At Yeovil magistrates court on 5 February 1924, Brice Frost of Moor Farm, Hardington, was accused of riding a bike without lights on 22 December. Brice wrote a letter apologising for his absence and explaining that this was his first offence. He said he was unemployed except for temporary postal work and that someone had tampered with the lamp while his bike was outside Yeovil Post Office. The Bench let him off on payment of the costs.[1]
What is interesting about this case is how Brice, a working man from north London, came to live at Hardington Moor.
Brice was born in Tottenham in 1900.[2] His father, William, was a plumber; his mother, Louisa, was the daughter of a bricklayer.[3]
In 1919, Brice married Florence Welch in Hampshire.[4] The daughter of a dairyman, Florence was born at Wynford Eagle and spent her childhood in Yetminster and Thornford.[5]
Brice and Florence initially resided at Witham in Essex. However, when Brice lost his job at the steelworks during the 1920-22 recession, Florence organised a return to her native West Country.[6]
The move was financially feasible largely due to the support provided by the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1920. This act created the dole system, which entitled an unemployed worker to fifteen weeks of benefits, providing a much-needed safety net during the economic downturn.
The rooms at Hardington Moor offered by farmer Arthur Edwards suited them because they were within cycling distance of Yeovil.
After a short stay in Hardington, Brice and Florence moved to 47 Higher Kingston Road, Yeovil, where Brice ran his own window cleaning business until his death in 1957.[7] His wife, Florence, died in 1970.[8]
They had one child, Brice Walter Frost, who served with the 209th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Training Regiment of the Royal Artillery during the Second World War.[9]
References
[1] Western Chronicle, 8 February 1924, p.5.
[2] Civil Registration Birth Index; 1939 Register.
[3] RG13, piece 7288; the baptism register of St John the Baptist, Kentish Town.
[4] Civil registration marriage index.
[5] RG13, piece 2006, folio 16, page 15; RG14, piece 12431.
[6]RG15, piece 9242, schedule 272.
[7] Western Chronicle, 10 April 1925, p.2; Civil registration death index.
[8] Civil registration death index.
[9] World War II Royal Artillery Tracer Cards, 1939-1948.
