Introduction

Joshua Perry was a coachman who worked at Hardington Rectory and Whitelackington before settling in Bath. He and his wife faced much sadness and grief during their lives. After they had been in Bath for five years, both their young daughters died from scarlet fever. In the 1880s, he and his wife retired to Clapham to be near their only remaining child, William, but he died in 1890, aged only 31. Their only grandchild also died nine years later. Despite these traumatic events, Joshua lived to be 77 years old, while Eliza lived to be 102.

Early life

Joshua was born at Dowlish Wake in about 1824. His father, William, was a farm labourer.

Initially, Joshua followed in his father’s footsteps, as the 1841 census recorded him as a farm labourer. However, by March 1851, he had entered domestic service, working as a coachman at Hardington Rectory.

Within a year or two, he moved on to work as a servant at Whitelackington. On 29 June 1853, he married Eliza Trump, who was also a servant.

Move to Bath

Joshua and Eliza moved to Bath, where they lived for about thirty years. Their addresses during this time included:

17 August 1854: 1 Northampton Street

16 April 1857: Circus Mews

17 December 1858: 1 Williams Place

3 April 1858: 1 Williams Place

7 April 1861: 1 Williams Place

2 April 1871: 13 Royal Crescent Mews

3 April 1881: 15 Royal Crescent Mews

Throughout this period, census records consistently describe Joshua’s occupation as a coachman.

Eliza appears to have looked after the family home, although the 1881 census shows her at 25 Marlton Buildings, where she nursed an elderly spinster with a private income.

Family tragedy

Joshua and Eliza had two daughters: Ellen, born in 1854, and Emma, born in 1857. On 4 December 1858, four-year-old Ellen fell ill with scarlet fever, followed closely by Emma the next day. Tragically. Emma, who was only nineteen months old, passed away within six days.[1]  Ellen’s struggle with the disease lasted longer, but she too succumbed on 15 December.[2] The two sisters were laid to rest together two days later. Their deaths must have been a devastating blow to Joshua and Eliza.

Birth of a son

While this tragedy unfolded, Eliza was pregnant with their third child. Their son William was born early in 1859. He later worked in London, initially as a footman and later as a government servant. William married Frances Higgins at Butleigh in 1884, and they had a child, Ethel, who unfortunately died young. William died in London in 1890 at the age of 31.

Retirement in London

Between 1881 and 1890, Joshua and Eliza retired to London, presumably to be near their son, moving into a three-roomed house at 68 Grandison Road, near Clapham Common. Joshua died there on 23 November 1901, at the age of 77. By his will, dated on 15 April 1891, he left his entire property, valued at £895-17s-2d, to Eliza.[3]

Eliza died in 1918, at the age of 102. In her final years, she shared her home with her son’s widow, Frances, or at least she did so in April 1911.

References

[1] Death certificate of Emma Perry.

[2] Death certificate of Ellen Perry.

[3] The will of Joshua Perry, dated 15 April 1891, proved in London on 13 December 1901.