Introduction

This narrative presents a detailed account of Frederick Robert Rendell’s life and legacy, illustrating the complexities of family ties and historical context in rural England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes an account of how a farmer adopted his wife’s great-niece as his child even though her parents were alive and well.

Birth

Frederick Robert Rendell, the third child of Robert and Emma Rendell, was born at Misterton in 1867.

Frederick’s father, Robert, was a farmer of 250 acres. Frederick worked on his father’s farm until he married.

Marriage

On 27 October 1892, Frederick married Edith Emma Hann at St Paul’s church, Stratford.

Wife

Family background

Edith was born in London but raised in Hardington and Misterton.

She was the great-granddaughter of William Slade, a farmer of North Perrott who, when he died in 1863, left £300 to his daughter, Maria, the wife of George Hann, and the same amount to Rhoda, the wife of Adam Rendell. Maria’s son, John Slade Hann, moved to London, where he married Emma Good, the daughter of an Essex farm labourer, and fathered six children, including Edith, his eldest child, who was born at Peckham on 14 January 1868.

Adoption

Edith’s upbringing took a unique path: Adam and Rhoda Rendell, having no biological children, adopted and raised her as their own. In Adam’s will, dated 3 December 1874, he formally recognised her as his adopted child, providing for her financially. He refers to Edith and says, “adopted by me.” He left her £1,000 on his death and his household effects and his house and farm buildings at Misterton on the death of his wife, Rhoda. Adam died on 21 August 1876, and Rhoda on 19 January 1892. Consequently, Edith was reasonably well off when she married Frederick on 27 October 1892.

Frederick was the grandson of Adam Rendell’s brother, Thomas, so Frederick’s marriage to Edith kept her wealth within the Rendell family.

White Vine Farm

By September 1894, Frederick had become the tenant of White Vine Farm, the very farm Edith had come to as a child to live with Adam and Rhoda Rendell.

The farm comprised 204 acres in 1903 and 1909.[1] The 1911 census states that the farmhouse had eight rooms.

Frederick and Edith’s two sons were born at the farm: Frederick Sydney on 2 September 1894 and Reginald Arthur on 11 July 1897.[2]

During their time at the farm, the family suffered two misfortunes, which local newspapers reported. On the afternoon of Thursday, 25 June 1895, a thunderstorm passed over the farm, and a lightning bolt struck and killed five out of seven bullocks sheltering in a field.[3] In April 1899, Frederick suffered a slight concussion and was briefly hospitalised when his cart collided with a trap standing stationary in East Street, Crewkerne.[4]

Frederick and his family remained at the farm until 1914.

Yeovil Marsh

Frederick, Edith and Reginald then moved to Marsh Hill Farm, Yeovil Marsh. At about this time, Frederick’s other son, Frederick Sydney, moved to West Ham to live with his uncle while pursuing an engineering apprenticeship after leaving Crewkerne Grammar School.[5]

The First World War

The First World War profoundly impacted the Rendell family. Frederick Sydney enlisted with the Somerset Light Infantry and served in Flanders, tragically losing his life in action on 31 July 1917 at the age of 22.[6] In 1918, Frederick sought exemption from military service for his remaining son due to the government’s conscription order for essential farm workers, though this request was ultimately denied.[7] Fortunately, this son survived the war and in  1923, he married Marion Annette Goodland, the youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs Benjamin Goodland of Court Farm, Lopen.[8]

Inheritances

Following his mother’s death on 15 November 1920, Frederick inherited a portion of her estate. She left an estate valued at £1,085 16s 8d, about one-third of which she bequeathed to Frederick.[9]

Frederick’s father, Robert, died on 1 December 1923, leaving an estate valued at £4,021 14s 7d. He directed his trustees to give his wife his household effects and a legacy of £100, convert the remainder into money, and invest the net proceeds, paying his wife a legacy of £100 and all the income for life. After his wife died, his children inherited equal shares.

He wanted his farming business to remain in the family and gave precise instructions to help bring this about. He directed his executors to offer his farming business first to his son, Albert Thomas (because he had assisted him in managing the farm for many years) and then to his son, Frederick Robert, each son to buy the farm at valuation, paying at least one-third on completion and the rest in instalments over up to five years.[10]

It is unclear precisely what happened next, but in 1928, Frederick relocated to Misterton, and Albert took over Marsh Hill Farm. 

Farm sale

Frederick a sale of livestock and implements at Marsh Hill Farm on 17 December 1928 because he was quitting.[11] He was succeeded by his brother, Albert Thomas Rendell, who remained at the farm until he died in 1931.[12] After Albert’s death, his widow continued at the farm until 1935, holding her farm sale shortly before her death.[13]

Death

Frederick died on 13 June 1937, aged 69, leaving an estate valued at £1,226 13s 3d. He left his wife the income for life, with the remainder to his surviving son.[14]

Edith remained at the farm where she died on 13 September 1949, aged 81, leaving an estate valued at £3,945 4s.[15]

References

[1] Guardian valuations.

[2] Taunton Courier and Weekly Advertiser, 12 September 1894, p.8; 1939 Register.

[3] Southern Times and Dorset County Herald, 4 July 1896, p.7.

[4] Western Chronicle, 14 April 1899, p.6.

[5] Western Chronicle, 31 August 1917, p.6.

[6] Western Chronicle, 31 August 1917, p.6.

[7] Western Chronicle, 14 June 1916, p.6.

[8] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 12 September 1923, p.7.

[9] The will of Emma Rendell, dated 17 August 1910, proved at Taunton on 22 February 1921.

[10] The will of Robert Rendell, dated 18 February 1909, proved at Taunton on 15 February 1924.

[11] Western Gazette, 7 December 1928, p. 1.

[12] Western Gazette, 13 October 1933, p.16.

[13] Western Gazette, 30 August 1935, p.1; 13 December 1935, p.1.

[14] The will of Frederick Robert Rendell, dated 4 November 1916, proved at Bodmin on 3 August 1937.

[15] Western Gazette, 16 September 1949, p10; probate calendars.