Introduction

Ellen Brake Swaffield’s life may have been shaped and overshadowed by the death of her mother when she was just six years old. She never married and spent her life in the care of her aunt, Ann Read, and other relatives.

Childhood

Ellen was born at Hardington in about 1833, the daughter of John and Harriet Swaffield. In about 1835, her parents moved to Yetminster. Tragically, her mother died there on 7 September 1838, aged only 26.

By 1840, her father had become a baker at Hardington. On 31 October 1840, he remarried, but his new wife showed little interest in looking after her three stepdaughters, resulting in them living with relatives. In June 1841, Ellen lived in the household of her grandparents, Henry and Mary Brake, at Closworth, while her sisters, Anne and Mary, lived with two of their mother’s sisters at Yetminster.

Life with aunt

By March 1851, Ellen found a stable home with her father’s sister, Ann Read, and Ann’s husband, Richard, at Haselbury. Ellen remained with her aunt for the rest of her life. In the 1850s, Richard, Ann and Ellen moved to Partway Lane, Hardington. In April 1861, Ellen was a visitor at Cowcroft Farm, Hardington.

In February 1871, Richard Read died at the age of 67.

In 1885, Ellen inherited one-sixth of the estate of her aunt, Ann Swaffield.[1]

Ellen died on 9 May 1889 at the age of 56.

References

[1] The will of Ann Read, dated 14 June 1889, proved at Taunton on 27 October 1897.