Introduction

Mathew Bartlett moved to Hardington from either Merriott or Crewkerne in about 1804, when he was in his late twenties. He made a living as both a farmer and a baker, occupying the premises that later became known as the New Inn. His oldest daughter, Harriet, played a significant role in establishing the Bible Christian movement in the village, and his second-oldest daughter, Sarah, married Abraham Genge, one of the village’s most successful tenant farmers.

Birth

Matthew was born around 1777 in Chedington, the son of Matthew and Joan Bartlett.

Marriage

On 12 December 1802, Matthew married Elizabeth Webber at Merriott. Elizabeth signed the marriage register, while Matthew made his mark.

Their first child, Harriet, was baptised in Crewkerne on 26 June 1803, when she was three weeks old.

Occupation

By 3 March 1805, Matthew and Elizabeth lived at Hardington. Initially, Matthew worked as a baker, and by 1826, he had also taken up farming. A jury list of 1848 described him as a baker, and the 1851 census identifies him as a farmer of 40 acres who employed four labourers.

Residence

The tithe survey shows Matthew occupying a farmhouse, outbuildings, yard, garden, and a brickyard on the site of what would later become the New Inn. He also occupied 43 acres owned by Lord Portman and a field of one acre, one rood, 37 perches named Small Brook.

Household structure

Matthew and Elizabeth had eight children. By the end of 1836, all of them had married, though one daughter, Anne, died shortly after her marriage at the age of 22. Another daughter, Sarah, died in 1846 at the age of 42.

Their oldest son, William, moved to Fivehead, while one daughter moved to Crewkerne and another to Odcombe. The remaining five children settled in the village.

The 1841 census shows Matthew and Elizabeth living alone except for one male servant.[1] The 1851 census shows them still living alone, except for George Rendell, a 49-year-old farm labourer who was probably a lodger.

Death

In his seventies, Matthew suffered from chronic bronchitis, which developed into pneumonia in early December 1853. He passed away two weeks later, on December 21, 1853, at the age of 76.[2] He was buried in Hardington churchyard the day after Boxing Day. He left an estate valued at “under £300.” By his will dated 22 December 1851, witnessed by Robert Bartlett and Robert’s sons, Edwin Robert and Thomas Francis, Matthew bequeathed everything to his wife.[3]

At this point, Elizabeth was in her late seventies and had no desire to continue running her late husband’s farm or overseeing his property. On 30 January 1854, she engaged the auctioneers, Messrs Hart and Palmer, to hold a sale of Matthew’s live and dead farming stock, corn, hay, cider and household effects. They also sold his three leasehold cottages at East Chinnock, occupied by Thomas Denty and his freehold field named Small Brook.[4]

Elizabeth’s death

Elizabeth died on 18 February 1855 at the age of 79. No doctor was present at the time of her death, and her death certificate simply states that she died of old age.[5] She left an estate valued at “under £200.”

The will of Elizabeth Bartlett

Executors and trustees: Robert Bartlett of West Coker and William White of Hardington Mandeville.

To my daughter, Grace Purchase: my clothes, bed and bedding.

The remainder to be divided equally among my two sons and four daughters:

-Harriet Farnham

-William Bartlett

-Honor Delamont

-Mercy Warr

-Matthew Bartlett

-Grace Purchase

Elizabeth signed with a cross.

Wit: Robert Bartlett, James Poole, Thomas F. Bartlett.[6]

Children

Matthew and Elizabeth had eight children:

1803- Harriet (married Dennis Farnham, a farmer, in 1820; resided at Hardington; died in 1881);

Circa 1805- Sarah (married Abraham Genge, a farmer, in 1824; resided at Hardington; died in 1846);

Circa 1806- William (widowed by the age of 25; married Susan Loveridge at Haselbury in 1830; resided at Fivehead where he worked as a labourer; died after April 1871);

Circa 1807- Matthew (married Mary Ann Eastment in 1828; kept the New Inn at Hardington; died in 1877);

Circa 1812- Honor (married Joseph Delamont in 1833; resided in Crewkerne where her husband kept the White Lion; died in 1895);

Circa 1813- Anne (married Joseph Bartlett, a canvas weaver, on 28 April 1835; resided at Hardington; died in August 1835);

1815- Mercy (married James Warr, a farmer, in 1836; resided at Odcombe; died in 1868);

1818- Grace (married Thomas Purchase, a canvas weaver, in 1835; resided at Hardington; died in 1865).

References

[1] The male servant was Jonah Bartlett, aged 20. Although nothing more is known about him it appears evident that he was not a son of Matthew and Elizabeth.

[2] Death certificate of Matthew Bartlett.

[3] The will of Matthew Bartlett, dated 22 December 1851, proved at Wells on 18 March 1854.

[4] Sherborne Mercury, 24 January 1854, p.2.

[5] Death certificate of Elizabeth Bartlett.

[6] The will of Elizabeth Bartlett, dated 13 March 1854, proved at Wells on 23 March 1855.