In April 1861, Daniel Hallett, aged 17, was a carpenter living at Hardington Marsh.

Childhood at Hardington

Henry was born at Hardington in about 1844. He was the son of William Hallett, a shoemaker, and his wife, Mary.

First marriage

On 10 May 1866, he married Mary Ann Pitcher at West Coker. They set up a home at 18 East Street, sharing it with Mary Ann’s widowed mother until she died in 1884.

Career

It is possible that Daniel went to West Coker to work for Samuel Guppy in his building business at East Street and then married the sister of Samuel’s wife. This idea is supported by the newspaper account of a court case in September 1873, in which Daniel, testifying as a witness, described himself as “a carpenter, working for Mr. Guppy, at West Coker.”[1]

Daniel probably seized the opportunity presented by Samuel Guppy’s retirement. In April 1881, Samuel Guppy employed six men and three boys. By April 1891, he had given up his business at West Coker and moved to Westfield Farm, East Coker. His departure created a vacancy that may have prompted Daniel to set up his own business. A trade directory of 1889 lists Daniel as a carpenter, and in March 1890, he submitted a tender to the Yeovil Board of Guardians for the making of coffins for the Coker district, which was accepted.[2]

Daniel continued making coffins for the Board of Guardians and arranging funerals. However, by 1911, he had expanded beyond carpentry as, in the census of that year, he described himself as a builder.

His business may have ceased in about 1914 because that is the year of his last recorded funeral and his last tender for coffin making.[3] By then, he was seventy years old. He had already taken steps to provide for his retirement, selling his house at West Coker to William George Burbage, the husband of his youngest daughter, who was an insurance agent by profession, in about 1910.[4]

Religious Nonconformity

Daniel was a Baptist. At Christmas 1876, Daniel delivered a reading at the Montacute Baptist Sunday School, which had opened the year before.[5] On 27 May 1880, he attended the opening service at Montacute Baptist Chapel, which he may have helped build because Samuel Guppy was one of its builders.[6] In August 1884, he chose the chapel as the venue for his second marriage.[7]

Politics and other interests

Daniel was a significant figure in parish affairs. In July 1901, he was elected as a parish councillor, and he may have served until March 1907, when he failed to be elected.[8]

He also had an interest in adult education. In November 1913, he was elected as one of the vice presidents of the adult school at West Coker, a body of which he was already treasurer.[9]

Daniel was a keen gardener and tended an allotment to such a high standard that in the 1870s, he won several prizes from local societies concerned with encouraging thrift and self-help among labourers.[10] He also competed in the village flower show, winning second prize for turnips in 1894 and third prize for runner beans in 1896.[11]

Addresses

Daniel lived at several different addresses at West Coker:

1871 18 East Street

1881 Duck Street

1891 Manor Street

1900 Sunnyside

1901 Mid Lawns

1911 Mount Cottage, High Street

Adversity

Daniel’s life was blighted by loss and suffering. In 1879, his first wife, Mary Ann, died at the age of 37, leaving behind seven children. Mary Ann’s mother stepped in as Daniel’s housekeeper until she died in May 1884.

In February 1880, his seven-year-old son, Henry, was so severely burnt when his clothes caught fire that he died the next day.[12]

On 26 April 1894, Daniel’s eldest son died, aged only 25.

Daniel’s third and last son, James, his business partner in 1904, may have emigrated to Canada with his wife before 1911.

Second marriage

Daniel remarried at Montacute Baptist church on 21 August 1884, within a few months of his mother-in-law’s death.[13] His bride was Ellen Weech, a domestic servant who worked in April 1881 at Hewhill House, West Coker, as a nurse and whose father had been, until he died in 1875, a wheelwright and carpenter at Somerton. Their marriage was a short one because Ellen died in November 1887, aged only 38, a few months after the birth of their daughter, Margery.

Death

Daniel died in 1919, aged 74.

Although Daniel’s second wife was interred at West Coker, Daniel and his first wife were not, their place of rest being possibly a nonconformist cemetery or Yeovil cemetery.

References

[1] Western Gazette, 12 September 1873, p.5.

[2] Western Gazette, 4 April 1890, p.6.

[3] Western Gazette, 17 April 1914, p.8; Western Chronicle, 12 June 1914, p.5.

[4] Western Gazette, 16 September 1910, p.6.

[5] Western Gazette, 5 February 1875, p.5; 5 January 1877, p.6.

[6] Western Gazette, 28 May 1880, p.7.

[7] Bridport, Beaminster and Lyme Regis Telegram, 29 August 1884, p.9.

[8] Western Chronicle, 12 July 1901, p.5; 29 March 1907, p.5.

[9] Western Chronicle, 21 November 1913, p.5.

[10] Western Gazette, 14 October 1870, p.7; 13 October 1871, p.5; 22 October 1875, p.6; Chard and Ilminster News, 13 October 1877, p.2 and 3; Western Gazette, 8 November 1878, p.8.

[11] Western Chronicle, 3 August 1894, p.7.

[12] Dorset County Chronicle, 4 March 1880, p.8; 28 August 1896, p.6.

[13] Bridport, Beaminster and Lyme Regis Telegram, 29 August 1884, p.9.