Robert Helyar was a stone mason who lived in Hardington in the late 1880s.

Early life at East Coker

Robert was born at East Coker on 9 October 1862. His parents had married at Hardington in 1859. His father, John, was a shoemaker. His mother, Mary Noble, was a servant at Hardington Rectory. Like Mrs Vassall, the rector’s wife, Mary came from Thorner, Yorkshire.

When he was a child, Robert lived in a cottage in Back Lane, East Coker. By the age of 18, he was a stone mason.

On Christmas Day, 1886, he married Ellen Burt, a servant at East Coker rectory. She was the daughter of Walter and Caroline Burt of Pendomer, and her father was a railway platelayer.

Life at Hardington

Between about 1887 and 1892, Robert and Ellen lived at Hardington. Evidence shows them living at Hardington Moor, Barry Lane and the High Street.

In April 1891, Ellen and three young children lived in the High Street at Hardington, while Robert boarded at 11 Vaughan Street, Llantrisant, Wales.

Life in South Wales

By 1895, the entire Helyar family had moved to Wales. In 1901, they were residing at 12 Victoria Street, Ystradyfodwg, and in 1911 and 1921, at 23 May Road, Taffs Well, near Cardiff.

Robert was a stone mason throughout this period, except in April 1911, when he was out of work. In June 1921, he worked for Cardiff Council.

Robert died in 1944, aged 82 and Ellen in the following year aged 81.