Introduction
Jeremiah Rendell spent his entire life in Hardington, where he married and raised a large family. In addition to caring for thirteen children, he and his wife supported two illegitimate granddaughters and various other family members, helping them avoid or delay admission to the workhouse.
Birth
Jeremiah was born at Hardington in about 1819, the fifth of six children born to William and Anne Rendell. His father was a weaver and later a farm labourer. His mother, Ann, probably came from Queen Camel.
Marriage
On 10 October 1840, Jeremiah married Anne Delamont at Hardington. She was the daughter of Charles Delamont, a weaver, and his wife, Mary (nee Hood).
Occupations
Jeremiah was a weaver until the 1860s, when he became a farm labourer. The 1881 census recorded him as a drainer—a specialised form of farm work.
Anne was a weaver until the 1860s, too. The 1891 census recorded her as a laundress.
Residences
Jeremiah and his family initially lived at Hill End. By April 1861, they had moved to a house near the church, and by April 1881, they had returned to Hill End. The 1891 census identified their house as 378 Hill End.
Family deaths
The family experienced significant child mortality in the 1850s, with three daughters dying before the age of five: Rebecca passed away in November 1852 at 11 months; Mary Rebecca died in February 1858 at age 4; and Sarah Ann died in April 1858 at age 2.
Support for relatives
Jeremiah and Ann’s home was a bustling place, with six children at home at the time of the 1851 census and seven at the time of the 1861 census. In addition, they shared their home with members of their extended family, in some cases saving them from the workhouse, at least for a time.
Jeremiah’s sister, Mary Anne Purchase, and her two daughters, Sarah and Ellen, lived with his family after she was widowed in 1843, staying until she entered the workhouse in the 1850s.[1]
Their daughter, Ann Elizabeth, died in 1871, aged 25, from smallpox, leaving an illegitimate daughter, Ada Mary, to be brought up by Jeremiah and Anne.[2] Their daughter, Sarah Ann, also had an illegitimate daughter, Gertrude Mary, whom they helped raise.[3]
Tom Abbott lived with them for a time after marrying their daughter, Mercy, in 1878.
Their oldest daughter, Susan, returned home from Corscombe after the death of her husband, Israel Case, in 1885. She lived there for a few years before entering the Yeovil workhouse, where she died on 7 January 1894 from apoplexy, aged 52.[4]
Jeremiah’s 45-year-old nephew, Harry Rendell, living with the family.
Death
Anne died in 1892, aged 73; Jeremiah died in 1896, aged 77.
Children
Jeremiah and Anne had nine sons and four daughters. Their sons included Ephraim, born in 1842 and Edward, born in about 1848.
References
[1] Mary Anne Purchase died in the Yeovil workhouse in 1855.
[2] Death certificate of Elizabeth Rendell; cause of death not certified.
[3] Sarah Ann’s daughter, Gertrude Mary, has not been found after 1891.
[4] Death certificate of Susan Case.
The 1891 census shows
