Introduction

Edward Park was a carpenter at Hardington Marsh for over forty years. He came to Hardington with his parents when he was about five and lived in the parish for the rest of his life. He married a Hardington-born wife, and together, they had six children.

Childhood

Edward was born at Corscombe in about 1796. He was the son of William and Sarah Park,

In February 1801, Edward’s family faced a removal order, which required his parents, William and Sarah, along with their children—Maria, Grace, Edward, and Amy—to relocate from Corscombe to Hardington. At the time, William was working as a carpenter.[1]

Marriage

On 7 April 1819, Edward married Joan Genge at Hardington.

Residence

The 1841 census shows Edward and Joan living at Hardington Marsh with four of their children. Their two oldest daughters, Caroline and Rhoda, had left home.

The 1843 tithe map shows Edward Park as the tenant of the house that Miss Timmons lived in during the twentieth century.

Wife’s death

Tragedy struck on 4 April 1865, when Edward’s wife died from injuries sustained when her clothes caught fire.[2] After this devastating loss, Edward moved in with his married daughter, Maria Lucas, at Steerpoint, East Coker.

Death

Edward died in the Yeovil Workhouse in January 1874 at the age of 78.

Children

Edward and Joan had six children.

Circa 1819-Caroline (married John Chant, a weaver of West Chinnock; died 1846);

Circa 1822-Rhoda (married William Gullidge, a weaver of West Coker; died in 1843);

Circa 1825-Hester (married Walter Baker, a farm labourer of Hardington; moved to Merthyr Tydfil in the 1880s; died there in 1903);

1827-William (moved to South Wales in the 1880s; died in 1885);

Circa 1830-Maria (married George Lucas, a farm labourer of East Coker; resided at East Coker; died in 1905);

Circa 1833-Robert (married Louisa Gibbins of East Chinnock in 1865; left Hardington in the late 1860s; a farm labourer at Ashington in 1881; died at Beaminster in 1896.

References

[1] Dorset Heritage Centre-PE-COR/OV/4/3/48

[2] Western Gazette, 21 April 1865, p.7.