Introduction

Benjamin Chester’s life was marked by challenges and hardship, which shaped his strong sense of independence. Growing up in poverty, he faced difficulties that often pushed him to break from societal norms and expectations.

Early life

Benjamin Chester was the second child of Edward Purchase and Harriet Chester, one of the seven children born to the couple before they married in 1838.[1]

First marriage

On 6 October 1849, Benjamin married Harriet Rendell, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Rendell, at Hardington church. Her parents were both weavers.

Occupations

Benjamin and Harriet worked as weavers until the 1860s. Around 1861, Benjamin rented a house and approximately eight acres in Barry Lane. The 1871 census listed him as a farmer, an occupation he retained in the following two censuses.

Death of first wife and remarriage

Harriet passed away in July 1870, aged 40 or 41.[2] Six years later, in September 1876. Benjamin married Frances Jane Abbott, who was usually called Jane. She was nearly half his age and the eldest daughter of John Abbott, a farm labourer known for his heavy drinking.[3] Jane had an illegitimate daughter, Flora Kate, born in 1874.

Benjamin and Jane carried on a carrier business together. In February 1889, an accident occurred when Jane was driving a trap with passengers through West Coker. Her young horse kicked out, wrecking the trap and throwing all the occupants into the road.[4] In July 1893, Jane was fined 40s and costs (or one month’s imprisonment) for stealing a parcel of groceries while working as a carrier.[5]

An abundance of children

Benjamin had nine children with Harriet and eight with Jane.[6] Additionally, Jane’s illegitimate daughter brought the total number of children to eighteen. Since the children were born over a span of forty-four years and generally left home at a young age, the number at home at any one time never exceeded six.[7] Unfortunately, not all lived to adulthood; two died in infancy, a daughter named Emily died at the age of three, and another daughter, Ann, died at 19 from tuberculosis. [8]

Benjamin often faced penalties for failing to ensure his children attended school. He was fined 1s in March 1884, 2s 6s in June 1886, and 2s in November 1894.[9]

Death

Benjamin died in 1896 at the age of 71

Jane’s later life

After Benjamin’s death, Jane left Hardington. By 1901, she and her two youngest children, Lilly and Frank, lived 28 miles away at Stoke Trister, where she occupied a three-room house and worked as a charwoman. This village remained her permanent home for the rest of her life. She died in July 1912 at the age of 64.

After his mother’s death, Frank enlisted in the Army at Yeovil on 21 February 1913 and was assigned to the Grenadier Guards.[10] He was sent to France soon after the start of World War I and was killed on 2 September 1914.[11]

References

[1] After Benjamin’s mother died in 1855, his father, Edward, and brother, George, lived with him. His father died in 1862, and his brother George obtained lodgings at the New Inn before marrying in 1874.

[2] The civil registration death index records her age as 40; the Hardington burial register records it as 41.

[3] Somerset County Gazette, 10 February 1877, p.11.

[4] Western Gazette, 22 February 1889, p.7.

[5] Western Chronicle, 21 July 1893, p.8

[6] In completing the 1911 census, Jane, although a widow, stated that the number of children born to the present marriage (which she interpreted to mean her only marriage) was eight: seven children alive and one who had died.

[7] The figure of six is based on the census information. At other times, the number may have slightly exceeded six.

[8] Death certificate.

[9] Western Gazette, 7 March 1884, p.6; 4 June 1886, p.6; 9 November 1894, p.3.

[10] Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929.

[11] Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.