Introduction

John Delamont was a farm labourer at Hardington. His life was filled with sadness and misfortune. As a teenager, he was convicted of theft and assault. Later in life, he had to endure the tragic death of his youngest daughter, the mental decline and suicide of his wife, and the confinement of his oldest daughter in a mental hospital.

Birth

John was born at Hardington in 1858, the first of six children born to Charles and Mercy Delamont. His father, Charles, was a farm labourer.

Teenage crimes

When he was sixteen, John succumbed to temptation and stole a small box containing £1 5s from John Farnham’s house, where he had been receving meals. When P C Hawkins apprehended him, John confessed to the crime. A Yeovil magistrate committed him for trial.^[1] At the Quarter Sessions, he was sentenced to three months imprisonment.^[2]

His time in prison may have brutalised him. Two years later, John roughly handled a drunken labourer out of the pub and then punched him on the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. The Yeovil magistrates fined him 1s with costs.^[3]

Occupations

In April 1881, John was a labourer living in his parents’ home at Broadstone. By April 1891, he was a land drainer. In March 1901, he managed cattle on a farm. In April 1911, John was a farm labourer. In June 1921, he was a general labourer employed by Thomas Voizey.

Marriage

In 1883, John married Edith Purchase of Hardington. She was the youngest daughter of William Purchase, the landlord of the White Horse beer house.

Residence

John and Edith established their home at Broadstone.

In October 1920, Edith occupied the middle cottage at Broadstone Cottages on a monthly tenancy. In the estate sale, it was purchased by someone named C Gillim for £160.

By June 1921, John and Edith lived at Hill End.

Edith’s suicide

By 1922, Edith was experiencing mental problems. She suffered from delusions and severe headaches. On 22 April, she tragically took her life by hanging herself from a rafter in the house.[4] She was 63 years old.

John’s death

John left Hardington after Edith’s death. He died in the Wincanton Workhouse on 3 April 1929, due to chronic nephritis and cardiac failure, at the age of 70.[5]

Children

John and Edith had three daughters: Sarah Elizabeth, Frances and Annie. By February 1910, Sarah Elizabeth was in service at The White House, Ashstead, Surrey, while Annie was in service at 14 South Cliff Avenue, Eastbourne. Unfortunately, on 24 February 1910, Annie, who was 21 years old, fell ill with pneumonia. Although Sarah Elizabeth travelled to be with her as soon as she could, the illness resulted in heart failure just four days later.[6] By June 1921, Sarah Elizabeth was a patient at Tone Vale Mental Hospital, where she remained for the rest of her life, passing away in 1967 at the age of 82. Frances was the only daughter who married.

References

[1] Western Gazette 11 June 1875 p.5.

[2] Western Gazette 2 July 1875 p. 6.

[3] Western Gazette 9 February 1877 p.7.

[4] Western Chronicle, 28 April 1922, p.3.

[5] Death certificate of John Delamont.

[6] Death certificate of Annie Delamont.