Introduction

Henry Baker spent his entire working life in twine and web factories. He lived with his parents in Hardington Moor from the 1880s until about 1893. His wife, Susan, passed away from tuberculosis in 1899, and he never remarried. By June 1921, both Henry and his only daughter, Ellen, were employed at Drake’s twine and web factory at East Coker.

Early life at East Coker

Henry was born at East Coker in about March 1867, the sixth child of Charles and Frances Baker.

His father, Charles, was born at West Coker and his mother, Frances Adella Voizey, was born at East Chinnock. They married at West Coker on 10 July 1853 and lived at Coker Hill for a few years before moving to Burton, East Coker, between June 1856 and February 1857.

Charles Baker worked in the Coker weaving industry. In April 1861, he was a labourer in a sailcloth factory; in April 1871, he was a yarn sorter in April 1871, and by April 1881, he had become a sacking weaver.

Move to Hardington

By 1889, Charles and his family had moved to Hardington Moor, where they lived in a cottage owned by Thomas Guppy.^[1] In April 1891, Charles was a web weaver. In about 1893, he moved to West Coker, where he died in January 1895, aged 59.[2]

Early working life

Henry worked in twine and web factories for his entire working life. He was a twine labourer by the age of 14 and, ten years later, a twine spinner.

Marriage

On 1 April 1895, Henry married Susan Genge at West Coker. Susan was the daughter of Edward Genge, a farm labourer, and his wife, Maria. Before her marriage, Susan was a domestic servant for Samuel George Bartlett at Coker Hill Farm.

Susan had an illegitimate son, Edward Henry, born in 1886. Maria, her mother, cared for him until her death in 1896.

After their marriage, Henry and Susan settled at West Coker.

Birth of a daughter

Henry and Susan’s only child, Ellen Mabel, was born at West Coker on 7 January 1897.

Wife’s death

Susan died from tuberculosis at West Coker on 8 December 1899, aged 30.[3]

Widowhood

In March 1901, Henry was web weaver living in Chur Lane, West Coker, with his four-year-old daughter, Ellen; his mother, Frances; his nephew, Frank; and his stepson, Henry Genge, who was 15 at that time.

Henry’s mother, Frances, died in 1904, aged 73.

In April 1911, Henry was living alone as a girth web weaver at Hew Hill, East Coker, while, Ellen was employed as a servant in a house in St Michael’s Road, Yeovil.

Ellen married Frank Marsh in 1920, and by June 1921, Henry lived with them at Midlawns, West Coker.

In September 1939, Henry may have been an inmate in a public assistance institution in Yeovil, a place that provided care for the elderly and those in need. He died in about 1941, aged 73.

References

[1] Hardington voters’ lists; guardian valuation lists.

[2] Hardington voters’ lists; West Coker burial register.

[3] Death certificate of Susan Baker.