Peter Hodges was a carpenter at Oil Moor in 1851 and 1861.

Early life

Peter was born at Mudford in about 1810. He was the son of Jonathan, a carpenter, and his wife, Eleanor.

On 22 July 1834, Peter married Mary Ann Wilton at Ryme Intrinseca. She has his half-first cousin. His brother, George, had married Mary Ann’s sister, Betsy, the previous year.

In June 1841, Peter and Mary Ann lived at Camel Street, Marston Magna, where Peter worked as a carpenter, an occupation he pursued throughout his life.

In late 1842 or early 1843, their first son, Edward, was born at Ryme Intrinseca.

Life at Hardington

Peter and his wife moved to Oil Moor in about 1844. Their daughter, Emily Anna, was born there in 1844. In 1846, their son, Walter Wilton, was born there, too, but sadly, he died in infancy.

In about 1855, Peter’s house burned down, and he had to rebuild it.[1] He could ill afford the expense, and in February 1857, Mitchell, a mason of Ham Hill, sued him to recover money owed for the stone used in the rebuilding.[2]

In March 1861, John Glyde, a solicitor of Yeovil, advertised two properties at Hardington for sale or let. One was “a substantial freehold dwelling and offices, with a good garden and small orchard adjoining…in the occupation of Peter Hodges.” The other was “a freehold cottage, with orchard and garden adjoining…in the occupation of Frederick Burt.”[3]

In the third quarter of 1861, Mary Ann’s death was registered in the Wincanton district.

Peter is recorded on the 1862 voters’ list as the owner of a freehold house at Hardington Moor.

Second marriage

On 15 June 1862, Peter married Sophia Cheesewright at St John the Baptist Church, Hoxton. She was a widow from London, whom Peter met when she worked as a cook in a private house on Pen Hill, Yeovil. Peter and Sophia signed the marriage entry and put their address as Haberdasher Street.

Sophia, the daughter of a baker named John Kleinhen, was born in Bethnal Green in about 1818. Her maiden name suggests she was of German heritage. In 1837, Sophia married Ebenezer Cheesewright, a baker. After he died in 1850, she lived with her unmarried sister, Mary Ann Kleinhen, in Limehouse, where she worked as a general dealer.

Peter and Sophia lived briefly at Sherborne and then moved to Ash, Martock, where Peter rented a house, workhouse, and garden and continued his carpentry trade.[4] He also served as the parish clerk.[5]

Peter died at Ash on 30 September 1868, aged 57, leaving effects valued at under £100. He left £25 and one-third of his household furniture (or the same in value) to his wife. He left the remainder to his brother, Thomas Hodges, on trust for his son and daughter.[6]

The auctioneer, Stephen Harris, sold Peter’s stock-in-trade, furniture and effects by auction on the premises on 9 March 1869.[7]

Sophia’s later life

Sophia married twice more. On 24 January 1870, she married James Collins, a widower, at St John’s Church, Yeovil. The marriage register gives her address as Queen Street, Yeovil. They lived in James’s home town of Milborne Port, where James was a basket maker and, later, a carrier. He died in August 1885, aged 64.

On 21 June 1886, Sophia married Joseph Robinson, a widower, at Milborne Port. He was a retired licensed victualler who was born in Potto, Yorkshire. The 1891 census shows Joseph and Sophia living at Knap Cottage, Rosemary Street, Milborne Port. Joseph died in 1894, aged 81, and in March 1901, Sophia was a patient in Wincanton Workhouse. She died in 1906, aged 87.

Children

Peter Hodges’s son, Edward, became a qualified civil engineer and worked in India, where he died in 1892. Peter’s daughter, Emily, married in India in 1867 and then returned to England, where her husband served as principal at private schools at St Helens on the Isle of Wight and Wembley.

References

[1] Sherborne Mercury, 17 February 1857, p.4.

[2] Sherborne Mercury, 17 February 1857, p.4.

[3] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser, 5 March 1861, p.2.

[4] Hardington voters’ list of 1862; Western Gazette, 5 March 1869, p.4.

[5] Western Gazette, 16 October 1868, p.5.

[6] The will of Peter Hodges, dated 6 November 1867, proved at the Principal Registry on 8 February 1869.

[7] Western Gazette, 5 March 1869, p.4.