Introduction

Charles Boucher worked as a journeyman shoemaker at Hardington Moor throughout the 1870s and early 1880s. After the death of his first wife in 1857, he remarried two years later.

Childhood at East Coker

Charles was born at East Coker in 1827. He was the son of William Boucher, a weaver, and his wife, Hannah, who originally came from Sedgehill, Wiltshire. His father was dead by 1841.

First marriage

On 27 May 1849, Charles married Maria Giles at East Coker. She was the daughter of William Giles, also a weaver.[1]

By March 1851, Charles and Maria lived in a part of East Coker called Sheepslake. By July 1857, they had two sons and two daughters.

Occupation

By the time he married, Charles was a shoemaker, and he continued in this trade for the rest of his life. The 1851 census describes him as a journeyman shoemaker, indicating that he worked for another person.

Maria’s death

Maria died in July 1857 at the age of 31, leaving Charles to care for their four children. By April 1861, their oldest daughter, Mary, was an eleven-year-old nursemaid at West Coker, while their other daughter, Ellen, lived with her paternal grandmother in one of the almshouses. The two sons, Edwin and Charles, lived with their father and his new wife.

Second marriage

In 1858, Charles married Mary Scott of Ilminster. By April 1861, they lived at Primrose Hill cottages, East Coker.

Hardington

By April 1871, Charles, Mary, and Charles’s youngest son, also called Charles, were living at Hardington Moor, next door to Henry John Hooper, a shoemaker who probably employed Charles.

The census returns of 1871 and 1881 recorded Charles’s name as “Butcher.” However, earlier records and the civil registration of his death use the name “Boucher.”

On 6 November 1872, George Hutchings and “Charles Butcher” were summoned for trespassing in search of game on land belonging to the Rev. William Vassall on Sunday, 13 October. PC Puddy saw the men and discovered a gin set in the field but found no game on them. One of the defendants had free access to the field because he rented it. Both men denied setting the trap or poaching, and the case was dismissed.^[2]

In 1876, Charles’s son, Charles, enlisted in the army.[3]

Mary Boucher died in 1881 at the age of 55; Charles died in 1884, at the age of 57.[4]

References

[1] East Coker marriage register. No record of Maria’s baptism has been found.

[2] Western Gazette 8 November 1872 p. 5.

[3] Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920.

[4] The Civil Registration Death Index erroneously gives his age as 53.