John Hallett was a thatcher at Oil Moor from the 1830s to 1857.

John was born in Hardington in about 1811. He was the eldest son of John, a weaver, and his wife, Rachel.

On 23 December 1834, John married Elizabeth Dalimount at Hardington. In 1843, they lived in the house at Moor, which Miss Ethel Purchase later owned. John also occupied an allotment in Oil Moor.

On 25 September 1847, John and his wife were charged with assaulting Peter Hodges, the village schoolmaster. They objected to the beating Hodges had doled out to one of their children for misbehaving in church. The Magistrates ordered them to pay the costs and dismissed the case.[1]

John died in February 1857, aged 46.

Later life of John’s widow

In 1861, Elizabeth, now a widow, married Henry Burt, a shoemaker from Odcombe. Henry died in 1885, aged 80; Elizabeth died in 1888, aged 80.

 In 1872, John Hallett’s youngest daughter married Giles Hutchings, who a few years later was convicted of killing P. C. Nathaniel Cox.

References

[1] Sherborne Mercury 2 October 1847 p. 3.