Introduction
Emma Marsh spent most of her life in Hardington Mandeville, first working as a domestic servant and later as a charwoman. An unmarried mother of two sons, she lived within the Marsh family household, which provided her with stability and support throughout much of her adult life.
Childhood
Emma was born in 1864 at Hardington Mandeville, the fourth of twelve children born to Joseph Marsh and his wife, Harriet (née Pike).[1] She was baptised at Hardington Church on 4 November 1866 along with her sisters Martha, Fanny and Sarah Ann. The family lived at Hardington Hill until about 1880 when they moved to a cottage in the High Street.[2] Joseph initially worked as a farm labourer, but by 1891, he was farming on a small scale. Although it was a large family, six of the children died before reaching the age of six.
Domestic service
In April 1881, at the age of sixteen, Emma was working as a domestic servant in the household of the Rev. William George Trousdale, curate of Corscombe. She may have left within the following six months, as Mrs Trousdale advertised for a general servant in October 1881.[3]
Unmarried mother
By 1889, Emma had returned home, where she gave birth to a son, Ernest Claud or Claude, on 18 July.[4] He died on 16 July 1891 from measles and bronchitis, two days short of his second birthday.[5] The birth and death certificates and the 1891 census recorded Emma’s occupation as a domestic servant.
On Sunday, 27 September 1891 and the following two Sundays, the banns were called for Emma’s forthcoming marriage to Tom Woodland, a local carter. However, the marriage did not take place. Emma was already pregnant, and on 4 March 1892, she gave birth to another son, Frank, at Yeovil Workhouse. It is unknown whether Tom Woodland was the child’s father.[6] When registering the births of Frank and Ernest, as well as the death of Ernest, Emma made her mark, suggesting she had little or no ability to write.
Emma raised Frank in her parents’ home, which was also home to her unmarried siblings, Mary Jane, William and Jesse. Her mother died in 1903, followed by her father in 1908.
By 1911, Emma was working as a charwoman, while William was a coal dealer, and Jesse a farm labourer.
Emma died in 1913 from heart disease at the age of forty-eight.[7] William registered her death. Her son Frank later served with the Royal Army Service Corps during the First World War.[8] He married Ellen Mabel Baker in 1920 and settled at West Coker, where he died in 1968.
Conclusion
Emma spent most of her life within the Marsh family household. Although she supported herself through domestic service and later as a charwoman, the continued presence of her parents and unmarried siblings provided a stable home in which she was able to raise Frank. Her life shows the practical importance of the extended family household for an unmarried working woman in late Victorian and Edwardian Hardington.
References
[1]Civil registration birth index; family reconstitution.
[2] Hardington Guardian valuations.
[3] Western Gazette, 14 October 1881, p.4.
[4] Birth certificate of Ernest Claude Marsh,
[5] Death certificate of Ernest Claud Marsh.
[6] Birth certificate of Frank Marsh.
[7] Death certificate of Emma Marsh (age recorded as forty-seven).
[8] World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.
