Introduction

Lazarus Burt had a difficult life. He was the illegitimate son of a domestic servant. Tragically, he lost his mother, his only sister, and one of his sons to tuberculosis. His first wife died from paralysis, and his second wife was killed in a traffic accident. Despite these hardships, Lazarus demonstrated commercial ability by combining his work as a farm labourer with running a shop in Hardington. With the help of his second wife, he later became the landlord of the Butchers’ Arms in Yeovil.

Childhood

Lazarus was born at West Coker in about 1835, the second of two illegitimate children born to Harriet Burt. His sister, Emily, was born at Hardington in about 1829. Lazarus was baptised at West Coker and his mother’s home parish of Pendomer.

His unusual name suggests that he may have been at risk of death in infancy and experienced a miraculous recovery.

Lazarus’s mother, Harriet, was the illegitimate daughter of Ann Burt of Pendomer. In 1833, Ann Burt married Thomas Bailey of Hardington. Thomas and Ann Bailey raised Harriet’s two children while Ann worked away in domestic service. Lazarus’s sister, Emily, died from tuberculosis on 24 January 1844 at the age 15, and his mother succumbed to the same disease on 30 August 1860 at the age of 49.[1] His maternal grandmother died in August 1858.

First marriage

Following the death of his maternal grandmother, Lazarus married Elizabeth Pike of East Chinnock in November 1858.[2] Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles Pike, a farm labourer. Lazarus and Elizabeth established their first home in the High Street at Hardington.

Occupations

Lazarus began his working life as a farm labourer, following the same occupation as his grandfather, Thomas Bailey.

The construction of the railway through the parish opened up new opportunities for Lazarus. By April 1861, he was one of sixteen men in the village employed as railway packers. However, he did not stay in this role for long; by April 1871, he was a farm labourer again. Ten years later, while still a labourer, he also ran a general shop with his wife.

Children

Lazarus and Elizabeth had five sons and one daughter. Their first child, Charles, died at the age of one. By April 1881, the oldest two sons had left home, and the other two probably left in a year or two later, leaving only Emily Jane at home.

Death of first wife

Towards the end of 1883, Elizabeth experienced some form of paralysis. After suffering for six months, she died on 2 May 1884, at just forty-eight years old.[3]

Second marriage

Lazarus soon entered into a new relationship with Caroline Mann, who lived at East Chinnock with her daughter, Alice. Although Caroline was the daughter of an East Chinnock farm labourer, she had led an unconventional life in London and Winchester.

As a young woman, she went to London and found work as a servant in a coffee house at 39 High Street, St Giles. Her employers were William Cattle Mann and his wife, Elizabeth. William was a disreputable figure who had fathered at least two children with another woman since his marriage. By April 1861, Caroline was pregnant with William’s child. William’s wife left, and William and Caroline remained at the coffee house until 1863, when they moved to the Bakers Arms in Winchester.[4] William and Caroline had two children in London and two in Winchester. Their only son, William, died in Winchester in October 1870 at the age of seven.[5] Their two-year-old daughter, Lucy, died in the same quarter.

William Mann’s business dealings extended beyond the inn. In 1868, he took a three-year lease on some land to make bricks.[6] However, production stopped in June, and in April 1869, he advertised the brickyard to let.[7] The lack of demand probably forced him to sell at least 12,000 bricks to the site owner at a knockdown price.[8]

In January 1872, William Mann left the Bakers Arms.[9] His wife petitioned for a divorce three months later, although the legal papers do not record one being granted.[10] William remained in Winchester, where he became a coal merchant. He died there on 23 May 1881, at the age of 59, after a long and painful illness.[11] He left an estate valued at £1,107 11s 8d gross and £656 7s 1d net. He bequeathed £25 to his nurse, £50 to his natural daughter, Emma, £50 and the residue to his natural daughter, Dora. He left nothing to Caroline or her two daughters.[12]

Caroline returned to her home parish of East Chinnock even before William died. By April 1881, she and her daughter Alice lived in Chinnock Street. Caroline was a glover, and Alice was an apprentice dressmaker. They used the name “Mann” but there is no evidence that Caroline was ever married to William Mann. Her experiences in London and Winchester had probably hardened her, as in January 1882, she was fined 5s for slapping a woman around the face and using coarse language towards her.[13]

Lazarus married Caroline Mann in the second quarter of 1885. Shortly after, he became the tenant of the Butchers’ Arms Inn, Hendford, Yeovil. Evidence regarding the tenancy comes from a court case of 3 August 1886 in which the police prosecuted Lazarus for serving intoxicating liquor to a female customer when she was already drunk. His solicitor, Sidney Watts, told the court that Lazarus had come from Hardington thirteen months ago and was of excellent character.[14]

Tragic death of a son

On 21 February 1889, Lazarus’s son, Alfred Charles, died from tuberculosis at the Butchers’ Arms at the age of 26.[15]

His daughter leaves home

In about 1890, Lazarus’s son, Albert, moved to Lichfield, where he found work managing a boot shop. By April 1891, his sister, Emily Jane, had joined him, also working in the same shop.

Tragic death of second wife

On the evening of 9 October 1891, while returning from a visit to her sister at East Chinnock, Caroline’s cart was hit by another vehicle as it descended Hendford Hill. Caroline was thrown into the road and suffered severe head injuries, from which she died at Yeovil Hospital early the following morning.[16] She was fifty-eight years old.

The Yeovil magistrates committed John Mitchell, the driver of the other vehicle, to trial at the autumn assizes. There, the jury decided that although Mitchell had displayed a certain amount of negligence, it was not enough to convict him.[17]

Caroline died intestate, leaving an estate valued at £416-13s-9d. The Taunton Probate Registry granted the powers of administration to Lazarus, who may have inherited her whole estate depending on the intestacy rules of the time.

Unable to continue managing the Baker’s Arms without Caroline’s support and expertise, Lazarus vacated the inn a few weeks after her death, and held a public auction of his furniture and belongings on Tuesday, 17 November.[18] He transferred the inn’s licence to William Sansom, the husband of Caroline’s daughter, Alice.[19]

Third marriage

Lazarus’s life was not over. In 1897, he married Sarah Bishop. By March 1901, they lived at Rusty Well, Yeovil, and Lazarus was living on his own means.

Death

Lazarus died at Rusty Well on 14 August 1906, aged 70, leaving effects valued at £720-13s-2d.[20]

The will of Lazarus Burt[21]

Lazarus Burt appointed his sons, Albert and William Giles, executors and trustees.

He instructed them to convert his real and personal estate into money, invest the proceeds and pay his wife 8s per week for life for her sole and separate use. On her death, he left £35 in equal shares to Emily and Alice, the daughters of his late wife, Caroline, and the residue to his four children, Albert, Henry, William Giles, and Emily Jane, equally. He instructed them not to call in the loan at 3.5% interest to his son, Albert, so long as Albert paid the interest and, when his wife died, to set £200 against the share of the residue to which Albert was entitled.

£720 13s 2d gross

£60 12s net value of personal estate.

Children

1860 Charles (died in infancy);

1862 Alfred Charles (became a journeyman blacksmith; died at Yeovil, aged 26);

1864 Albert (became a boot and shoe dealer in Lichfield; died in 1906);

1865 Henry (became a gas works foreman in Colchester; died in 1928);

1867 William Giles (became the landlord of the Three Boars’ Heads Inn, Lydlinch; died in 1950).

1872 Emily Jane (married a Lichfield Brewery Clerk; died in 1908).

References

[1] Death certificate of Emily Burt. The Hardington burial register recorded her age as 14. Death certificate of Harriet Burt.

[2] East Chinnock Banns Book: banns last called on 7 November 1858.

[3] Death certificate of Elizabeth Burt.

[4] Hampshire Advertiser, 26 December 1863, p.11.

[5] Hampshire Chronicle, 22 October 1870, p.5.

[6] Hampshire Advertiser, 27 February 1869, p.11.

[7] Hampshire Advertiser, 27 February 1869, p.11; Hampshire Chronicle, 17 April 1869, p.1.

[8] Hampshire Advertiser, 27 February 1869, p.11.

[9] Hampshire Independent, 3 February 1872, p.8.

[10] Civil Divorce Records 1858-1918. Elizabeth Mann accused her husband of cruelty, assault and adultery with numerous women, including Caroline, who she called Catherine. Her evidence is not wholly reliable as she accused her husband of cohabiting with someone named Ann Brown from September 1853 to August 1861, when the 1861 census shows William living with his wife on 7 April 1861. She may have painted William blacker than he was to help secure a divorce.

[11] Hampshire Chronicle, 28 May 1881, p.5.

[12] The will of William Cattle Mann, dated 20 April 1881, proved at the Principal Registry on 1 November 1881.

[13] Western Gazette, 8 January 1882, p.5.

[14] Western Gazette, 6 August 1886, p.6.

[15] Western Gazette, 1 March 1889, p.1; death certificate of Alfred Charles Burt).

[16] Western Gazette, 16 October 1891, p.3

[17] Western Chronicle, 27 November 1891, p.5.

[18] Western Gazette, 17 November 1891, p.1.

[19] Western Gazette, 6 November 1891, p.5.

[20] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906; Western Chronicle, 31 August 1906, p.8.

[21] The will of Lazarus Burt, dated 13 April 1901, proved in London on 14 September 1906.