Introduction
John Park was a thatcher at Hardington from the 1860s to the 1890s. His youngest son, William, began working with him after finishing school. John and his wife had eight children; however, tragically, one passed away in infancy, and four others died in their twenties.
Birth
John was born at Hardington in about 1820, the second of two illegitimate children born to Mary Park. His older sister, Ann, married Henry Bartlett in 1845.
Mary was probably the widow of Phineas Park, who appears to have died well before Ann’s birth, although no record of his death has been found. Mary lived with John until her death in 1864 at the age of 82 or 83.[1]
Marriage
On 11 January 1840, John married Elizabeth Purchase at Hardington. At that time. John was about 20 years old, and Elizabeth was about 21. Both signed the marriage register.
Elizabeth was the daughter of George and Lucy Purchase. Her father, George, was a farm labourer.
Residence
John and Elizabeth lived near the church. On the 1891 census, their home was called Park’s Cottage.
By March 1851, George and Lucy Purchase lived next door.
Occupation
John was a sailcloth weaver until the 1860s, when he became a thatcher. His youngest son, William, later became a thatcher as well.
Family structure
John and Elizabeth had eight children, one of whom died in infancy. Their eldest son, Thomas, was the first to marry, doing so in 1860. By April 1871, their two daughters, Elizabeth and Emily, were working in domestic service in London, while George was a footman at Westbury-on-Trym. During the 1870s, John became an assistant in an insane asylum at Fisherton Anger, and Samuel became a police constable in the Frome area. William remained at home, working with his father, while Elizabeth eventually became their housekeeper.
A litany of death
John had to endure the anguish of three of his children returning home to die: Emily in 1874 from tuberculosis, George in 1880 from a liver and kidney disorder, and John in 1883 from heart disease and tuberculosis.[2] As if that was not enough grief for one family to bear, John’s son, Samuel, died from a tragic accident in 1881. A few months after leaving the police force, he returned home one evening after a day spent in the harvest fields. As he was following his wife upstairs to bed at about 9.45, she leading the way carrying the lamp, he toppled backwards and fell ten feet to the bottom of the stairs. The fall fractured his skull, causing his death the following evening.[3]
Yet one more child died in John’s lifetime. His oldest son, Thomas, died of heart disease on 29 October 1897 at the age of 51.[4]
Gardener
John was a keen gardener. In May 1895, a local newspaper contained a short report on his garden: “Potatoes and peas in bloom and strawberries ready for the table may already be seen in the garden of Mr. Park, who lives near the church.”[5]
Elizabeth died on 14 August 1890, at the age of 70, and John died on 30 August 1897, at the age of 77.[6]
Children
John and Elizabeth had eight children:
1840- Thomas (became a farm labourer and later a roadman; married Elizabeth Wakely in 1860; resided at Hardington; died in 1891);
1844- Elizabeth (became housekeeper to her father and brother; married Charles Milton in 1907);
1847- George (died in infancy);
1849- Emily (worked in Kensington as a domestic servant; died at Hardington in 1874);
1851- George (worked as a footman at Westbury; died at Hardington in 1880);
1853- John (worked at Fisherton Anger asylum; died at Hardington in 1883);
1855- Samuel (became a policeman; married Ellen Esther Weaver in 1873; died at Westbury in 1881 after falling backwards downstairs);
Circa 1859- William (worked at Hardington as a thatcher; married Fanny Kate Elliott in 1907; died in 1915).
References
[1] Civil Registration Death Index; age 83; Hardington burial register: age 82.
[2] Death certificate of Emily Park; death certificate of George Park; death certificate of John Park.
[3] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 10 September 1881, p.8.
[4] Death certificate of Thomas Park.
[5] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 22 May 1895, p. 6.
[6] Western Gazette, 22 August 1890, p.8; Weymouth Telegram, 7 September 1897, p.1.
