Introduction

George Marsh spent his early life at Coombe Keynes, located two miles south of Wool, where he worked alongside his father as a bricklayer. In the early 1860s, he and his family moved to Bridge Close Farm, Hardington, where he served as the bailiff until 1896. George then retired to Haselbury, where he died in 1897.

Birth at Iwerne Minster

George was born at Iwerne Minster in about 1825. His parents, Richard and Susannah Marsh, probably lived there temporarily before returning to their permanent home at Coombe Keynes.[1]

Marriage

On 5 February 1848, George married Rachel White at St James church, Poole. Rachel’s father, Richard White, farmed over 200 acres at Coombe Keynes.

Early married life at Coombe Keynes

Until the early 1860s, George Marsh worked as a bricklayer at Coombe Keynes, probably alongside his father. In April 1861, he and his family lived near his parents and the vicarage.

Bailiff at Bridge Close Farm

By October 1864, George was working as a farm bailiff for Henry Parsons at Bridge Close Farm Hardington Mandeville.[2] On 8 May 1865, George was a witness in a sheep stealing case.[3]

Except for a brief interlude around 1871, when George and his family lived near the Swan Inn in Haselbury Plucknett, he remained at the farm until 1896. In April 1871, Charles Hyde was the bailiff at Bridge Close Farm, but since he was only there for a year, George Marsh may have returned in 1872.

The 1881 census describes George as a “Farmer 400 acres, 9 laborers [sic], 6 boys,” but a trade directory of 1889 and the 1891 census describes him as a farm bailiff. As it is unlikely that George changed his status from bailiff to farmer and back again, the 1881 census is probably inaccurate, and George was a bailiff throughout.

Dairy operations

George’s approach to caring for the farm’s cows changed over the years. In March 1882, he advertised for a man and woman to tend cows.[4] In May 1885, he advertised a dairy to let with twelve heifers and a small house.[5] In May 1890, he advertised for a man and woman with a boy to milk and look after about twenty cows.[6] In November 1890, Richard Trott was a dairy manager at Bridge Close Farm.[7] By April 1891, Elizabeth Masters had succeeded him.

Inheritances

George’s father-in-law, Richard White, died on 22 July 1858, leaving an estate valued at “under £800.” In his will, he left his estate to his wife for her lifetime. After her death, he instructed his executors to divide his estate equally between his three daughters, Ellen, Rachel and Mary, with the proviso that his daughter, Louisa,  be included if she returned to England unprovided for.[8] After Richard White’s wife died in 1870, Rachel probably inherited between £200 and £267, less expenses.

George’s father, Richard White, died intestate on 5 July 1867, leaving an estate valued at “under £200.” George administered his estate and probably inherited the entire amount.

Investments

George invested some of his savings in the Wiltshire & Dorset Banking Company. In January 1868, he was one of the bank’s many owners.[9]

Family life

In October 1864, George and Rachel’s nine-year-old son, Frederick, developed a sore throat, rash and fever, which was diagnosed as scarlet fever. The rapid spread of the illness through his young body caused complications that proved fatal.[10]

The first of George’s children to leave home was his oldest son, Samuel, who secured a position as a footman at Wynnstay Hall in Ruabon, Denbighshire, the family seat of the Williams-Wynn baronets, by April 1871. To obtain such a position of trust in an aristocratic household would have required glowing references. After marrying in 1873, Samuel left domestic service and became the landlord of the Mermaid Inn, Sherborne.

Over the following ten years, three of George’s children found jobs in shops far from home. By April 1881, Ann was a hosier’s assistant at Salisbury, George worked in a drapery shop at Brighton, and Charles was a hosier’s assistant at Speldhurst near Tunbridge Wells. By April 1891, Ann had returned home, while her sister, Sarah, had moved in with an aunt at Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset.

While living in the village, Sarah and Ann were both active members of Hardington church and often played a significant role in decorating it for special occasions. One of them supervised the decoration of the church for the formal opening of the new organ on 22 April 1887. Both sisters supervised the decoration of the church for the harvest festival in 1887 and 1888, and “Miss L. Marsh” decorated the pulpit and lectern for the harvest festival in 1889.^[11]

Wife’s death

George’s wife, Rachel, died on 24 April 1892, aged 71.

Retirement and death

Following the death of Henry Parsons on 8 December 1895, his executors sold the whole of the live and dead farming stock at Bridge Close by auction on 26 February 1896.[12]

George retired to Haselbury, where he died on 13 April 1897, aged 70. The gross value of his estate was £248-19s-11d, but the net value was nil.[13]

Children

George and Rachel had four sons and two daughters:

1848- Samuel (a footman at Wynnstay Hall by April 1871; married Emily Willham at Lower Swell, Gloucestershire, in 1873; became an innkeeper at the Mermaid Inn, Sherborne, and later the Queen’s Arms Inn, Corton Denham; by April 1911, he was a farmer at Globe farm, Haselbury, where he died in 1915);

1850- Sarah (never married; lived with her aunt, Ellen White, at Winfrith Newburgh by April 1891, and later acted as housekeeper for Rev G R G Norris, who was a curate at St John’s Yeovil for ten years before becoming vicar of Wedmore in 1912; she died in or near Wedmore in 1921);

Circa 1853- Ann Louisa (a hosier’s assistant at Salisbury in 1881; later returned home; never married; died at North Perrott from a stroke in 1900);

1855- Frederick (died of scarlet fever, aged 9);

1856 George (a draper’s shopman at Brighton by April 1881; married Sarah Ann Pavier in 1883; married Melita Anne Davis in 1924; ran a shop in Southsea selling domestic machinery; died in 1946;

1859 Charles Richard (a hosier’s assistant at Speldhurst, Kent, by April 1881; married Olivia Edgson Hickmott in 1883; became a confectionery wholesaler at Deal; died in 1945).

George Marsh’s will

George appointed his wife, Rachel, as his sole executor.

He left Rachel his whole estate for her life, with the remainder to his children equally.

If she married again, he instructed her to take £250 for herself and divide the residue among his children as tenants in common and not as joint tenants.

Witnessed by Robert Eastment and Henry Spearing.

As Rachel died before George, the Taunton probate registry granted probate to their oldest son, Samuel.

References

[1] George’s father, Richard Marsh, was born and raised at Coombe Keynes. On 24 July 1824, he married Susannah Kearly, at Winterborne Came near Dorchester. Their only son, George, was born at Iwerne Minister, a parish twenty-three miles north of Coombe Keynes, and baptised there on 30 July 1825. The baptism register recorded Richard and Susannah’s address as “Coomb nr Wareham.” As they are unlikely to have travelled twenty-three miles for a baptism, Iwerne Minster was probably their temporary address, while Coombe Keynes was their permanent home.

[2] Hardington burial register: entry for George’s son, Frederick.

[3] Western Gazette, 12 May 1865, p.6.

[4] Western Gazette, 10 March 1882, p.4.

[5] Western Gazette, 1 May 1885, p.4.

[6] Western Gazette, 9 May 1890, p.4.

[7] Western Gazette, 28 November 1890, p.4.

[8] The will of Richard White, dated 22 April 1855, proved at Blandford on 17 September 1859.

[9] Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 20 February 1868, p.1.

[10] Frederick Marsh’s death certificate.

[11] Western Gazette 16 September 1887, p. 7; 28 September 1888, p.7; 27 September 1889, p. 6.

[12] Western Gazette, 21 February 1896, p.1.

[13] The will of George Marsh, dated 7 April 1879, proved at Taunton on 12 July 1897.