Introduction
Edwin James Guppy and his wife, Ethel Mary Rendell, spent almost their entire lives at Hardington Mandeville and neighbouring West Coker. Aside from a brief period when Edwin sought work in Bristol shortly after the First World War, both remained closely connected to the communities in which they grew up.
Edwin’s early life
Edwin was born on 14 June 1900 at Hardington Mandeville, the eldest of seven children born to Walter Charles Guppy and his wife, Annie (née Higgins).[1] His father was a stonemason. The family initially lived in Barry Lane, but briefly moved to East Coker around 1904 before returning to Hardington.
Edwin entered Hardington School on 28 August 1905 and left on his thirteenth birthday, 14 June 1913, with a labour certificate allowing him to begin full-time work.[2]
As a young man, Edwin found employment with the Bristol building firm J. Weeks & Sons as a builder’s labourer. However, by June 1921, he had returned to Hardington and was unemployed.
Ethel’s early life
Ethel was born on 8 March 1901 at Hardington, the fifth of eleven children to James Rendell and his wife, Louisa (née Newberry).[3] The family lived at Hardington Moor, and her father worked as a newsagent.
Ethel attended the village school from 11 March 1904 until 4 March 1914, leaving just before her thirteenth birthday with a labour certificate.[4] In April 1917, she placed an advertisement in the Western Gazette seeking a situation after having been “disengaged” from her previous job.[5] She later found work as a glove machinist, and was employed at home by a glove manufacturer named Mr Hawkins by 1921.
In October 1920, her father purchased a house in North Lane together with land in the Portman sale, and set himself up as a poultry farmer. His new venture was short-lived, however, as he died less than two years later, leaving Ethel and five younger siblings still living at home.
Married life
Edwin and Ethel married in 1921 and had three children: Ethel Elizabeth P., born in 1923, Alec Edwin in 1925 and Annie Louisa in 1929.
By September 1939, the family was living at 21 East Street, West Coker. Edwin was employed as a cutter and grinder on Admiralty contracts. Although his employer has not been identified, the work suggests he was engaged in engineering production, possibly in the Yeovil area, where firms such as Westland Aircraft were expanding to meet the demands of rearmament. Ethel worked as a part-time glove maker. They remained at the same address in December 1943, when Edwin advertised a battery-powered radio receiver for sale in the Western Gazette.[6] By March 1944, the family had moved to Wayside, West Coker.[7] Their son Alec was by then serving in the Royal Navy.
Edwin died in 1980 at the age of seventy-nine. Ethel survived him by four years, passing away on 22 August 1984 at the age of eighty-three. Her final residence was at 118 Legion Road, Yeovil, and she left an estate valued at not more than £40,000.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; Civil registration death index; family reconstitution.
[2] Hardington School admissions register.
[3] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; Civil registration death index; family reconstitution.
[4] Hardington School admissions register.
[5] Western Gazette, 27 April 1917, p.4. The advert was placed by “E. Rendell, Hardington Moor.”
[6] Western Gazette, 3 December 1943, p.4.
[7] Western Gazette, 3 March 1944, p.8.
