Henry Burt (1865-1928), unemployed baker

Introduction

Henry Burt was one of many young men who left Hardington in search of better opportunities. He began his working life in the traditional craft of baking, moving about thirty miles to Wells. However, when his employer died, he turned to the expanding gas industry. Within a few years, he rose from stoker to foreman, first working in Felixstowe, then briefly at Glastonbury, and finally settling in Colchester, where he spent the rest of his life.

Childhood

Henry was born at Hardington in 1865, the fourth of six children born to Lazarus and Emily Burt. His father was a farm labourer who had lived in the village for most of his life. The family lived in the High Street and, by 1881, ran a small shop. The 1881 census recorded Henry as an unemployed baker at the age of 15.

On 2 May 1884, his mother died after suffering from paralysis for six months.[1] The following year, his father married Caroline Cattle of East Chinnock and took on the licence of the Butcher’s Arms in Yeovil.[2] These events appear to have led to the dispersal of the family.

Wells

By August 1886, Henry had moved to Wells, where he worked for a baker named Samuel Simmons.[3] Henry lived at 13 Tor Street, while the bakery was located at 9 Tor Street.[4] On 11 April 1887, he married Clara Jane Boyce, the daughter of a road labourer, at St Thomas’ Church in Wells. The couple lived at 16 Tor Street, during which time they had eight children. When Samuel Simmonds died on 13 December 1898, Henry lost his job.[5]

Felixstowe

In 1899, the family moved to Felixstowe, Suffolk, where Henry found work as a gas stoker. The reason for this distant move is uncertain. One possible explanation is a connection with Charles Vincent Bennett, who left his position as secretary and manager of the Wells Gas Light Company in June 1899 to take a similar role at the Felixstowe Gas Company.[6] It is possible that Bennett encouraged or recruited Henry to follow him, though no direct evidence survives.

In Felixstowe, Henry and his family lived in a house provided by his employers, and their daughter, Clara Lucy, was born there in February 1900. Their sons, Alfred and Albert, remained at Wells under the care of their grandparents.

Glastonbury

After gaining experience in the gas industry at Felixstowe, Henry soon returned to Somerset to take a position as a foreman at the Glastonbury gasworks. His daughter, Beatrice Annie, was born at 55 Northload Street, Glastonbury, on 16 November 1901.[7]

Colchester

The family’s stay at Glastonbury was short-lived. By late 1903, they had relocated to Colchester, where Henry secured a post as a foreman at the town’s gasworks in the riverside district known as the Hythe. By April 1911, the family was living in a seven-room house at 19 Hythe Quay, beside the River Colne. Between 1903 and 1911, Henry and Clara had four more children, although their first child in this period died at the age of one.

In 1908, their son, Walter, enlisted in the Coldstream Guards.[8] After three years’ service, he was discharged and joined the Yorkshire Police.[9] On 5 July 1915, he enlisted in the Yorkshire Regiment and was wounded the following year.[10]

Death

Henry continued working at the gasworks until at least the 1920s. He died on 16 April 1928 at the age of 62, leaving an estate valued at £480 1s 8d— a modest but respectable sum for a skilled industrial worker. His last address was 20 Alderton Road.[11]

After his death, Clara moved to 33 Wilson Marriage Road, where she lived with her daughter, Clara and son, Stanley. She died in 1943 at the age of 78.