Introduction
Arthur Reynolds was a significant figure in Hardington village life from the 1880s until his death in 1905. He served as the parish assistant overseer for thirteen years and was an agent for the Prudential Insurance Company for an even longer period. After losing his position as assistant overseer, he became embittered by his treatment and became an outspoken contrarian at parish meetings. His inflated sense of his legal knowledge led to a dispute with Lord Ilchester, which he ultimately lost. By 1898, Arthur was a broken man, and he died seven years later at the age of 49. He was survived by his widow, who lived until 1940, and their seven children.
Childhood
Arthur Reynolds was born at Coker Hill, West Coker, on 14 March 1856, the third of four children born to Joseph and Eliza Reynolds. The first child, Joseph, had died in infancy in 1849, and the second child, Elizabeth, died on 21 September 1858 from measles at the age of five.[1] The family unit comprised two parents and two children for the next twenty years.
Arthur’s father owned some freehold land at Coker Hill known as Mary’s Plot. The tithe apportionment shows him and his brother, Joel, as the owners of three houses in Bridle Plot (numbers 200, 201 and 202). Despite this, he made his living through manual work. The 1841 and 1851 censuses recorded him as a labourer, and the 1861 census recorded him as a bailiff working away from home at Poole.
By April 1871, Arthur was also a labourer.
When Arthur was 22 years old, his mother died on 18 December 1878 from acute bronchitis at the age of 62.[2] Eighteen months later, on 6 June 1880, his father died from heart and prostate disease at the age of 66.[3]
Following their parents’ deaths, Arthur and Bessie lived in a house named The Apiary on Coker Hill, possibly their parents’ home with a new name.
During this time, Bessie had an illegitimate son, Samuel, who was born on 6 April 1882 at West Coker.[4]
Insurance agent
By April 1881, Arthur was working as an insurance agent. Trade directories of 1889, 1895 and 1897 list him as an agent for Prudential Assurance.
Marriage
On 12 May 1881, Arthur married Susan Wildern Smith at Stratton, Dorset. They were both aged 25 and signed the register. The witnesses were Susan’s sister, Elizabeth Catherine Smith, and her father, John, who was a farm bailiff at Stratton.
Married life
Arthur and Susan settled at Hardington, where they had eight children over the next eleven years, including a son who died in infancy.
In April 1891, Arthur was an assistant overseer, living with his family at Ivy Cottage, Bridwell Plot, Coker Hill. His wife’s sister, Elizabeth, and Bessie’s son, Samuel, lived with them. Bessie, meanwhile, had moved to Hampstead, where she worked as a housemaid.
The voters’ lists of 1888-93 show him owning freehold land in St Mary’s Plot.
By March 1901, Arthur and his family lived at High Street cottages, and Arthur was a “farmer grazier”. By 1903, they had moved to Bulshay, and Arthur rented ten acres at Marsh from the Vassall Trustees.
By March 1901, the three oldest daughters had left home to work in domestic service, while the other four children remained at home. Frank enlisted in the Royal Navy in August 1901, and several years later, Walter enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. Rose and Joseph lived at Hardington their entire lives.
Assistant overseer
Arthur served as the assistant overseer from 1884 to 1897. Upon taking on the role, he submitted Henry Dagger, a Prudential Insurance agent of Middle Street, Yeovil, and his father-in-law, John Smith, as his bondsmen.[5]
When the Hardington parish council was established in 1894, Arthur was initially positive about it. He attended a Parish Council Conference at the Town Hall, Yeovil, on the afternoon of Wednesday, 18 July 1894.[6] He became the clerk to the council while continuing his role as assistant overseer. However, in April 1896, the council discussed abolishing the role of a salaried assistant overseer. Following this discussion, Arthur became increasingly truculent and unruly. At the next parish meeting, on 6 May, he had a heated exchange with Mr J. Rendell regarding road repairs, during which Rendell told him to “close his gas-house,” adding, “You are not Gog or Magog yet.” The exchange concluded with Arthur picking up his books and leaving the room.[7]
In January 1897, Arthur gave the Parish Council notice that he would resign as clerk in April. On 15 April 1897, the Parish Council voted to accept Abraham Genge’s offer to act as assistant overseer without a salary and Arthur’s appointment as assistant overseer was revoked. Arthur sued the council for £5 in lieu of notice but lost the case.[8]
Hubris
In early 1897, Arthur recklessly agreed to buy goods and livestock from a farmer named Sidney Shearsmith who was at risk of having his possessions seized by Lord Ilchester for non-payment of rent. Arthur believed that if the sale was conducted in a public place and properly documented, Lord Ilchester could not overturn it. Consequently, he met Shearsmith at the New Inn, Hardington, on 14 January 1897 and agreed to buy livestock for £16. They then moved to Arthur’s home, where Arthur agreed to buy stone and equipment for £6 16s 8d. Ilchester’s agent discovered the sale and visited Arthur with a police constable on 21 January 1897 to seize the animals. Arthur sued Ilchester to recover £10 and costs but lost the case. The Judge ordered him to pay the value of the goods and the defendant’s costs.[9]
Financial problems
By the autumn of 1898, Arthur was in a poor state financially. He had lost his £14 salary from his work as a clerk and assistant overseer, and he had incurred substantial legal costs. Around this time, he also lost his position as an insurance agent to George Edward Sibley.
His shortage of money probably led him to delay paying his poor rates, for which he had to appear in court on 28 September 1898. The magistrate ordered him to pay the rates and costs immediately. His intransigence had resulted in an altercation with Henry Spearing, and they each summoned the other for assault. However, the magistrates advised them to settle the matter privately.[10]
On 26 November 1898, Arthur made his will, leaving everything to his wife.[11]
Arthur may have begun to drink. At the Parish Meeting on 4 March 1899, he was outspoken and disruptive, expressing his wish that a barrel of cider was there to quench his thirst.[12]
Between July 1899 and March 1903, he lost the tenancy of two fields at Hardington, known as Chinnock Mead and Milky Mead, with a combined area of eight acres.[13]
Death
Little is known about the last six years of his life. He is not mentioned in the local newspapers except for two advertisements in September 1905 where he listed ten geese and twenty old fat hens for sale.[14]
Arthur died on 13 November 1905 from splenic anaemia at the age of 49.[15] His death certificate and probate grant recorded his occupation as a farmer. The gross value of his estate was £465 5s, while the net value of his personal estate was nil.[16]
Susan’s later life
Susan continued living at Bulshay. In April 1911, she was a market gardener.
Between 1901 and 1911, her father, John Smith, retired to Coker Hill, where he died in 1919 at the age of 89.
The guardian valuation of 1915 recorded Susan as the owner of two cottages in Rectory Lane.
The curate, Charles Godfred MacCarthy, rented rooms from her and on 18 March 1913, she witnessed his will.
The 1921 census recorded Susan living at Bulshay with her daughter, Rose, and sister, Elizabeth. MacCarthy’s daughter, Eleanor, was staying with her as a visitor.
By September 1939, Susan lived in Rectory Lane with her daughter, Rose.
Susan died in 1940 at the age of 84.
Children
Arthur and Susan had four sons and four daughters:
1882- Ann Elizabeth (married Arthur Adams in 1909; resided at South Wales and Hardington; died in 1963);
1883- Eliza (married Charles Beauchamp, a sailor, in 1909; died in 1945);
1884- Lily (married Ernest Arthur Soudan Deighton in 1911; resided at Christchurch; died in 1952);
1886- Frank (served in the Royal Navy; married Mabel Vivianne Harvey in 1913; died in 1952);
1887- Rose (never married; died in 1952);
1889- John (died in infancy);
1891- Walter (served with the Somerset Light Infantry; married Frances May Dayman in 1918; resided in Birmingham; died in 1963);
1892- Joseph (married Elsie May Legg in 1915; resided at Hardington and later West Coker; died in 1980).
References
[1] Death certificate of Elizabeth Reynolds.
[2] Death certificate of Eliza Reynolds.
[3] Death certificate of Joseph Reynolds.
[4] Birth certificate of Samuel Reynolds.
[5] Dorset County Chronicle, 14 August 1884, p.9.
[6] Western Chronicle, 20 July 1894, p.5.
[7] Western Chronicle 15 May 1896 p. 6; Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 12 May 1896 p.5.
[8] West Somerset Free Press, 16 April 1898, p.6.
[9] Western Gazette 12 March 1897 p. 6; Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 9 March 1897 p.6.
[10] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 29 September 1898, p.5.
[11] The will of Arthur Reynolds, dated 26 November 1898, proved at Taunton on 8 December 1905.
[12] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 7 March 1889 p. 6.
[13] Western Gazette 23 June 1899 p. 1; Western Chronicle 6 March 1903 p.1.
[14] Chard and Ilminster News, 9 Sept 1905, p. 4; 23 September 1905, p.4.
[15] Death certificate of Arthur Reynolds.
[16] The will of Arthur Reynolds, dated 26 November 1898, proved at Taunton on 8 December 1905.
