Introduction

 After many years as a dairyman and later farmer, John Purchase entered the pub trade in the 1840s. He was probably involved in running beerhouses at Hardington and Corscombe, and definitely ran inns at Bradford Abbas and Montacute. In their later years, John and his wife lived with their daughter, Edith, in an inn at Llandenny, Monmouthshire.

Birth

John was born at Haselbury in about 1791, the fourth of twelve children born to Richard and Elizabeth Purchase.

Marriage

On 2 February 1826, John married Charlotte Willmont at Haselbury by banns. Charlotte, the daughter of John and Sarah Willmott, was born in Crewkerne in 1797.

Chedington

By December 1826, John was a dairyman at Chedington.

East Coker

By April 1828, John was a farmer at Lyatts, East Coker. However, he took his children to Hardington Church for baptism.

In August 1837, the seventy-acre farm was advertised as available to let for seven years.[1] John appears to have submitted the winning bid as he was still farming there in June 1841.

Tithe survey

The tithe survey recorded John as the owner-occupier of a house near Vassall’s Corner. This property was occupied by David Marsh from 1845 to 1847, by John Purchase Jr. in 1848, and by Edward Hopkins from 1850 to 1855. Throughout this period, it was a beerhouse. John sold the property by auction on 17 April 1855.[2]

Innkeeper

John and his family left Lyatts Farm in about 1845. They lived at Corscombe from 1846 to 1847, Bradford Abbas from 1847 to 1850 and Montacute from 1850 to 1855.[3]

Monmouthshire

In the 1850s, John’s daughter, Edith, and her family moved to Llandenny, Monmouthshire, where her husband, William Purchase Haggett, combined working as a butcher with being a publican. He ran the Crown Inn and later the Raglan Arms.

By April 1861, John and Charlotte lived with Edith and her family.

Death

John died on 11 April 1861, at the age of 70, probably at the Crown Inn.[4] Charlotte died on 13 March 1887, at the age of 89, probably at the Raglan Arms.

Children

John and Charlotte had three sons and four daughters. Four children emigrated to Australia: Charlotte and Walter in the 1840s and Richard and Jane in the 1850s.

The other three children remained in England or Wales and became involved in the pub trade, at least briefly. John was an innkeeper at Bradford Abbas when he married Elizabeth Genge, the daughter of Abraham Genge; Edith married her cousin William Purchase Haggett, and together they ran pubs at Llandenny; and Alice married John Shutler, and together they ran the Red Lion at Bower Hinton.

References

[1] Dorset County Chronicle, 27 August 1835, p.1.

[2] Sherborne Mercury, 10 April 1855, p.2.

[3] Hardington voters’ lists; Sherborne Mercury, 29 May 1847, p.4; 13 August 1850, p.4.

[4] Usk Observer, 20 April 1861, p.1.