Introduction

Harriet was a schoolteacher at Hardington in the 1850s. As the daughter of a prosperous farmer, she was a resourceful and capable woman. After her husband became mentally ill in the 1830s, she supported her family by running a shop at Leigh. Later, she lived at Sherborne for a time before moving to Hardington. After leaving Hardington, she moved to Beaminster, where she established a bakery.

Childhood

 Harriet was born at Upwey on 15 January 1798, the ninth of twelve children born to William and Jane Read. Her father, William, had moved from Yetminster to Upwey, where he enjoyed a successful career as a farmer. When he died in 1830, he bequeathed legacies amounting to £1,200 in addition to his farming business.[1]

Married life

On 4 June 1823, Harriet married her cousin, William Galpin of Yetminster, by licence at Upwey. He was a chandler for the first few years of their marriage and later a farmer. They lived at Yetminster until 1830, when they moved to the hamlet of Woodrow in the parish of Haselbury Bryan. By August 1835, they lived at Leigh, where William was a shopkeeper. In 1838, following the death of her mother, Harriet inherited £150 under the terms of her father’s will.[2]

The dark years

The period from 1837 to 1846 was a dark time for Harriet. Her husband, William, suffered from epilepsy, and his seizures became violent, posing a threat to those around him. In May 1837, Harriet bowed to the inevitable and arranged for William to be admitted as a patient to Forston Asylum, Charminster. There, he found some peace, and the staff noted that he was fond of reading and outdoor recreation.[3]

During William’s absence, Harriet continued to run the shop and care for their nine children. Sadly, two of the children died: George, in June 1838, aged about one, and William Parmenas, on 17 June 1840, at the age of 10, after succumbing to consumption.[4]

After five years in the Forston Asylum, William died on 17 April 1842, aged 44.[5]

Early widowhood

William’s death left Harriet in charge of their seven children, who ranged in age from 6 to 17. Determined to make a fresh start, she relocated to the nearby market town of Sherborne, where by March 1846, she lived in Acreman Street, west of the Abbey. However, her troubles continued, as on 27 March 1846, her son, Thomas, died from an abscess.

In the following four years, four of her children left home. Harriet’s eldest daughter, Mary Jane, went to stay with Harriet’s family at Bincombe, where she married John Loveless, a carpenter, in 1849. Following their marriage, they took a dairy at Bincombe and engaged Mary Jane’s brother, John, as an indoor servant. Meanwhile, two other children, Parmenas and Catherine, found positions in Sherborne: Parmenas as a porter and Catherine as a house servant.[6] Following these departures, Harriet decided to take a position in a village school where she could work alongside her daughter, Harriet, and provide a home for her youngest child, Henry.

Life at Hardington

By March 1851, Harriet and her two children had moved to Hardington Mandeville, where she and her daughter both worked as teachers. Sadly, her daughter died on 22 February 1854 from a lumbar abscess, aged about 27.[7]

During her time at Hardington, Harriet received an unwelcome visitor. On 23 February 1852, Stephen Marsh of Hardington was sentenced to two months hard labour for being on her premises “for an unlawful purpose.”^[8]

While Harriet was living at Hardington, her son, Parmenas, left Sherborne and moved to Beaminster, where by March 1859, he was an ironmonger.

Life at Beaminster

Harriet and Henry joined Parmenas at Beaminster. By April 1861, Harriet was a baker in North Street, employing two boys. Her daughter, Catherine, and son, Henry, worked alongside her in the business.

Death

Harriet died at Beaminster on 27 July 1866, aged 68.[9] Four days later, she was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Beaminster.

Children

William and Harriet Galpin had six sons and three daughters;

Circa 1824- Thomas Reid (worked as an assistant in an inn in Sherborne in 1846; died in 1846);

Circa 1825- Mary Jane (married John Loveless, a carpenter, at Bincombe in 1849; lived at Bincombe and near Southampton; died in 1914);

Circa 1826-Harriet (a teacher at Hardington in the early 1850s; died at Hardington in 1854);

1828- Catherine (married Jabez Prince, a landscape architect at Islington in 1867; lived at Islington and Tunbridge Wells; emigrated to America after 1871);

Circa 1830-William Parmenas (died aged 10);

Circa 1832-Parmenas (married Mary Ellen Frampton at Beaminster in 1859; ironmonger and grocer at Beaminster; died at Crewkerne in 1891);

Circa 1833- John Read (married Sarah Lucy Spencer at Islington in 1860; worked as a barman in London and later a dock labourer in Southampton; died in 1909);

Circa 1835- Henry (married Susan Sly Bolt Wallis at Weymouth in 1866; baker and grocer at Beaminster and later licensed victualer at Frome; died at Bristol in 1896);

Circa 1837-George (died in infancy).

References

[1] The will of William Read, dated 21 May 1827, proved at London on 11 March 1831.

[2] The will of William Read, dated 21 May 1827, proved at London on 11 March 1831.

[3] Dorset Heritage Centre, NG-HH/CMR/4/32A/200.

[4] Death certificate of William Galpin, died 1840.

[5] Death certificate of William Galpin, died 1842.

[6] The 1841 census recorded Catherine, aged 13, in the household of her uncle, Matthew Galpin, at East Pulham.

[7] The Hardington Burial register gives her age as 25 but she was older.

[8] Sherborne Mercury 24 February 1852 p. 2.

The Civil Registration Death Index, burial register, Dorset County Chronicle and memorial inscription recorded her age as 64, but she must have been at least 68 as she was baptised at Upwey on 15 January 1798,

[9] Dorset County Chronicle, 2 August 1866, p.20.