Introduction

Michael Dawe led a fascinating life that could be the subject of a Victorian novel. After many years of dedicating himself to farming, he married an attractive younger woman named Betsy Barnard in 1846 when he was 45 years old. Betsy had previously been involved in a bigamous marriage, resulting in the birth of a son.

After their marriage, Michael and Betsy adopted a somewhat ostentatious middle-class lifestyle, which ultimately led to Michael’s bankruptcy in 1862. He spent his final years in Bedminster, where he passed away in 1876. One of his sons became a clergyman in the Church of England, while another pursued a career as a solicitor.

Early life

Michael was born around 1801 at Benville Park, Corscombe, the youngest of eleven children born to Thomas and Grace Dawe. He was baptised at Melbury Bubb on 14 April 1805 “in the 4th year of his age”.

By 1832, Michael and his parents had moved to East Chinnock.

During the 1830s and 1840s, Michael occupied substantial areas of land. The 1832 voters’ list records him as the tenant of Barrow’s Farm, and in 1834, he was listed as occupying part of the same farm. The 1846 voters’ list records him as holding a lease for years of Broad and other land.

He is included on the voters’ lists for Chardstock in 1840, 1841, and 1842 as the owner of freehold land.

Michael has not been found on the 1841 census. The Hardington tithe survey of 1843 recorded him as occupying 166 acres owned by Lord Portman, including a dairy house at Hardington Marsh (number 574 on the tithe map), and another 61 acres owned by Lord Ilchester and two others.

Marriage

On 28 October 1846, Michael married Betsy Barnard of Somerton. She was the daughter of William and Keturah Barnard. Her father was a house proprietor.

Bigamy

Before marrying Michael, Betsy had been the victim of a callous crime that stained her reputation. The story began in May 1840 when a male cousin of Betsy’s visited her parents, accompanied by a young gentleman named Charles Butt, who claimed to be a sea captain. Betsy was out on that occasion, but impressed by stories of her beauty, Butt called twice more until he found her at home. Following several more visits, he eventually told her parents that he wished to marry her, asserting that if he could not have her, he would not marry at all. He boasted of having ample means to support Betsy, including an estate worth £300 a year, a mansion, a farmhouse, £1,000 worth of standing timber and other assets, including shares in ships. Won other by his good looks, blandishments and claims to wealth, they consented, and Betsy and Butt were married at Somerton Church on 1 December 1840. Betsy soon became pregnant, giving birth to a son on 13 December 1841. However, by then, it had come to light that Butt had a previous wife who was still living.

On January 10, 1842, Butt faced charges of bigamy at the Somerset Quarter Sessions. The prosecution produced evidence of his first marriage to Mary Field at St George’s in the East, Middlesex, on 25 June 1834. This included the marriage register, testimony from the curate who performed the ceremony, an eye witness account of them going to and from the church and statements from two professional men who could verify Butt’s signature. Mary’s aunt and uncle testified that she and Butt had visited them after their wedding and conducted themselves as husband and wife. They also stated that Butt and Mary had a daughter named Ellen ho was living in Jersey with Mary. A Somerset attorney named Benjamin Lovibond proved having used due diligence to obtain the attendance of the two witnesses of the first marriage, one of whom was Butt’s sister, but this had proved unsuccessful.

The defence attempted to downplay Butt’s offence, and claimed there was insufficient evidence to prove the first marriage. They argued that the law required the production of the witnesses who had signed the marriage register, and no adequate explanation of their absence had been given. However, the Chairman, Francis Popham, rejected this position, stating that the absence of the witnesses did not undermine the prosecution’s case. The jury swiftly returned a verdict of guilty. Popham berated Butt for betraying Betsy’s trust and for his disgraceful actions which he attributed to brutal animal passion. He sentenced him to eighteen months of hard labour.[1]

Married life at East Chinnock

Michael and Betsy established their home at East Chinnock, where they had five children. In March 1851, Michael was a farmer of 240 acres, employing five men and five boys.

Chardstock and bankruptcy

Between August 1855 and September 1858, the family moved to Coxden Mill, Chardstock. The 1861 census recorded a household that comprised Michael, Betsy, their six children, Betsy’s widowed mother, and Michael’s brother, Francis. Michael was described as a landed proprietor, while Francis was a miller.

Michael and Betsy had two more children, but both died in infancy.

Michael and Betsy pursued an affluent lifestyle, spending lavishly on educating their sons. At this time, Betsy’s son from her previous relationship, William Field Barnard, even attended Oxford University, matriculating at St Mary Hall on 8 November 1860.[2]

However, they overextended themselves financially. On 15 February 1862, the Court of Bankruptcy for the Exeter District declared Michael bankrupt and sent him to the Devon County Prison.[3] On 26 June 1862, the County Court granted an order to discharge him.[4]

Although Michael did not re-enter business, he and Betsy eventually regained respectability. Their eldest son, Michael Watson Bodley Dawe, attended Balliol College, Oxford, from 1867 to 1871, and in April 1871, his son, Richard Hill Dawe, was a pupil at Tiverton.[5]

Bedminster

By April 1871, Betsy and two of her sons were living in the home of a female cousin, Martha Morrison, at Hillsbridge House, Bedminster.[6] It is unclear whether she was there to care for a relative or to live apart from Michael.

At the same time, Michael was at Hardington Marsh, living in the household of his nephew, Francis Dawe, where he identified himself as a gentleman.

Michael eventually returned to Bedminster. At the age of 75, he suffered an apoplectic seizure and died on 12 January 1876 at Barnard House, New Cut, with his son Thomas by his side. Although his death certificate recorded his name as Michael Watson Dawe, he was known simply as Michael Dawe throughout his life.[7]

Betsy’s widowhood

After Michael’s death, Betsy moved in with her eldest daughter, Frances Ann Bodley Hanscombe, at Pirton Hall, Hertfordshire, which became her long-term home. However, she died on 29 May 1892, at the age of 77, at the Rectory, Walkington, Yorkshire, the home of her son, Michael.

Michael and Betsy’s children

Excluding the two children who died in infancy, Michael and Betsy had three sons and two daughters. Their eldest son went to Balliol College, Oxford, and then entered the church. The next became a tea merchant, while the youngest son became a solicitor. In 1873, their eldest daughter married a wealthy farmer named William Hanscombe, and her home at Pirton Hall, Shillington, Bedfordshire, became the home of her mother and her sister, Helen. Helen remained unmarried and died in 1937.

William Field Barnard, Betsy’s son with Charles Butt, attended St Mary Hall, Oxford, before emigrating to Australia, where he married Ada Blunden on 2 July 1867.[8] He died at Northcote, Melbourne, in 1893.

References

[1] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 12 January 1842, p.7. The newspapers depicted Charles Butt as a serial bigamist but there is no evidence to support this claim. He was born in 1817 at St Helens on the Isle of Wight, and married Mary Field when he was about 17. She was clearly very different to Betsy, as the 1851 census recorded her as a fishmonger living on Jersey. Butt later became involved with a third woman, Susan Williams, with whom he had a daughter. He was awarded a mate and master certificate in 1855 for five years’ service in the British Merchant Service in the coasting trades. He probably died in Hackney in 1871.

[2] Foster, Joseph. Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886, p.62.

[3] Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette, 25 February 1862, p.1

[4] Southern Times and Dorset County Herald, 5 July 1862, p.1.

[5] Foster, Joseph. Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886, p.353.

[6] Although Martha Morrison was the head of the household, she was identified as an imbecile. She died on 14 March 1875, leaving an estate valued at “under £200.”

[7] Death certificate of Michael Watson Dawe.

[8] Australian and New Zealand, 21 September 1867, p.4.