Introduction
In April 1861, Ann Rendell, aged 66, was a pauper living in North Lane. Her life was unusual because he had two illegitimate children and never married. As a single woman with children, she would have faced significant challenges, including considerable social stigma.
Birth
Ann was born at Hardington in about 1794. If she later understated her age, it is possible that she was Ann, the daughter of John and Mary Rendell, born at Hardington on 31 March 1790.
Two illegitimate daughters
In the mid-1830s, Ann had two illegitimate daughters: Matilda, born in about 1835 and Selin, who was born a year later. Selina was baptised at Hardington on 13 January 1836 but then vanishes from the records.
Residences
In June 1841, Ann and her daughter, Matilda, lived in the household of John and Betty Slade at Hardington Marsh. In March 1851, they lived by themselves at Oil Moor. By June 1861, they lived in North Lane with Matilda’s two-year-old illegitimate son, Frank, and a twenty-three-year-old lodger named Alfred John Purchase, whom Matilda married later that year.
Occupations
The 1841 and 1851 censuses recorded Ann as a weaver. By March 1851, her daughter, Matilda, was a glover.
Pauper
By April 1861, Ann was classified as a pauper. Later that year, Matilda and Alfred married and moved to Yeovil, and Ann probably accompanied them.
Death
Ann died before the next census.
