Introduction

Rebecca Baker lived at Hardington Marsh her entire life. At the age of about 38, she married a widower with two young children. Despite her age, she went on to have two children of her own. She supplemented her husband’s income as a farm labourer by running a shop.

Childhood

Rebecca was born at Hardington in about 1822, the fifth of seven children born to William and Elizabeth Jeans. Her father was a weaver who died in November 1850.

In March 1851, Rebecca lived with her widowed mother and her siblings, Elizabeth and Thomas; all three worked as canvas weavers. Neither Elizabeth nor Thomas ever married.

Marriage

Rebecca married Henry Baker, a farm labourer, at Hardington on 26 July 1860. Henry was about 26 years old, and Rebecca was around 38. Henry’s first wife, Elizabeth Gullidge, had died on 1 January 1859 at the age of 25 due to a brain disease.[1]

Married life

After their marriage, Rebecca moved in with Henry and his two young children, Henry and Jane. Tragically, Jane passed away in May 1861 at the age of two. Rebecca and Henry had two children together, Mathias and Elizabeth.[2]

The census returns of 1861 and 1881 recorded Henry as a farm labourer, while the 1871 census recorded him as a railway plate layer.

Death of husband

Henry died on 1 January 1891 from heart disease at the age of 57.[3]

Shop

A trade directory from 1889 lists Henry as a shopkeeper, but it is likely that Rebecca was actually running the shop. The 1891 census shows her living in Farm Lane, Marsh, where she kept a grocer’s shop. Her sister, Elizabeth, aged 78, lived with her.

Later life

On 26 February 1895, Mathias married Elizabeth Ann Rendell at West Coker, and she moved in with Mathias and his mother. A few months later, Mathias’s sister married and moved to Hendon.

Death

Rebecca died in 1904, at the age of about 82. [4]

Children

Henry and Rebecca had two children: Mathias and Elizabeth.

References

[1] Death certificate of Elizabeth Baker.

[2] The name Mathias means gift of God.

[3] Death certificate of Henry Baker.

[4] Civil Registration Death Index (age incorrectly recorded as 71).