Introduction
Samuel John Samways spent much of his adult life as a farm labourer and carter. From at least 1911 until 1920, he was employed as a carter at Hewingbere Farm, Hardington, where he lived with his family in a tied cottage. His life was marked by early family instability, frequent movement in search of work, and the precarious circumstances typical of agricultural labourers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Childhood
Samuel was born at Wraxall, Dorset, in late 1866 or early 1867, as the son of Levi Samways and his second wife, Mary Hansford. Levi was a farm labourer, also born at Wraxall, while Mary came from Netherbury and had previously spent time in the Stoke Abbott workhouse.
In September 1867, when Samuel was still an infant, his father was admitted to Herrison Hospital suffering from depression. The hospital records describe him as restless, expressing fears about his health and contemplating suicide. He claimed to have venereal disease, but it is unclear if this was true or delusional. Although he was eventually discharged, he was readmitted in January 1881 for another temporary stay.[1]
During Levi’s periods of illness, Mary maintained the household. In 1871, she was living at Cattistock with Samuel and another son, Frederick. By 1881, the family had moved to Impark, Cattistock, and Samuel was working as a farm labourer. By 1891, Levi and Mary lived together in two rooms in the Rampisham Poor House. They were later admitted to the Stoke Abbott workhouse, where Mary died in October 1896, and Levi died in March 1897.
Marriage
By 1885, Samuel had found work as a farm labourer at Thornford, where he met Mary Elizabeth Edmonds Hann of Yetminster. They were married at Yetminster on 21 December 1885. Their daughter, Mabel Maud Hann, was born there on 5 October 1886. The marriage was short-lived, and the couple subsequently separated. Mary and Mabel remained at Yetminster, while Samuel left. The reasons for the breakdown are not recorded.
Second relationship
After leaving his wife, Samuel formed a long-term relationship with Sarah Alice Burt, with whom he lived for the remainder of his life. Sarah, born at Hardington in 1869, was the daughter of George and Susan Ann Burt. Together, they had eleven children. Although they had the opportunity to marry after Mary’s death in 1915, they chose not to.
In the early years of their relationship, the family moved frequently. They lived at Wayford until about 1893, then spent a short period in Pontypridd in 1894. By 1896, they had returned to Somerset, but continued to move between parishes in search of employment: Kingstone near Ilminster in 1896, Misterton in 1899, Mosterton in 1901, Broadwindsor in 1903, back to Mosterton in 1905, and again to Broadwindsor by 1908. This pattern of movement reflects the insecure nature of farm work, especially for a man supporting a large family.
School attendance prosecutions
During these years, Samuel was fined several times for failing to send his children to school. In March 1899, he was fined 5s, with the alternative of seven days’ imprisonment, for neglecting to send his son Walter to school.[2] In April 1903, while living at Broadwindsor, he was fined a further 5s for irregular attendance, and in April 1907, when the family was living at Dibbleford in the same parish, he was fined 2s 6d for a similar offence.[3]
Fatal accident at Broadwindsor
In November 1901, while the family was living at Heifer Mill, Broadwindsor, Samuel was involved in a serious work accident. His employer, Francis Meech of Potwell Farm, instructed Samuel and another worker, Charles Mitchell, to take a load of hay to Littlewindsor. They travelled with three horses and a wagon, without reins, with Samuel leading the front horse while Mitchell walked close to the wagon on the opposite side.
On the return journey, they applied the drag to descend a hill and sat on the shafts. Suddenly, the hind horse started, causing the team to bolt. Samuel managed to jump clear, but as the wagon went past him, he saw Mitchell fall between the shafts. The next thing he knew, Mitchell was lying on the ground with a wheel mark across his chest and blood flowing from his mouth. Samways ran to the farm to fetch help, but by the time they returned, Mitchell was dead.
At the inquest the next day, Samuel gave his testimony as the only eyewitness to the accident. Asked what had made Mitchell leave the shafts, he replied that he could not tell, unless it was that the horse had forced the wagon into a hedge. After hearing the evidence, the coroner summed up, and the jury returned a verdict of accidental death. The coroner made no comment on the manner of working or on any precautions that might have prevented the accident.[4]
Hardington
Between July 1908 and April 1911, Samuel and Sarah settled at Hardington, where they lived at Hewingbere Cottage. The 1911 census recorded them living there with five children: Walter, Mabel, Alfred, Ethel and Ivy. Walter and Mabel were working as farm labourers while Alfred was at school. Another daughter, Nelly, was working as a general servant at Haselbury Post Office. Nelly was particularly vulnerable and spent much of her life in institutions, including a Church Army home at Walthamstow and a home at Teignmouth.
Samuel’s children were not admitted to Hardington School, so they may have attended North Perrot or Haselbury School.
First World War
On 4 October 1915, Samuel’s son, Alfred, enlisted in the army at the age of 16, although he gave his age as 19. He served with the Somerset Light Infantry until 5 June 1916, when he was discharged as physically unfit for war service.[5] He later joined the Second Battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Wiltshire Regiment, serving in France and Flanders. He died of wounds on 4 November 1918 and was buried in Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery.[6] Sadly, he is not listed on the Hardington war memorial.
Eviction
On 5 May 1921, Stanley Foot sued Samuel to take possession of the cottage, intending to assign it to a new employee. The court ordered Samuel to leave the cottage within fourteen days and to pay 14s. 6d. in mesne profits (back rent).[7] However, his departure was delayed, as he was still residing there when the 1921 census was taken on 19 June. At that time, his household included Sarah and their four children: Walter, Mabel, Ivy, and Flossie, who was 7 years old. Walter worked as a farm labourer for James Chant of East Chinnock, while Mabel was an out-of-work general servant. Ethel had left home to work as a domestic servant in Bournemouth.
Final years
By 1925, Samuel and his family resided at Hewish near Crewkerne. Samuel died there on 22 January 1925 at the age of 58.[8] The death certificate gives the cause as rodent ulcer (a form of skin cancer) with epithelioma of the neck as a secondary cause. No post-mortem was carried out, and the certificate does not state how long he had been ill. Typically, a rodent ulcer develops slowly and can persist for years. Sarah survived him, but no clear record of her later life has yet been identified.
References
[1] Dorset Heritage Centre: NG-HH/CMR/4/32D/1804 and NG-HH/CMR/4/32F/2956
[2] Bridport News, 17 March 1899, p.7.
[3] Bridport News, 10 April 1903, p.6; 12 April 1907, p.6.
[4] Western Gazette, 29 November 1901, p.7; Bridport News, 29 November 1901, p.5.
[5] British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920.
[6] Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919; Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921.
[7] Western Chronicle, 13 May 1921, p.6.
[8] Death certificate of Samuel John Samways.
