Job Taylor was a blacksmith in the High Street from about 1845 to 1869.

Childhood at Corscombe

Job Taylor was born at Corscombe in about 1820. He was the fourth child of Thomas Taylor, a farm labourer, and his wife, Elizabeth.

In June 1841, Job was an apprentice blacksmith, living at home with his parents.

Life at Hardington

On 11 August 1845, Job married Dinah Ingram, the granddaughter of a farmer named John Genge, at Hardington. Dinah’s father had been a ship’s carpenter, and her mother, Sarah, had sometimes travelled with him. Dinah was born in Bristol, and her sister, Elizabeth, was born in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.

In 1832, Dinah’s mother inherited £100 from her uncle, Abraham Genge, of Forteau Bay, Labrador.[1]

In March 1846, Job was accused of stealing tools from a carpenter named Peter Hodges and spent a short time in prison before being acquitted of the crime.[2] The prison register describes him as five feet six inches tall, with a sallow complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and two small scars on his right cheek.[3]

Five years later, more misfortune befell the family when, in May 1851, Job’s wife, Dinah, died aged only 27 and then two months later, their eldest child, Emily, died aged only 4.

For about fifteen years, Job brought up his two remaining children, Hugh and John, with the help of his mother-in-law.

In 1857, Job was in trouble with the law again. On 21 August 1857, he was summoned by Sarah Delamont for assaulting her.^[4] The magistrates decided that the assault was proved, but that there had been great provocation. They imposed a fine of 1s and costs.

Second marriage

Then, Job’s life took a new course when he decided to re-marry. The ceremony took place at St Mary Lambeth on 17 May 1864, and his new wife was Mary Babb, a waistcoat maker who worked for her father in his tailoring business at 2 Tenison Street and who was raised in Exeter before her family moved to London in the 1850s. Job was forty-four and Mary thirty-two. How Job came to meet his new wife is unknown.

Job had six children with his new wife, three being born at Hardington.

After his second marriage Job spent a further five years at Hardington. Then on 20 December 1869, Job organised a sale of sale of his effects in readiness to leave the village.[5]

Later life

Job and his family have not yet been found on the 1871 census. A son, Albert, was born at Compton Dundon in 1872, which is presumably where they lived at that time. By February 1875 they had moved to Street, which became their permanent home. In April 1881 their address was Mead, Street.

Job worked as an employee rather than in his own business. In February 1875, he was a fitter. Then from November 1880, if not earlier, possibly up until his death, he was a blacksmith.

From December 1876 up until the end of 1886, Job was fined numerous times for neglecting to send his children to school. In November 1886, Job told the court that his wife was of weak intellect, and he kept the children at home to look after her. He was advised to get someone to look after her or get her placed in an asylum.[6]

In November 1880, Job’s eight-year-old son, Albert, suffered severe burns to his face when he accidentally ignited some gunpowder stored in the family. kitchen.[7]

In October 1888, Mary died, aged 56.[8]

In April 1891, Job lived in the High Street with three sons and one daughter.

Job died on 25 April 1899, aged about 79.[9]

Both Job and Mary were buried at Street.

References

[1] The will of Abraham Genge, dated 23 September 1830, proved in London on 17 December 1832.

[2] Somerset Heritage Centre, Q/SR/549/22.

[3] England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 

[4] Sherborne Mercury 25 August 1857, p.5.

[5] Western Gazette, 10 December 1869, p.4.

[6] Western Chronicle, 3 December 1886, p.8.

[7] Wells Journal, 11 November 1880, p.8.

[8] The Civil Registration Birth Index recorded her age as 51.

[9] Wells Journal, 4 May 1899, p.5. This death notice gave his age as 71.