Introduction

James Morris Purchase was a servant at Hardington Rectory from 1864 to 1897, working as a groom and coachman for Rev. William Vassall and Rev. H. H. T. Cleife. He would have conveyed the clergymen and their families around the district for both private and church matters. Villagers would have shown deference as the carriages driven by James passed by. His early death during the Jubilee celebrations caused deep sorrow and regret in the village.

Early life

Born at Hardington in 1845, James was the eldest child of William and Sarah Purchase, who kept the White Horse at the foot of Pig Hill.[1]

When James was 14, his father died, leaving his mother, Sarah, in sole charge of eight children, with a ninth on the way. She remained at Hardington Moor until about 1868, when she moved to the High Street.

By April 1861, James was a farm labourer. In about 1864, he became a servant at the Rectory.[2] The 1871 census recorded him as a groom, while the 1881 and 1891 censuses recorded him as a coachman.

First marriage

On 2 November 1869, at Hardington, James married Ann Eliza Bartlett, the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Bartlett. Elizabeth’s brothers included George, Henry and Emanuel Bartlett.

The following year, James and Ann had a daughter, Alice.

In April 1871, the family lived in the house of Ann’s grandmother, Mary Bartlett, at Hill End.

Ann suffered from heart disease from her early twenties, and died on 1 November 1880, at the age of 32.[3] Their daughter, Alice, was then ten years old.

Second marriage

On 12 October 1882, James married Elizabeth Sweet at Crewkerne parish church. Before their marriage, she had worked as a domestic servant and, one year earlier, had been a nurse in the home of a barrister in Merriott. On July 25, 1883, James and Elizabeth had a son, Frederick James.

Sad end to a joyous day

On 29 June 1897, James over-exerted himself during the Jubilee festivities in the village and collapsed and died in the Rectory saddle room. The local doctor attributed his death to a weak heart, exacerbated by the excitement of the event.[4] His mother had also suffered from heart disease, passing away in 1877, at the age of 54.[5]

James left effects valued at £563-10s gross and £557 6s 7d net. By his will, he left £50 to his daughter, £50 to his son, and the remainder to his wife.[6]

James’s gravestone bears the inscription: “33 years faithful servant to the rectory.”

On 12 September 1912, the auctioneer, Mr W Redwood, held a sale of James’s household furniture and effects at Hill End, which included three hogsheads of cider and three small orchards of apples.[7]

Elizabeth’s later life

Elizabeth remained in Hardington until 1904. On 31 December 1904, she married William Thomas Rendell at St Paul’s Church, Weymouth. William was born at Hardington in 1860, the son of Thomas and Emily Rendell. In the 1890s, he moved to Wyke Regis with his first wife, Elizabeth, who died there in 1898.

Initially, William and Elizabeth lived at 18 Cromwell Road, Weymouth. By April 1911, they lived at 39 Roman Road, Radipole, in a house named Pendomer.

The 1921 census recorded William as a builder’s foreman employed by Theo Conway Ltd of Commercial Road, Weymouth, working away from home at Hastings.

William died on 1 January 1932, aged 71, leaving effects valued at £1,646-12s. Elizabeth died on 12 July 1937, aged 84, leaving effects valued at £110-13s-7d.

Children

Alice Purchase married Albert Sweet, her stepmother’s brother, at Weymouth on 26 April 1905. They kept a grocery shop at Clevedon. She died in 1937.

Frederick James Purchase became a carpenter and builder at Weymouth. He married Bessie Holloway, a farmer’s daughter, at Hinton Martell on 16 October 1912. He died in 1969.

References

[1] James’s middle name derived from his paternal grandmother, Sarah Morris.

[2] James Purchase’s gravestone inscription.

[3] Death certificate of Ann Eliza Purchase.

[4] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 6 July 1897, p.5; Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 1 July 1897, p. 4; Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 6 July 1897, p.5.

[5] Death certificate of Sarah Purchase.

[6] The will of James Purchase, dated 14 May 1895, proved at Taunton on 4 August 1897.

[7] Western Gazette, 1 September 1905, p.2.