Introduction
Charles Stevens spent his life in agricultural employment, moving repeatedly between farms in Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire in search of work. Born into a large labouring family accustomed to mobility, he followed a similar pattern throughout his adult life. For a few years in the early 1920s he lived at Hardington Mandeville, where he worked as a cowman at Manor Farm.
Early Life
Charles was born at Ilton on 7 March 1885, one of fourteen children of Benjamin Stevens and his wife Sarah Jane (nee Perry). His father worked as a farm labourer who frequently moved between employers. The family settled at West Hatch by June 1887 and later moved to Whitestaunton by April 1891.[1] By 1901, they were living at Milborne Port, where they remained for more than a decade.
Like his father, Charles entered agricultural work. At some point during the first decade of the twentieth century, he found employment at Seaborough, where he met Dorcas Brown, daughter of Albert William Brown, a road contractor’s labourer of Misterton. They married at Seaborough on 27 March 1909.[2]
Marriage and family
The couple’s first child was born at Seaborough in 1910 and their second at Lillington the following year. Around the time of the 1911 census, they lived with Charles’s parents at Waterloo Crescent, Milborne Port. Their subsequent movements reflected the uncertain and often temporary nature of agricultural employment. By 1914, they had returned to Seaborough; by 1916, they were living at Montacute; and in 1918 and 1919, they were at Corscombe.[3]
Hardington Mandeville
By 1920, the family had moved to Hardington Mandeville, where their son Charles Henry was born on 6 August.[4] Charles may have arrived while Abraham Genge still occupied Manor Farm and remained after Genge’s death in February 1920, although the circumstances of his recruitment are unknown. In October 1920, the farm was purchased from the Portman Estate by Eddy Colin Turner.
The census of June 1921 recorded Charles as a cowman employed by Turner and living in tied accommodation at East Field. A cowman occupied a position of some responsibility on a mixed farm, being entrusted with the care and milking of valuable livestock. During the family’s stay in the village, their five eldest children attended Hardington School.[5]
Their time in Hardington was marked by tragedy. On 29 February 1924, their son Charles Henry died after accidentally swallowing boiling water. At the inquest held at Yeovil Town Hall on Monday, 3 March, Dorcas told the coroner that she had no fireguard and, with seven children, could not afford one.[6] Although the evidence is circumstantial, this loss may have contributed to the family’s decision to leave the village soon afterwards.
Later life
By December 1927, the family was living near Wimborne. The 1939 Register found them at East Kennett in Wiltshire, where only their two youngest daughters remained at home. Charles was still working as a farm labourer, an occupation he had followed throughout his life. Dorcas died in the Winchester area in 1974. Due to the commonality of the name Charles Stevens, his death has not been identified with certainty.
Conclusion
Charles Stevens’s life illustrates the mobility that remained a feature of agricultural labouring families well into the twentieth century. Although rooted in rural work, he seldom stayed long in one place, moving repeatedly as opportunities arose. While more evidence exists for his time at Hardington than for other periods of his life, he lived there for only about four years.
References
[1] West Hatch baptism register.
[2] Bridport News, 2 April 1909, p.8,
[3] Corscombe voter lists. Benjamin Stevens was buried at Seaborough on 22 March 1917, suggesting that he lived with Charles until the end of his life.
[4] Birth certificate of Charles Henry Stevens.
[5] Hardington School admissions register.
[6] Western Daily Press 4 March 1924 p. 8; Western Chronicle 7 March 1924 p.
