Birth

 James, the fourth child of Richard and Elizabeth Purchase, was born at Haselbury in about 1804.

Marriage

On 15 April 1830, he married Elizabeth Rendell at North Perrott. She was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Anna Rendell and the sister of Adam Rendell.

Occupation

After his marriage, James occupied a farm at Hardington Marsh owned by Henry Legg of Burton Bradstock. This farm was later named Grove Farm.

The 1841 census recorded James as a yeoman. Rebecca Brown, 14, of Haselbury, was a servant at the farm.

The tithe survey shows James as the owner-occupier of a small orchard and the occupier of two small plots owned by Lord Ilchester.

Parish offices

James was an overseer in 1835 and 1836.[1]

Moulton’s Farm, Haselbury

James moved to Moulton’s Farm, Haselbury, in the 1840s.[2]

Death

On 25 October 1850, James made his will, which refers to him and his family being about to emigrate to America and the risk of them all drowning. As this will was proved in London on 19 April 1851, it suggests that they did not make it. Family stories say they survived the Atlantic crossing but lost their lives as they made their way to their final destination of Paducah, Kentucky, drowning when a riverboat sank either on the Mississippi or Ohio River.[3]

James’s son, George

James’s son, George, did not travel with the rest of his family. He married Mary Cleal, a labourer’s daughter, at Haselbury on Christmas Eve 1850, and the couple lived in Haselbury when the 1851 census was taken three months later. By January 1856, they had emigrated to Kentucky.[4]

On the death of his grandmother, Mary Anna Rendell, in 1873, George inherited £60 from his grandfather, Thomas Rendell, and the whole of his father’s estate.[5] George died at Paducah, Kentucky, on 28 October 1901.

Children

James and Elizabeth had seven sons and one daughter. Their daughter and two of their sons died in infancy. Another four sons died on the way to Kentucky.

The will of James Purchase of Molton’s [sic] Farm, Haselbury Plucknett

“…but shortly shall emigrate for America and considering the perils and dangers of the seas and other uncertainties of this transitory life do this twenty fifth day of October one thousand eight hundred and fifty make publish and declare this my last Will and Testament…”

Executors: Joseph Purchase of Crewkerne, Adam Rendell of Whitevine Farm, Hardington Mandeville, and my son, John Purchase.

To my executors: all my estate upon trust for my dear wife, Elizabeth, to enjoy during her life, and then to divide the same or the money between my dear children share and share alike. If my wife marries again, the income of my trust estate shall be for the maintenance of my wife and my children until her death when it shall be divided as aforesaid. If my son, George, remains in England and if we are all drowned, my wish is that he should not reap any benefit from my trust estate until after the death of his grandfather and grandmother. If he comes with us, he will be entitled to an equal share.

If we are all drowned at sea in going out to America, I declare my will to be that the income of my trust estate be paid to my wife’s parents, Thomas and Marinna Rendall, during their life, and then, if George is dead, to be divided as to one half to my brothers and sisters in equal shares and one half to my wife’s brothers and sisters in equal shares.

If we arrive safely in America, the section of my will contingent on our drowning shall be void.

Wit: George Smith, Robert Sealy.[6]

References

[1] Hardington jury lists.

[2] James is recorded on the Hardington voters’ lists of 1832 to 1841 as a renter above £50 per annum and the Hardington jury lists from 1830 to 1841. He is recorded on the Haselbury voters’ lists from 1842 to 1851.

[3] Information attached to an ancestry.com family tree.

[4] Their son, James William, was born in Kentucky on 15 January 1856.

[5] The will of Thomas Rendell, dated 11 January 1864, proved in London on 29 December 1864; the will of James Purchase, dated 25 October 1850, proved in London on 19 April 1851.

[6] The will of James Purchase, dated 25 October 1850, proved in London on 19 April 1851.