Introduction
Edward Purchase’s life was far from conventional. Born at Hardington in 1795, he was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Purchase, probably due to a relationship with William Bartlett, who left Edward a bequest in his will. In 1838, he married Harriet Purchase, the mother of six illegitimate children. It remains unclear which, if any, of the children Edward fathered. Additionally, he lived apart from his second wife soon after their marriage.
Birth
Edward was born at Hardington on 13 March 1795, the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Purchase.[1]
Occupations
Edward worked primarily as a weaver until the 1850s. However, the 1841 census recorded him as a farmer.
Residence
The voters’ lists record Edward as the occupier of a leasehold house in Barry Lane, Hardington, which was held by Isaiah Rendle of West Coker (tithe map number 329).
First marriage
On 24 December 1838, Edward married Harriet Chester at Hardington. At the time, Edward was 43 years old, and Elizabeth was 39. Edward signed the marriage register while Harriet made a mark.
Harriet was born at East Coker in about 1799, the daughter of Levi and Hannah Chester. Levi died in 1826, and Hannah passed away in October 1838.
By the time they married, Harriet had six children, and another had died in infancy in 1833. The first child, Virtue, was baptised at East Coker on 12 October 1823, with the others at Hardington.
It is unclear whether Edward was the father of some or all of these children. If he was, how did the couple resist social pressure to marry? If he wasn’t, then who was? Was Harriet in a continual relationship with someone else, or did she have multiple partners?
The baptism registers omit any mention of him, except for the record of Levi’s baptism in June 1837, where Edward’s name was initially recorded but later deleted. Furthermore, Harriet’s sons, Benjamin and William, kept the name Chester as adults and did not adopt the surname Purchase
On the other hand, both the 1841 and 1851 censuses list all the children in the household with the name Purchase. Furthermore, if Edward was not in a relationship with Harriet in his twenties and thirties, it is difficult to believe that he lived as an attached single man until he turned forty.
Edward and Harriet had three children together after their marriage, although only the youngest survived infancy.
The 1851 census recorded both Edward and Harriet as canvas weavers.
Brother-in-law’s transportation
In April 1839, Harriet’s brother, Levi, was sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation for stealing potatoes and sacks at East Coker.[2]
An extraordinary altercation
On Sunday, 18 December 1842, the Sunday service at Hardington church was interrupted by a loud and unseemly disturbance. A few minutes after the service began, Edward and Harriet arrived for the funeral of their son, George, who had died five days earlier at the age of 18 months.[3] It was customary for the deceased’s coffin to be taken into the church and remain there until the clergyman was ready to proceed to the grave. However, Mark Dodge, one of the churchwardens, told them that they must take the coffin out again and instructed the bearers to remove it. Harriet objected, saying that the rector had “better mind his preaching” and sat on the coffin. The rector then called Joseph Apsey, the other churchwarden, who refused to interfere, followed by James Poole, the clerk, who said to Dodge, “If she won’t move, we will carry her, corpse and all.” In attempting to carry out this plan, Poole wrenched off one of the coffin handles. Harriet protested loudly, convinced that Poole’s actions had turned over the child’s body, and many of the congregation left the church in disgust.
After an unexplained delay of six weeks, the Yeovil magistrates heard a complaint from Edward and Harriet against Poole, alleging assault against both of them. They were represented by Philip Chitty, a Shaftesbury solicitor, suggesting they had difficulty finding a lawyer to act for them. Edward and Harriet both gave evidence. Edward corroborated the evidence of his wife and alleged that Poole had grabbed him by the collar and pushed him away. Joseph Apsey, one of the churchwardens, corroborated their testimonies.
In his defence, Poole claimed that Henry Helyar, the rector, had refused to allow any bodies into the church due to a malignant fever prevalent at the time. He stated that before the church service, Helyar had sent a man to ask Edward and Harriet what time they intended to bury their child to avoid disrupting the service. Harriet had complained loudly and replied that the child should be buried like other people’s children. Fearing that there would be a disturbance, the rector directed Mark Dodge, the churchwarden, not to let the body into the church. Poole accused Harriet of behaving impudently and hitting him violently around the head. Chitty maintained that Helyar had no authority to bar anyone from entering the church and accused Poole of being the perpetrator of a violent and unprovoked assault. When the magistrates turned to the Rubric to decide the case, he insisted that it was not the law. The magistrates ultimately decided that the rector had acted within his authority and dismissed the case.[4]
While Poole alleged that Helyar wanted to stop the spread of disease, a close reading of the case suggests that this was a made-up story to absolve Helyar from blame. In reality, Helyar’s main concern was preventing the funeral party from disturbing his service. According to the child’s death certificate, he died from teething, which at that time was mistakenly associated with serious illnesses and death.
Harriet’s death
On 28 January 1855, Harriet was stricken with paralysis. She died eight days later, on 5 February 1855, at the age of 55.[5]
Second marriage
On 9 February 1857, Edward married Susan Bartlett, a weaver of Hill End. She was the widow of Joseph Bartlett, a bellringer who had died two years earlier from a broken leg sustained when he jumped from the churchyard into an adjoining field.[6]
Inheritance
In September 1859, Edward inherited £19 19s from William Bartlett of Galhampton.[7] William, who was born at Hardington in about 1774, may have been Edward’s father.
Pauper
Despite the legacy, by April 1861, Edward was a pauper lodging with his son, Benjamin Chester, in Barry Lane, while Susan lived at Hill End with her children, Sidney, Thomas and Fanny.
Death
Some time in the following eleven months, Edward was admitted to the Union Workhouse, where he died on 2 March 1862, from paralysis, at the age of 66.[8]
Susan’s later life
In April 1871, Susan lived at Hill End with her son, Thomas, and daughter, Fanny.
By April 1881, she had reverted to using the surname Bartlett. She worked as a charwoman and lived at Hill End with her daughter, Harriet.
Susan died in 1888 at the age of 77.
Children
Harriet had six sons and four daughters:
1826- Virtue (married Emmanuel Bartlett, a farm labourer of Hardington in 1848; resided at Hardington; died in 1901);
Circa 1826- Benjamin (resided at Hardington; died in 1896);
Circa 1828- William (worked as a farm labourer; married Anne Rendell in 1849; resided at Hardington; committed suicide in 1886);
Circa 1830- Harriet (married George Trask, a farm labourer, in 1853; resided at Hardington; died in 1900);
Circa 1833- Emily (died in infancy);
Circa 1834- Edward (a weaver in 1851; joined the army; married Mary Ann Ollivier Gaudion on Alderney in 1874; lived on Alderney and Guernsey and at Aldershot; died in Kent in 1914);
Circa 1837- Levi (a weaver in 1851; later whereabouts unknown);
Circa 1840- Emily (died in infancy
1841- George (died in infancy)
1844- George (worked as a farm labourer; married Sarah Ann Partridge in 1874; died in 1918).
References
[1] Hardington baptism register.
[2] Somerset County Gazette 6 April 1839 p 2.
[3] Death certificate of George Purchase.
[4] English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post, 4 February 1843, p.8.
[5] Death certificate of Harriet Purchase.
[6] Sherborne Mercury 3 July 1855 p. 3.
[7] The will of William Bartlett, dated 8 January 1857, proved at Wells on 22 September 1859. The will refers to Edward Purchase of Hardington, son of the late Elizabeth Purchase of Hardington.
[8] Death certificate of Edward Purchase.
