Introduction
Thomas Marsh held various occupations, including farm labourer, railway packer, dairyman, farmer, and innkeeper. He spent his early years in Hardington, where he became a railway packer by the age of 21. After getting married, the railway company provided him with a cottage at Kit Hill, Pendomer. In his late thirties, he shifted from railway work to agriculture, first working as a dairyman and later becoming a farmer. In his sixties and early seventies, he ran the Duke of Edinburgh Inn in East Coker. Thomas had an exceptionally large family, with a total of eighteen children, although sadly, seven of them died young.
Birth
Thomas was born at Hardington in 1839, the fifth of twelve children born to Joseph and Ann Marsh. His father, Joseph, was a weaver and later a farm labourer.
Early occupations
In March 1851, Thomas was a farm labourer at Hardington. By April 1861, he was a railway packer living at Hill End.
Character and hobbies
In the 1860s, Thomas appeared in court for two altercations. In September 1862, he was fined 10s for assaulting George Bartlett outside a pub.[1] In December 1866, he summoned Charles Gooch for assaulting him. The assault occurred when Thomas, a ganger on the railway, accused Gooch of stealing two locks.[2]
Thomas was a keen gardener, winning a prize of 6s for the high standard of his Pendomer allotment in 1870, 1873 and 1875.[3]
Marriage
On 31 May 1861, at Hardington, Thomas married Emily Partridge, the daughter of William and Ann Partridge of Hardington. At the time of their marriage, Thomas was 21 years old, and Emily was 17. Six months earlier, Emily had given birth to an illegitimate daughter, Emma.
Pendomer
Thomas and Emily spent the first fifteen or sixteen years of their married life at Pendomer. In April 1871, Thomas was a railway platelayer, and he and his family lived in one of the railway cottages at Kit Hill. By May 1876, he had become a dairyman.
Montacute
By 1878, Thomas and his family were living at Montacute.[4]
West Coker
By March 1879, they had moved to West Coker, and the 1881 census shows the family living at Feebarrow Dairy House.[5]
Abbotts Hill Farm, Pendomer
By September 1883, the family had returned to Pendomer.[6] In April 1891, they were living at Abbotts Hill Farm, a farm of 129.5 acres.
On Friday, 12 June 1890, Thomas returned to Hardington to attend the annual Club Day dinner in a marquee at the Royal Oak Inn.[7]
The period from 1886 to 1892 was a harrowing time for Thomas and Emily, as they lost five of their children: Emma in March 1886 at 25 years old, Thomas in August 1886 at 14, Jane in 1890 at 16, Mary Anne in March 1892 at 21 and James on 2 May 1892 at 17.[8] All were buried at Pendomer, except for Jane, who had married a year before her death.
During this same period, Thomas suffered a severe injury. On Friday, 3 June 1887, while in South Street, Yeovil, he lost control of his horse. In attempting to stop it, he fell, and the wheels of his cart rolled over him, breaking his thigh. He was taken to Dr Comer’s surgery nearby where his leg was set.[9]
In May 1895, Abbotts Hill Farm was on the market to let with immediate possession.[10]
Martock
Thomas and his family may have lived at Martock from 1895 to 1900.[11]
East Coker
By May 1900, Thomas was the innkeeper of the Duke of Edinburgh Inn, Yeovil Road, East Coker.[12] He and his family were still residing there in April 1911.
By April 1915, Edgar Payne was recorded as the landlord of the pub.[13]
Later life
Thomas and Emily have yet to be traced after 1911, as their common names pose a challenge for reliable identification.
Children
According to the 1911 census, Emily had given birth to eighteen children, of whom eleven were alive at that time. In addition to the five children who died between 1886 and 1892, Alice died in infancy in 1881, and there must have been a seventh child who passed away before 1911.
References
[1]Sherborne Mercury, 9 September 1862, p.6.
[2] Western Gazette, 7 December 1866, p.5.
[3] Western Gazette, 14 October 1870, p.7; 24 October 1873, p.7; 22 October 1875, p.6.
[4] The birthplace of Herbert Marsh, who was born in 1878.
[5] The birthplace of Fanny Marsh, who was born on 21 March 1879.
[6] Western Gazette, 14 September 1883, p.6.
[7][7] Western Gazette, 13 June 1890, p.7. The report mistakenly refers to “S. Marsh (Abbotts Hill Farm).”
[8] Western Chronicle, 13 May 1892, p.8.
[9] Bridport News, 10 June 1887, p.8.
[10] Western Gazette, 17 May 1895, p.5.
[11] Hardington voters’ lists.
[12] The previous landlord, Robert Ridout, had left by May 1900 (Western Chronicle, 11 May 1900, p.6).
[13] Western Chronicle, 9 April 1915, p.5.
