Introduction
Richmond Skinner was one of the newcomers who settled in Hardington Mandeville following the estate sale of 1920. Unlike many people in the village, he had no ancestral connection with the parish and rented his home from a private landlord. His working life reflects the changing economy of Yeovil and its surrounding area, as he moved between several industries before ending his career at the Westland aircraft factory.
Early life
Richmond Skinner was born in Yeovil on 18 August 1878, the sixth of seven children born to Frederick Skinner and his wife, Caroline (née Griffin).[1] He and five of his siblings were baptised at St John’s Church, Yeovil, on 1 January 1880.[2] At that time, the family lived in the New Town area of the town, where his father worked as a glover. By 1891, they had moved to 8 Great Western Terrace, and Frederick was employed as a leather dresser.
Richmond attended Reckleford School, enrolling on 31 October 1887, although he had presumably received some schooling elsewhere before then.[3]
In April 1893, when he was fourteen years old, Richmond became involved in a theft case heard before the Yeovil magistrates. A nine-year-old boy, Walter Rake, was accused of stealing a silver watch and selling it to Richmond for threepence. Richmond was not charged with any offence and appeared only as a witness, but the magistrates took a dim view of his conduct. Although they dealt leniently with Rake as a first offender, they remarked that Richmond appeared more deserving of blame, presumably because they believed he must have suspected that the watch was stolen.
Richmond has not been identified in the 1901 census, although there is no evidence that he had left Yeovil.
Marriage, children and military service
In 1908, Richmond married Eva Emily Bartlett, the daughter of a farm labourer. He was thirty years old, and Eva was twenty-four. The couple settled in Yeovil, where they raised three children: Hilda Kate, born in 1910, Norman Richmond, born in 1912, and Ida Gladys, born in 1916.
The 1911 census recorded the family living at 3 Grass Royal Terrace, Yeovil, in a five-room house. Richmond was then employed in a milk factory.
During the First World War, Richmond served in the Royal Defence Corps, attaining the rank of corporal.[4] The corps was primarily responsible for guard duties and home defence, allowing younger and fitter men to serve overseas. His promotion to non-commissioned rank suggests that he was considered a dependable soldier capable of supervising other men. Richmond was discharged in October 1917.
Following his discharge, the family lived at Frome St Quintin for several years, although his occupation during this period has not been established.[5]
Hardington
By June 1921, Richmond and his family had moved to Broadstone, Hardington Mandeville, probably occupying the middle cottage in a terrace of three. He was employed at the Flax Works in Bunford, near Yeovil, where his occupation was recorded as “Tank Welling”, apparently a specialised role related to flax processing.
The cottage had been purchased at the Hardington estate sale of October 1920 by Charles Gillam for £180, making Richmond one of several tenants who moved into the parish following the break-up of the estate.[6] Unlike many Hardington residents, his livelihood did not depend upon agriculture but upon industrial employment in Yeovil, to which he travelled each day.
The family remained at Broadstone for at least the next two years and was still living there in December 1923.[7]
Later life
By 1939, Richmond and Eva had moved to Houndstone Cottages in Yeovil. Richmond was then employed as a general labourer at the Westland Aircraft factory, one of Yeovil’s largest employers. His move from milk processing to flax manufacture and finally to aircraft production illustrates the varied and changing employment opportunities available to working men in and around Yeovil during the first half of the twentieth century.
Richmond died in the Yeovil district in 1946 at the age of sixty-eight. Eva survived him by almost three decades, passing away in 1974 at the age of ninety.
Conclusion
Richmond Skinner’s life illustrates the growing influence of Yeovil upon the surrounding countryside during the early twentieth century. Unlike his father, who worked in the town’s traditional glove industry, Richmond moved through a succession of occupations that reflected changing employment patterns. His settlement in Hardington after the 1920 estate sale also forms part of a wider story, as newcomers without long-standing ties to the village took advantage of newly available housing while continuing to earn their living in Yeovil’s factories and workshops.
References
[1] 1939 Register: Civil registration Birth Index.
[2] St John’s baptism register.
[3] Reckleford School Admission Register.
[4] WWI Pension Record Cards and Ledgers; WO 372/18/96098.
[5] Frome St Quintin voters’ lists.
[6] Eddie Turner’s copy of the estate sale catalogue.
[7] Hardington parish rate book for 31 December 1923.