Introduction
George Rupert Hoare was a poultry farmer at Hill Cross, Hardington, from the 1920s until 1940. Born into a railway family of modest means, he established himself independently after the First World War. Although he had no early agricultural background, he developed a specialised poultry enterprise during the interwar years, at one point operating accommodation for several thousand birds.
Childhood
George was born on 16 June 1897 at Lambeth, probably at 6 Walton Terrace.[1] His father, Alfred Hoare, was a blacksmith’s son who had entered railway service and risen to become an engine driver with the London and South Western Railway.[2] His mother, Kate Merrick, was the daughter of a signalman.[3]
His father had been married previously to Elizabeth York, who died in 1884, leaving him with one son, Henry James.[4] He remained a widower until 1891, when he married Kate Merrick of Yeovil.[5] The family lived at several addresses in London, including 61 Larkhall Lane in 1899, before moving around 1900 to 8 Southend Road, Basingstoke.[6] Henry stayed in London and married in 1904.[7] Alfred died in November 1905 at the age of 52 due to acute pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma.[8] He left no will; his estate was valued at £341 11s 8d.[9]
After Alfred’s death, Kate returned to Yeovil with her four children to live with her parents, John and Eliza Merrick, who kept White Horse Inn in St Michael’s Avenue.[10] John had become the licensee after retiring in 1897, having served 43 years as a signalman with the Great Western Railway.[11] Eliza died in 1907, and John in 1911.[12] The inn remained in the family under their daughter, Mary Jane, until 1933.[13]
Kate remarried in 1909 to Herbert James Ostler, a boiler washer with the Great Western Railway. However, the marriage appears to have been short-lived, and she returned to the White Horse while he lived with his mother and two siblings in the same road.[14] Herbert later served with the Royal Field Artillery during the war before transferring to the Westland Aircraft Works in 1917; his service papers state that he was separated from his wife.[15]
First World War
By 1911, George was employed as an office boy at Aplin & Barrett’s butter factory in Yeovil.[16] On 27 February 1914, he enlisted in the West Somerset Yeomanry, overstating his age as seventeen when he was actually sixteen. He began active service on 5 August 1914, and in January 1915, both he and his brother, Frederick, were listed in the Western Gazette’s Roll of Honour.[17] Frederick went on to serve with the Royal Air Force.[18]
George’s service was cut short due to injury. In October 1914, a horse trod on his feet, severely damaging one toe and causing additional injuries. He was discharged on 28 April 1916. Army records describe him as six feet tall with blue eyes and fair hair, and assessed his military character as very good. He claimed compensation and was awarded £110.[19]
Marriage
After his discharge, George returned home and became a clerk with the Ministry of Labour. In 1920, he married Mabel Rhoda Gibson, the youngest daughter of William James Gibson, a tailor in Yeovil since the 1870s.[20] Following his wife’s death in 1898, he closed his shop in 1900 and moved to Deptford St Paul.[21] Mabel subsequently lived with her married sister, Annie Lilian Corbett, first in Cheshire, and later in Sherborne, where Annie, by then a widow, ran a draper’s business in Cheap Street. After their marriage, George joined Mabel at Sherborne.[22]
Hardington
In the 1920s, George and Mabel purchased Hill Cross, Hardington, a property of forty acres. The farmhouse was described in 1930 as a modern residence with electric light, central heating and up-to-date sanitation, suggesting either recent construction or significant improvements.[23]
Initially, George operated a mixed enterprise. In December 1928, he sold a barrener cow at Yeovil market, and in April 1929, he sold 29 “slips” (young pigs).[24] In February 1930, he advertised for a general farm hand who was a good milker and used to horses, offering a cottage and garden.[25] In the same month, he advertised White Wyandotte and White Leghorn hatching eggs for sale at 4s per dozen.[26]
Later in 1930, George planned to sell the property. An auction was scheduled for 5 September, but the sale did not take place, possibly because the reserve price was not met.[27] However, a separate sale of livestock and equipment scheduled for 8 September went ahead. This included poultry houses, farm implements, 14 dairy cows, 10 heifers, a few pigs, two horses and 375 head of poultry.[28] The auctioneers reported that some of the pedigree poultry sold for excellent prices.[29]
George remained at Hill Cross and let his land for grasskeep. On 8 May 1931, he offered 65 acres of grazing until 29 September.[30] It is unclear whether the larger holding represented additional rented land or temporary grazing rights. By January 1934, he had returned to poultry farming in a more concentrated form, as he advertised White Wyandotte eggs for sale that month.[31]
During the 1930s, he expanded the poultry side of the business. Poultry farming was becoming increasingly commercialised at that time, supported by improvements in incubation and feeding methods and sustained urban demand for eggs. A notice in June 1940 stated that when fully stocked, the farm housed about 3,000 birds. The sectional houses, described as having been built by direct labour of the finest materials, suggest a considerable capital outlay aimed at increasing production.[32]
At the beginning of 1939, George began disposing of equipment and stock. In January, he advertised incubators for sale, and on 11 June 1940, he held an auction sale of 36 poultry houses, some equipment and 50 laying hens, the others having been sold gradually over time.[33] In July 1940, he also advertised sectional houses for sale.[34]
Mabel’s sister, Ada, lived with them at Hill Cross during the 1930s, and possibly earlier. Ada was the widow of Walter Edgar Jesty, a commercial traveller in the jewellery business. Upon his death at Cotford Asylum in 1912, he left an estate valued at £470 5s.[35] It is possible that Ada contributed financially to the household, although the extent and timing of any such assistance cannot be definitively established. When she made her will on 9 October 1936, she was living at Hill Cross. During the Second World War, she moved to the Railway Hotel, Hendford, Yeovil, where she died in 1944, leaving an estate valued at £2,956 7s 3d. Ada bequeathed £100 each to George and two nephews, her furniture and effects to Annie and the remainder of her estate equally to Mabel and Annie.[36]
Final years
Mabel died on 29 June 1952 at the age of 62, leaving an estate valued at £1,063 18s 10d. Probate described George as an egg and poultry merchant, implying continued involvement in the trade.[37] He later moved to 33 Market Square, Crewkerne, where he died on 1 May 1969 at the age of 71, leaving an estate valued at £1,773.[38] The modest value of his estate suggests limited accumulated capital in later life.
Conclusion
George Hoare’s life was shaped by early instability, a wartime injury and changes in occupation. Initially trained as a clerk, he established himself as a poultry farmer in interwar Hardington and operated a holding that, when fully stocked, carried 3,000 birds. The scale of his operation suggests ambition and organisational ability, yet his estate at death indicates limited long-term accumulation. His career reflects the opportunities and the constraints faced by small-scale agricultural enterprises in the interwar West Country.
References
[1] Civil Registration Birth Index; Baptism register of St Anne, South Lambeth; RG13, Basingstoke, ED9, piece 1108, folio 39, p.13; 1939 Register.
[2] Bishops’ Transcripts for Hawkley, Hampshire; RG12, Lambeth, ED33a, Piece 402, folio 88, p.62.
[3] Western Gazette, 8 February 1907, p.5.
[4] Brompton Cemetery Registers, 1840-2012; baptism register of Saint George the Martyr, Battersea.
[5] Civil Registration Marriage Index.
[6] Lark Hall Lane School Admission Register; All Saints, South Lambeth baptism register; RG13, Basingstoke, ED9, piece 1108, folio 39, p.13.
[7] Marriage register of Saint Mary, Battersea.
[8] Death certificate of Alfred Hoare.
[9] National probate calendar.
[10] RG14, Yeovil, ED15, piece 14416.
[11] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 9 November 1897, p.5; Western Gazette, 8 February 1907, p.5.
[12] Western Gazette, 8 February 1907, p.5; Western Gazette, 28 April 1911, p.3
[13] Western Gazette, 9 June 1911, p.6;7 April 1933, p.11.
[14] Civil registration marriage index; RG14, Yeovil, ED15, piece 14416; RG14, Yeovil, ED15, piece 14416.
[15] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[16] RG14, Yeovil, ED15, piece 14416.
[17] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920; Western Chronicle, 15 January 1915, p.3.
[18] Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940.
[19] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[20] Civil Registration Marriage Index; Baptism register of St John’s, Yeovil.
[21] Burial register of St John’s, Yeovil; Western Gazette, 20 July 1900, p.1; RG14, Deptford St Paul, ED 9, piece 2603.
[22] RG14, Hurleston, ED 5, piece 21802; RG15, Sherborne, ED20, schedule 41.
[23] Western Gazette 18 July 1930 p. 1.
[24] Western Gazette, 7 December 1928, p.1; 12 April 1929, p.1.
[25] Western Gazette, 7 Feb 1930 p. 8.
[26] Western Gazette, 21 Feb 1930, p. 9.
[27] Western Gazette 18 July 1930 p. 1.
[28] Western Gazette 22 August 1930 p. 1.
[29] Western Gazette, 12 September 1930, p. 15.
[30] Western Gazette, 8 May 1931, p. 1.
[31] Western Gazette,19 January 1934, p. 8; 26 January 1934, p. 8.
[32] Western Gazette 7 June 1940 p. 1.
[33] Western Gazette 7 June 1940 p. 1.
[34] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 13 July 1940 p.1.
[35] RG14, Yeovil, ED13, piece 14414; National probate calendar.
[36] The will of Ada Mary Will, dated 9 October 1936, proved at Bristol on 25 May 1945.
[37] National probate calendar.
[38] National probate calendar.
