builders worked at Bishop’s Farm.

George died at Bishop’s Farm on 18 August 1940, aged 80.[29] He left an estate worth £3,462 14s 11d but no will.[30]

References

[1] Civil Registration Birth Index.

[2] Dorset County Chronicle, 1 August 1861, p.3.

[3] Maiden Newton baptism register.

[4] Maiden Newton burial register; HO107, piece 285, book 7, folio 9, page 13.

[5] Maiden Newton baptism register.

[6] Maiden Newton baptism register.

[7] Ho107, piece 1858, folio 470, page 33.

[8] HO107, piece 1356, folio 114, page 21; HO107, piece 1356, folio 151, page 1.

[9] Maiden Newton marriage register.

[10] Family reconstitution.

[11] RG11, piece 2113, folio 50, page 9.

[12] RG11, piece 2113, folio 50, page 9.

[13] RG11, piece 2113, folio 50, page 9.

[14] RG12, piece 1645, folio 110, page 4.

[15] RG12, piece 1645, folio 116, page 15.

[16] Civil Registration Marriage Index.

[17] Yetminster baptism register.

[18] RG13, piece 2009, folio 10, page 12.

[19] Hardingon School Admission Register.

[20] Voters’ Lists 1910-14; Western Gazette, 12 January 1912, p.1; RG14, piece 14381.

[21] Western Gazette, 12 January 1912, p.1.

[22] Western Chronicle, 15 September 1916, p.2.

[23] Western Chronicle, 22 September 1916, p.3.

[24] Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.

[25] RG15, piece 138, schedule 189.

[26] Copy of estate sale catalogue in author’s possession.

[27] Western Gazette, 26 February 1937, page 8; 1939 Register; Kelly’s Directory of 1939; Western Gazette, 30 August 1940, p.8.

[28] RG15, piece 11308, schedule 90.

[29] Probate calendar; Western Gazette, 30 August 1940, p.8.

[30] Probate calendar.