Introduction
Mathias Baker lived at Hardington Marsh for his entire life. He worked as a railway platelayer and achieved the position of a foreman. He married in his mid-thirties, but he and his wife did not have children. Sadly, he died in Yeovil Hospital at the age of 59.
Birth
Mathias was born at Hardington in 1861, the first of two children born to Henry and Rebecca Baker. He had a sister named Elizabeth and a half-brother, Henry Thomas, from his father’s first marriage.
The name “Mathias” means “gift from God,” and this may reflect his mother’s feelings at giving birth for the first time at the age of 39, although she had a second child six years later.
Mathias’s father was primarily a farm labourer but was recorded as a railway platelayer in the 1871 census.
Occupation
Mathias’s career was marked by stability. He remained a railway platelayer throughout his working life, eventually achieving the position of foreman in his forties.
Death of father
Mathias’s father, Henry, died on 1 January 1891 from heart disease at the age of 57.[1] After his death, Mathias’s aunt, Elizabeth Jeanes, moved in with the family.
From this point, Mathias’s mother is recorded as a shopkeeper, although she may have started this occupation earlier.[2]
Marriage
On 26 February 1895, Mathias married Elizabeth Ann Rendell at West Coker.[3] Mathias was 33 years old, and Elizabeth was one year younger. Mathias’s sister, Elizabeth, acted as one of the witnesses.
Wife
Elizabeth Ann Rendell was the daughter of Charles and Sophia Rendell. Before her marriage, she worked in domestic service as a parlourmaid in Guildford in the home of Thomas Greenaway, a General in the British Army.
Residence
Elizabeth moved into Mathias’s home, and a few weeks later, Mathias’s sister, also named Elizabeth, married Charles Marsh and moved to Hendon.[4]
Mathias and his wife appear to have lived in a freehold cottage at Hardington Marsh, which covered an area of 20 perches.[5]
Death of mother
Mathias’s mother, Rebecca, died in 1904 at the age of about 82.[6]
Death
Mathias was admitted to Yeovil Hospital at the age of 59 due to phlegmonous peritonitis, a bacterial infection of the abdominal cavity. This condition led to sepsis, and he unfortunately died on January 15, 1920. [7]
He left an estate valued at £285-12s-8d. His will, as filed, contains the words, “I give and bequeath unto,” but omits the beneficiary’s name.[8] His wife probably inherited his whole estate nonetheless.
Orchards
The estate sale catalogue of October 1920 refers to M Baker’s representatives occupying two orchards and a portion of an orchard at Hardington Marsh on a yearly Lady-day tenancy. The Ordnance Survey numbers for these orchards were 498 (part), 500, and 501.
Elizabeth’s later life
By June 1921, Elizabeth lived at Hardington Moor. Living with her was eight-year-old Hilda Maud Callaway, whose mother, Lillie, resided on the Isle of Wight. Hilda was probably placed with Elizabeth by her mother’s friend, James Saint Partridge, the landlord of the Royal Oak Inn, Hardington.
Elizabeth died on 2 February 1922, aged 59, at 22 Beer Street, Yeovil, the home of her sister, Liza Jane Rendell. She left an estate valued at £504-15s-6d.[9]
Children
Mathias and Elizabeth did not have any children.
Elizabeth Ann Baker’s will
Sole executor: Walter White, Churchwarden.
To her sisters, Liza Jane Rendell of 22 Beer Street, Yeovil, and Mercy Rendell of Hardington Moor: the money in her bank account and her war certificate of £25, in equal shares after paying all expenses.
She instructed her executor to sell her furniture and other effects and divide the proceeds equally between Mercy Rendell (her sister) and Doris Annie Sophia Rendell (her niece).
Signed with her mark.
Wit: Susanna Helena Beddoe, Hardington Rectory, and J Morgan Beddoe, Rector of Hardington Mandeville
References
[1] Death certificate of Henry Baker.
[2] 1891 census; a trade directory of 1895.
[3] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 5 March 1895, p.8; Weymouth Telegram, 5 March 1895, p.1.
[4] Hardington banns book.
[5] Voters’ Lists.
[6] The Civil Registration Death Index incorrectly recorded her age as 71.
[7] Death certificate of Mathias Baker;
[8] The will of Mathias Baker, dated 6 May 1912, proved in London on 16 December 1920.
[9] The will of Elizabeth Ann Baker, dated 30 December 1921, proved at Taunton on 17 March 1922.
