Introduction

John Roberts Dowell was the son of the schoolmaster of Toller Porcorum. He may have served in the army as a young man. After marrying the daughter of a former woodsman in 1846, he worked as a journeyman blacksmith at Chilfrome, East Chelborough and Hardington. He and his family lived at Hardington from the early 1850s until the early 1860s. Towards the end of this period, John became a master blacksmith. In 1875, he succumbed to a long-standing disease, probably contracted while abroad.

Childhood

John was born at Toller Porcorum in about 1816, the first of seven children born to John and Hannah Dowell. His father, John Dowell, was the village schoolmaster, and his mother, Hannah, was the daughter of John Galpin and Susannah Roberts.

By June 1841, John had left home, but he has not been found on the 1841 census. Given the nature of the disease that eventually killed him, it is possible he served abroad with the army or navy.

Marriage

At around thirty years of age, John worked at Closworth, where he met Caroline Patten, a servant. Caroline was born at Pendomer in about 1821, the daughter of John and Charlotte Patten. Her father, John, had been a woodsman at Pendomer during the 1820s. John and Caroline married at Closworth on 19 February 1846.

Closworth, Chilfrome and East Chelborough

Following their marriage, John and Caroline continued to live at Closworth for a short time. While he may have worked as a journeyman blacksmith, the marriage and baptism registers describe him as a labourer.

By June 1849, John was a blacksmith at Chilfrome, where his brother, George, was a dairyman.

In 1851 and 1852, John was a blacksmith at East Chelborough.

Hardington

By June 1855, John and his family were living at Hardington Marsh in a house owned by Michael Mudford. Initially, John worked as a journeyman blacksmith, possibly for Job Taylor.[1] However, by December 1860, he had become a master blacksmith.[2]

Intriguingly, when John’s daughter, Mary Ann Charlotte Dowell, was baptised at Hardington on 9 October 1859, John’s occupation was recorded as “Engine Driver,” which may refer to his operation of an agricultural traction engine.

John and his family probably left Hardington in about 1862.[3]

Wraxall

By April 1871, John was a blacksmith at Wraxall.

Death

It is possible that John lived with the bacterium that causes leprosy for more than thirty years. Although he appears not to have sought medical help until about May 1875, the disease probably manifested itself earlier. He died at Frome St Quintin on 26 November 1875 at the age of 59.[4]

Caroline’s later life

Following John’s death, Caroline remained at Frome St Quintin, earning a living as a laundress. By April 1881, all their children had left home, and she shared her house with a lodger named John Miles, a carter from Evershot who was twenty-one years her junior. He had been married before and had a daughter named Alice, who later came to live with him and Caroline.[5]

Caroline married John in the second quarter of 1881. By April 1891, they had moved to Mudford, where Caroline’s brother, Robert, worked as a gamekeeper. John found work as a cowman on a farm. Caroline died at the Dairy House, Upper Mudford, in January 1903 at the age of 81. John Miles died three years later.

Children

John and Caroline had six children:

1847- Mary Frances (died at Weymouth in 1873);

1849-Sophia Roberts (married Benjamin Legg, a farm labourer, in 1871; resided in various places in Dorset and Wilshire; died in 1934);

1852- Susan Galpn (married George Loader, a baker, in 1875; resided at Sherborne; died in 1921);

1855- George (became a tailor at Sherborne and later the manager of the Digby Tap; married Eliza Mullins in about 1875; died in 1932);

1859-Mary Ann Charlotte (married Henry Pauley, a farm labourer; resided at Melbury Osmond; died in 1946);

1860- Fanny (may have married Robert Charles Gibson in 1880 and moved to Ireland).

References

[1] Birth certificates of John’s children, George and Mary Ann.

[2] Birth certificate of George’s daughter, Fanny.

[3] Hardington Guardian Valuation Lists.

[4] Death registered Dorchester, Q4 1875.

[5] The 1871 census recorded him as married, but he lived alone. On the 1881 census, the space for his marital status is left blank.