Introduction

Estate owners often preferred to hire gamekeepers from outside the local area to minimise the risk of them fraternising with poachers. This practice may explain why Edwin Charles Adlem, originally from Tollard Royal, worked as a gamekeeper at Hardington during the early 1890s. Later, he held positions in East Dorset and Hampshire.

Childhood

Edwin was born in 1866 at Tollard Royal, a village on Cranborne Chase.[1] His father, George Adlem, was a farm labourer, and his mother, Mary, was the daughter of James Sharp, a labourer. The Adlem family consisted of ten children—seven sons and three daughters—of whom a remarkable four sons pursued careers as gamekeepers, beginning with the eldest sibling, William, in the 1880s and followed by Edwin soon after.[2]

The 1881 census recorded Edwin as a fifteen-year-old farm labourer living at home with his parents.

Move to Hardington

During the 1880s, Edwin followed the example of his older brother, William, and became a gamekeeper. By April 1891, he was boarding with Rhoda Baker at Cowcroft Farm, Hardington.

First marriage

In late May or early June 1891, Edwin married Elizabeth Baker, Rhoda’s daughter, at Hardington.[3] Sadly, Elizabeth passed away in late 1892 or early 1893 at the age of 27, shortly after giving birth to a daughter named Bessie, who also died.

Second marriage

Following this period of personal loss, Edwin began a relationship with Emma Wensley, who probably worked in domestic service at Misterton. Emma, the daughter of a farm labourer, was born in Huntsham, near Tiverton, and raised by her father after her mother died when she was eight years old.

Edwin and Emma were married at Misterton church on 16 May 1894.

Dorset

By the time of his second marriage, Edwin had returned to his native village of Tollard Royal, probably staying with his parents temporarily in preparation for the next stage of his career.

Between 1896 and 1901, Edwin was Lord Portman’s gamekeeper at Shillingstone.[4] The 1901 census shows Edwin, Emma, and their daughter Dorothy living at Eastcombe Cottage, Shillingstone Hill.[5]

By 1902, they had moved to Iwerne Minster, and by 1909, they had settled in Pamphill.[6] The 1911 census shows them living in a three-roomed house at Tadden, Pamphill, with Edwin working as an estate labourer.

Between 1894 and 1907, Emma gave birth to five children, three of whom died in infancy. Emma herself died in 1913 at Tadden, at the age of 44, and was interred at Wimborne.

By June 1921, Edwin was living at Old Down Cottages near Winchester with his youngest daughter, Olive. Edwin worked as an estate woodman for Charles Schwerdt of Longwood House in Owslebury. His elder daughter Dorothy had established her own household in Winchester with her husband and daughter.

Edwin has not been found after 1921.

Children

Edwin had one child with his first wife and five with his second, only two of whom reached adulthood. Dorothy, his eldest surviving child, married Henry Valentine Burrows, a house painter, while Olive Mary married Charles Henry French, a lorry driver. Both daughters settled in Winchester.

References

[1] His birth was registered at Tisbury Q2 1866 under the name of Edwin Adlam. Later records use both Adlem and Adlam, though Adlem is more common.

[2] One son died in infancy before Edwin was born.

[3] Hardington Banns Book.

[4] Shillingstone baptism register; Western Gazette, 25 August 1899, p.7; 6 October 1899, p.7; 1901 census.

[5] The 1901 census and the 1901 voters’ list recorded Edwin’s name as “Richard Adlem.”

[6] Iwerne Minster baptism register; voters’ lists.