Birth

John, the first child of Roger and Edith Eastment, was born at Hardington in about 1776.

Marriage

On 23 May 1815, John married Hester Apsey at Hardington by licence.

Hester was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Apsey and the sister of Dorcas Apsey.

In her will dated 19 May 1843, Dorcas Apsey referred to leasehold lands held with her sisters, Jane Haggett and Hester Eastment, widow.[1]

Occupation

John was a farmer until 1830.

Inheritances

In 1818, John inherited 1s from his uncle, Dennis Eastment.[2] This uncle may have believed that leaving John a single shilling ensured he could not challenge his will in court as an oversight.

In 1821, John was his mother’s sole executor. She left him her interest in a house and orchard called Toby’s Plot in Hardington Moor and other personal estate which she was entitled to under her husband’s will or otherwise.[3]

Parish offices

In 1828, John was a churchwarden and tithingman.[4]

Witness

John witnessed the will of William Strode on 8 November 1824 and Elizabeth Bartlett on 16 August 1828.

Gillingham

On Thursday, 15 April 1830, an auctioneer named Wainwright held a sale of live and dead farming stock at John’s farm at Hardington Marsh because John was quitting.^[5]

John and Hester had one daughter, Tamar, born in about 1818. In 1839, she married Henry Stickland in or near Shaftesbury. The 1841 census shows John and Hester living with Henry and Tamar at Wavering Lane, Gillingham.

The Hardington tithe survey recorded John as the occupier of two small plots and a house and garden (number 421) owned by the Earl of Ilchester and two small plots owned by John Whebby. The house and garden were in Swins Lane.

Death

John died at Gillingham in September 1842, and his body was taken to Hardington for burial.

Hester’s later life

Between April 1848 and April 1850, Hester returned to Hardington with her daughter, son-in-law and their children. She died in the Yeovil district in 1854, aged about 77. However, her burial is not recorded in the Hardington burial register.

References

[1] The will of Dorcas Apsey, dated 19 May 1843, proved at Wells on 10 February 1846.

[2] The will of Dennis Farnham of Hardington, yeoman, dated 3 June 1815, proved at Wells on 30 March 1818.

[3] The will of Edith Eastment, dated 14 September 1820, proved at Wells on 5 March 1821.

[4] Hardington jury lists.

[5] Sherborne Mercury 5 April 1830 p. 4.