Introduction
James Rendell’s life can be divided into three phases: his early years as a twine worker at West Coker, his career as a newsagent at Hardington Moor and his later life as a smallholder in North Lane, Hardington. His time as a newsagent is particularly significant as it coincided with the increasing demand for newspapers from a more literate population, driven by compulsory schooling. This period also saw the bicycle become a popular mode of transport. Additionally, his smallholding offers insight into the viability of small farming operations in the post-World War I era, ultimately helping his son move to a larger farm.
Childhood in West Coker
James Rendell was born at West Coker on 4 September 1866, the fifth of eight children born to William and Eunice Rendell, although one sibling died in infancy.[1] His father worked as a twine finisher in a local factory, while his mother was a glover. In 1871, the family lived at 28 Duck Street, and by 1881, they had moved to 132 West Coker village.[2]
James’ upbringing, therefore, took place in a working family dependent on local industry rather than on land. By the age of fourteen, he had followed his father into the twine industry. By 1891, he had left West Coker, although he has not been identified with certainty in that year’s census.
Marriage and Family
James returned to West Coker and married Louisa Newberry on 26 March 1894. He was twenty-seven and unemployed, while Louisa was twenty-two.[3]
Louisa had been born in 1871 at Stepney, the daughter of James Newberry, a police constable in the Metropolitan Police’s Whitechapel Division.[4] On his retirement in 1879, he returned to the West Country with his family, settling at Odcombe.[5] Louisa’s background, therefore, combined eight years in the East End of London with a later move to Somerset.
James and Louisa had eleven children, though the first child died in infancy.[6]
Hardington Moor and the Newspaper Trade
James and Louisa settled in a four-room house at Hardington Moor.
In June 1896, the Western Gazette advertised for an agent to sell the Western Gazette and Pulman’s Weekly News in West Coker, Odcombe, East Chinnock and Hardington.[7] It is possible that James secured the position, as he is listed as a newsagent in both the 1901 and 1911 censuses, with the 1901 census specifically designating him as a worker.[8] He was the only newsagent listed in all of the village’s census returns, so in that sense he occupied a small but distinctive niche within the village economy. The work would have been physically demanding, requiring early-morning starts and a great deal of walking, although he may have used a bicycle as well.
The First World War brought tragedy to the family. Their son George William enlisted at Taunton on 1 January 1917 and transferred to the Royal Marine Light Infantry five days later. He was sent to Flanders and was killed in action on 6 November 1917 at the age of nineteen.[9]
North Lane, Hardington Mandeville
A significant change in James’s circumstances occurred with the sale of Viscount Portman’s Hardington estate in 1920. He purchased several lots that together formed a smallholding.
He acquired Lot 76, which included a four-bedroomed house, stable, cart house, piggery, fowl house, a field of 3 acres 2 roods and 24 perches and a coppice of 2 acres, 3 roods 34 perches, for £270. He also purchased lot 74, a field of 6 acres 2 roods 16 perches, for £120, and lot 69, a field of 2 acres 0 roods 24 perches, for £95.[10] Together, these purchases provided him with a modest but workable holding of house, buildings and land.
A Smallholder at North Lane Farm
From his new home, James carried on the business of poultry farmer, market gardener and general dealer.[11] The buildings and land attached to the property were suited to this kind of mixed smallholding, allowing him to combine modest agricultural production with local trading.
For a man who began his working life in factory employment, acquiring a smallholding represented a step towards a more independent livelihood. The holding also provided an opportunity for his son Percival, who later developed the enterprise before moving to a much larger farm.
Death of James Rendell
James’s new venture as a smallholder was cut short when he died on 6 February 1922, at the age of fifty-five, from valvular disease.[12] Probate valued his estate at £370 8s 7d, which was less than the purchase price of the property, suggesting potential borrowing, although the exact financial details remain unclear.[13] He left his estate to his wife for her lifetime or until her remarriage, with the remainder to be divided equally among their surviving children.
Louisa Rendell and the Later Years
After her husband’s death, Louisa continued to live at the property. Their son Percival took over the smallholding business and ran it for fourteen years.[14] In 1933, he married Elizabeth Mary George, the daughter of Albert Sidney George of Barrows Dairy Farm, East Chinnock.[15] Three years later, they moved to Lexhayne Farm, a holding of 107 acres at Shute, which became available to let from Lady Day 1936.[16]
Percival held his sale at Hardington on 29 January 1936. The sale notice referred to the smallholding as North Lane Farm. The livestock offered for sale included six Shorthorn and Cross-bred dairy cows, a cart horse, a mare, 13 pigs and about 100 head of poultry. Also included were a spring wagon, an Enfield motorcycle, dairy utensils, hay and mangolds.[17] This sale gives a rare glimpse of the scale of the enterprise that had developed on the holding.
The other children also gradually left home, and the household became smaller over time.
The family experienced further tragedy during the Second World War. Louisa’s son Cyril was killed as a civilian during the German bombing raid on Yeovil on 7 October 1940.[18] Henry George Langdon, who had become part of the household, later died while serving as a gunner in the Royal Artillery at Wanstead on 15 August 1944.[19]
Louisa died intestate on 13 August 1948 at the age of seventy-six. Her estate was valued at £405 7s 1d, and administration was granted to her sons Edward and Percival.[20] Following her death, the property was sold by auction in three lots on 9 June 1950.[21]
Conclusion
James Rendell’s life does not display dramatic social mobility, but it does reveal a modest upward step within the rural economy. Beginning as a factory worker in the twine industry of West Coker, he later established himself at Hardington Moor and eventually acquired a smallholding of his own. Although he held the property for only a short time before his death in 1922, it remained the centre of the family’s life for nearly three decades. His experience therefore illustrates both the possibilities and the fragility of modest advancement among working families in rural Somerset during the early twentieth century. The smallholding he acquired in 1920, though held by him for only a short time, provided the basis from which the next generation was able to move into larger-scale farming.
References
[1] West Coker baptism register; family reconstitution.
[2] RG10, West Coker, ED3, piece 2410, folio 57, p.40; RG11, West Coker, ED3, piece 2389, folio 51, p.38.
[3] West Coker marriage register.
[4] Civil registration birth index; 1939 Register; RG10, Odcombe, ED4, piece 2389, folio 58, p.6.
[5] Metropolitan Police Pension Registers, 1852-1932.
[6] Civil registration birth index; civil registration death index.
[7] Western Gazette 26 June 1896 p. 4.
[8] RG13, Hardington Mandeville, ED4, piece 2297, folio 47, p.13; RG14, Hardington Manddeville, ED4, piece 14381.
[9] ADM 159/146/1993.
[10] Copy of estate sale catalogue in the author’s possession.
[11] RG15, Hardington Mandeville, ED5, schedule 53; the will of James Rendell, dated 18 November 1921, proved in Taunton on 11 May 1922; the death certificate of James Rendell.
[12] The death certificate of James Rendell.
[13] The will of James Rendell, dated 18 November 1921, proved in Taunton on 11 May 1922.
[14] Kelly’s Directory of Somerset, 1935, p.255.
[15] Civil registration marriage index; R15, East Chinnock, ED2, schedule 2; Kelly’s Directory of Somerset, 1935, p. 168.
[16] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 13 September 1935, p.5; Western Gazette, 27 March 1936, p.8; 1939 Register.
[17] Western Gazette, 17 January 1936, p.1.
[18] Death certificate of Cyril Henry Rendell; the Yeovil Virtual Museum website.
[19] Death certificate of Henry George Langdon.
[20] National probate calendar.
[21] Western Gazette, 26 May 1950, p.1.
