In 1889, Grace Marsh of Hardington was a domestic servant at Long Load vicarage, a position she probably acquired with the help of her sister, Emma, who worked for the Vassall family at Hurst Manor, Martock.

On 22 March 1889, Grace made up a parcel for her mother, which contained a box of primroses, a pair of stockings and a letter. She attached the correct value in stamps and handed the parcel to the postman, William Bennett.[1]

Unfortunately, Bennett was under investigation by the Post Office for stealing letters. That evening, a policeman found Grace’s letter in Bennett’s pocket and her parcel at Bennett’s lodgings. At Somerton police court, the magistrate committed Bennett for trial at the next assizes. There, the judge sentenced him to six months imprisonment with hard labour.[2]

Grace continued in domestic service for another ten years. The census of 1891 recorded her as a housemaid in the household of two unmarried sisters at Staplegrove, Taunton.[3]

In April 1899, Grace married William Watts, the Hardington blacksmith.[4] In contrast to her mother, who married at 23 and had eight children, Grace married at 30 and had three children- Victor, Evelyn and Bertram.

Grace’s extended stay in middle-class households influenced her son, Bert’s choice of career. After serving an apprenticeship with E Price & Sons, the piano specialists of Handel House, Princes Street, Yeovil, he became a manager of that shop, a piano tuner and a professional musician.[5] In the 1940s, he led a band, the Bert Watts Band, that played at many village dances in the area.[6]

References

[1] Western Gazette, 5 April 1889, p.7.

[2] Western Gazette, 19 July 1889, p.3.

[3] RG12, piece 1878, folio 83, page 14.

[4] Civil Registration Marriage Index; RG14, piece 14381.

[5] RG15, piece 11308, schedule 24;1939 Register.

[6] Western Gazette, 9 November 1945, p.2; 25 January 1946, p.3; 1 February 1946, p.3; 26 December 1947, p.4.