Introduction
Simeon Rendell left home at a young age to serve with the 21st Regiment of Foot. After being discharged in his mid-thirties, he returned to his home village of Hardington, where he married a widow with five children four years later. They were married for 28 years and had two children together.
Childhood
Simeon was born around 1841 at Hardington to Thomas and Susanna Rendell. He was probably born in a house in Barry Lane (number 337 on the tithe map), which his father owned. At the time of his birth, Thomas was a weaver who probably earned a decent living. Simeon had two sisters: Louisa, who was thirteen years older than him and Emily, who was four years younger.[1]
In the 1840s, the family’s situation deteriorated. Thomas became a farm labourer, and they moved to Moor Lane. This change may have been due to the decline of the cottage weaving industry, although both his wife and daughter, Louisa, continued to work as weavers.
Life for the family at Hardington Moor was quite unsettled. In 1849, Louisa became pregnant with her first illegitimate child and gave birth to a second illegitimate child four years later. She and her two daughters lived at home until the early 1860s. In 1856, Emily began showing signs of the heart disease that would ultimately lead to her death three years later.[2]
Military career
Simeon responded to his family’s circumstances by joining the army. He has not been found on the 1861 or 1871 census, presumably because he was on military service. He served as a private in the second battalion of the 21st Regiment of Foot, with regimental number 1980, and was discharged on 24 March 1875.[3] The 1901 census recorded him as a pensioner of the 21st Scots Fusiliers.[4]
Marriage
In 1879, Simeon married Charlotte Partridge, the widow of William Partridge, who had died of tuberculosis in 1878 at the age of 31.[5] Charlotte had five children from her first marriage. Her two oldest daughters soon moved to London to work as domestic servants, while Simeon became a stepfather to the remaining three: Sarah Ann, Beatrice Selina, and George William. Charlotte and Simeon also had a son and a daughter together.
Residences
In April 1881, Simeon and Charlotte lived at Hardington Moor, along with Simeon’s father, Thomas.[6] Thomas died in late 1889 or early 1890 at the age of 93. By April 1891, Simeon was a labourer residing in a house in Pools Lane, owned by Arthur Reynolds. By March 1901, the family had returned to Hardington Moor, where they lived in a four-room house.
Club dinner
On 13 June 1898, Simeon attended the annual Club dinner, where he was toasted as the Army representative.[7]
Death
Simeon died on 15 March 15 1907 at the age of 66.
Charlotte’s later life
In 1920, Charlotte occupied the western end of a block of three cottages in Moor Lane on a monthly tenancy. The cottage was purchased in the sale of 18 October 1920, but it was not bought by Charlotte, as she died on 9 September 1920 at the age of 74. It is possible that her son, Arthur, made the purchase.
Children
Simeon and Charlotte had two children:
1881- Arthur Simeon (became a bricklayer; married Alice Mary Meech in about 1906; resided at Hardington, Yeovil, and Ilminster; died in 1964);
1883- Susan (married Charles Leonard Candy, a railway employee, in 1909; resided at Eastleigh; died in 1958).
References
[1] Thomas and Susanna had another child, Frederick, who died in infancy in 1838.
[2] Death certificate of Emily Partridge.
[3] Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Admissions and Discharges, 1715-1925.
[4] The 21st Regiment of Foot was renamed The Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1881.
[5] Death certificate of William Partridge.
[6] Thomas’s wife, Susanna, died on 22 February 1873 at the age of 68.
[7] Pulman’s Weekly News, 21 June 1898, p.6.
