Introduction
Born in the rapidly expanding dock town of Barry, Annie spent her childhood in South Wales and Shepton Mallet before finally settling in Yeovil, where she entered domestic service, married and made a permanent home.
Early life
Annie was born on 19 March 1898 at Barry in South Wales, the older of two daughters born to Tom Marsh and his wife, Maranetta (née Eckett).[1] The family lived at 19 Harvey Street, close to the docks where Tom worked as a labourer.
The family later moved to Maranetta’s home town of Shepton Mallet, where Annie’s sister Melita Charlotte was born in March 1902. When Melita was baptised later that month, the family resided in Garston Street.[2] Following the death of Maranetta’s mother in 1907, they moved to Tom’s home parish of Hardington Mandeville. On 26 October 1908, Annie and Melita were admitted to Hardington School. According to the admissions register, the family then lived at Hardington Moor, but shortly afterwards, they moved to Hill End.[3]
The 1911 census still described Tom as a dock labourer, but by October 1912 he was working as a farm labourer.[4]
In October 1912, when Annie was just fourteen, tragedy struck the family. Maranetta died in Crewkerne Hospital from liver and heart disease at the age of forty-nine.[5] After her death, Tom moved in with his brother James at West Coker, remarried in December 1921 and had two more children.
By 1921, both Annie and Melita were in domestic service, which was a common occupation for young women of their background. Melita was employed by Mrs Mary Grace Giles, the licensee of the Nag’s Head Inn, Reckleford.[6] Annie was working in a middle-class household, employed by Mrs Rodber of Grove Avenue, the wife of the clerk to the Yeovil Guardians. However, when the 1921 census was taken, Annie was recorded as a visitor staying with Henry Albert White and his daughter Blanche at Hardington Moor, perhaps because she and Blanche were friends.
Marriage and family life
On 30 December 1922, Annie married John Thomas Male at St John’s Church, Yeovil.[7] She gave her address as Genista, Grove Avenue, which was the residence of Mrs Rodber. The witnesses were Melita and Annie’s cousin Harold George Marsh of Hardington. John worked as a moulder at Petters Ironworks, though by 1939 he had become a labourer at Yeovil Corporation Gasworks.
The couple settled in Yeovil and had five children: Kathleen D. E. (1924), John C. T. (1926), Beatrice Olive Jean (1928), David Edgar (1930) and Mavis Ursula (1932).
By 1939, the family was living at 32 Grass Royal, with all five children residing at home. Kathleen was a Burroughs Machine Operator at the Westland aircraft works, while the other four children were still at school.[8]
Annie died in 1951 at the age of fifty-three. John survived her by sixteen years, dying in late 1967 or early 1968 at the age of sixty-nine.
Conclusion
Although Annie’s childhood was marked by significant moves and the early loss of her mother, her adult life was much more settled. Domestic service brought her to Yeovil, where she married, raised a family and remained for the rest of her life.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] Shepton Mallet Baptism register.
[3] Hardington School admissions register; Hardington Guardian valuation lists.
[4] Death certificate of Maranetta Marsh.
[5] Death certificate of Maranetta Marsh.
[6] Mary Giles became the licensee of the Nag’s head agter the death of her husband, Ebenezer, in August 1911.
[7] St John’s Church, Yeovil marriage register.
[8] A Burroughs Machine was a mechanical bookkeeping device.
