In April 1871, Abraham Wakely was a sailor, aged 16, living at Lyatts.

Born at Lyatts in 1853, Abraham was the youngest son of James (a farm labourer) and his wife, Mary. His father died in December 1861, aged 57. On 22 December 1863, his mother married Charles Gillam at East Coker church.

Abraham enlisted in the Royal Navy early in 1871 but did not go to sea immediately. In April 1871, he was a sailor, living with his mother and stepfather at Lyatts.

His ten years of continual service in the Royal Navy was from 7 November 1872 to 6 November 1882. His service number was 62297. He served on about ten ships, including Orontes, where he was part of the crew in April 1881. The Navy records describe him as 5 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion.

After he left the navy, he got a job as a farm labourer at Purse Caundle. While there, he met Rose Osborn, the daughter of a carter. The couple were married at Purse Caundle on 2 July 1884. Their first son was born at Purse Caundle in 1885, and their second at Stalbridge in about 1889. In April 1891, they lived on the Yeovil Road, Sherborne, and Abraham was a farm labourer.

Abraham may have returned to Hardington in about 1895, as he is on the voters’ list for 1896. In late 1895/early 1896, he died at the age of 42, and his death was registered in the Yeovil registration district.

In March 1901, his widow, Rose, lived at Newlands, Sherborne, with her eldest son, William. Her other son, John, was in Sherborne Hospital with a hip disorder. John died in 1903, aged 15.

In January 1910, William married Lily Delamont at Sherborne.

In April 1911, Rose was living at Newlands with a boarder named Frank Herbert Weed, who was sixteen years younger than her. She married her boarder on 24 December 1911. She outlived Frank by eight years, dying in about 1942, aged 83.