Introduction
Leonard Wakely spent his entire life in Lyatts, Hardington. After the tragic death of his father, Leonard’s life became closely linked with his mother and younger brother, Carlton. While Carlton never married, Leonard married twice. In the early 1920s, he faced the heartbreaking loss of his first wife to cancer, followed by the death of his brother Carlton from nephritis. During World War II, he and his second wife welcomed at least one evacuee into their home.
Childhood
Leonard was born on 26 March 1870 at Hardington, the fifth of seven children born to John and Emma Wakely.[1] His father, John, was a farmer and later a haulier and road contractor.
The 1881 census shows all seven children living at home, including Leonard, who was aged 11 at that time.
Death of father
On 8 March 1889, Leonard’s father, John, died in exceptional circumstances. He drowned after falling into a ditch while walking home from the New Inn at West Coker late at night.[2]
By April 1891, the four older siblings had left home, leaving Leonard, Rosina and Carlton.
Occupations
The lives of Leonard and Carlton were strongly influenced by their mother as they lived with her until the 1920s, when Carlton died in 1921 and their mother in 1926. Their occupations supported her farming activities.
When Leonard was prosecuted in August 1890 for releasing an impounded horse, he was a haulier.[3] The following year, the census recorded his occupation as “Carter Horse.”
By March 1901, both Leonard and Carlton were farmers, with Leonard also engaged in contracting work.
Death of a sister
In 1900, Rosina married George Rendell, a blacksmith of East Chinnock. On 20 April 1901, she developed a sinus infection and died just two days later, despite being taken to her mother’s home for care.[4]
First marriage
In 1916, Leonard married Harriet Lear in the Yeovil district. She was born at Buckland in the Moor in 1871, the daughter of Samuel and Mary Lear. Her father, Samuel, was a farm labourer who had been born at Buckland. By the time Harriet was nine, the family had relocated to her mother’s home parish of Ashburton. Her mother died in 1898, while her father died in 1899. Harriet was, for a time, the cook for a wealthy clergyman at Ashburton, and following his death in 1906, she lived with a cousin in the same parish.
Harriet’s death
Sadly, Leonard and Harriet’s marriage lasted only four years. By 1920, Harriet was suffering from cancer, and she spent her final weeks with her brother, Samuel, at Ashburton, where she died on 28 June 1920, at the age of 48.[5]
Carlton’s death
In November 1919, Carlton developed nephritis. He died seventeen months later, on 20 March 1921, at the age of 42, with Leonard by his side.[6] The probate record describes him as a retired farmer. He appointed Leonard as his executor and left him his entire estate, which amounted to £367-9s-2d.[7]
Land purchase
In May 1921, Leonard bought twenty-two acres of glebe land, of which he had been the tenant, for £870:
Pondclose, 4a 1r 1p, £250;
Coker Hill, 7a 0r 14p, £150;
Pathground, 4a 1r 27p, £170;
Moor close, 6a 0r 14p, £300.[8]
Mother’s death
Leonard’s mother, Emma, died on 28 September 1926 at the age of 88. She left effects valued at £25, which she bequeathed entirely to Leonard.[9]
Second marriage
Shortly after Emma’s death, Leonard married Sarah Shire, the daughter of Walter Shire. Leonard was 56, while Sarah was 55.
Sarah
Sarah spent many years in Kensington as a cook before returning to Lyatts between 1911 and 1921 to look after her parents. Her obligations ended in May 1926 with the passing of her mother, following her father’s death the previous year.
When her father died, Sarah inherited half his furniture.[10] When her brother, Albert, died in 1934, she inherited the income from his estate of £310 for life.[11]
Second World War
At the start of World War II, Leonard and Sarah took in a seven-year-old evacuee named Mervyn Parry from Lewisham. A twenty-eight-year-old cowman named Stanley Chant also lived with them.
Death
Leonard died in 1951 at the age of 81.
Sarah’s later life
After Leonard’s death, Sarah moved to Yeovil to live with her great-niece, Mildred Beryl Bond, at 15A Market Street.
Sarah died on 24 March 1955, at the age of 84, leaving an estate valued at £234-3s-5d. She bequeathed the bulk of her estate to Mildred’s two sisters.[12]
References
[1] 1939 Register.
[2] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 11 March 1889, p.5; Western Gazette, 15 March 1889, p.6.
[3] Western Gazette, 8 August 1890, p.6.
[4] Death certificate of Rosina Rendell.
[5] Death certificate of Harriet Wakely.
[6] Death certificate of Carlton Sealy Wakely.
[7] The will of Carlton Sealy Wakely, dated 12 May 1920, proved at Taunton on 19 May 1921.
[8] Western Chronicle, 27 May 1921, p.7.
[9] The will of Emma Wakely, dated 24 May 1921, proved at Taunton on 31 December 1926.
[10] The will of Walter Shire, dated 28 March 1921, proved at Taunton on 18 September 1925.
[11] The will of Albert William Shire, dated 10 July 1933, proved at Bristol on 2 April 1935.
[12] The will of Sarah Wakely, dated 30 January 1952, proved at Bristol on 6 April 1955.
