Introduction

Although Thomas Park only lived to be 51 years old, he was married three times. He worked as a farm labourer until his forties, when he shifted to the role of roadman. His residences included East Field Farmhouse and a house on Pig Hill. One of his daughters emigrated to Australia, two of his sons joined the army, and a third became an excavator in London.

Childhood

Thomas was born at Hardington around June 1840, the first of eight children born to John and Elizabeth Park.[1] His family lived in Barry Lane, where his father worked as a sailcloth weaver. By March 1851, they had moved closer to the parish church. Thomas’s paternal grandmother, Mary Park, lived with the family until her death in December 1864.

First marriage

On 26 March 1860, Thomas married Elizabeth Wakely at Hardington. Thomas was 19 years old, and Elizabeth was about 24. Elizabeth was the daughter of John and Anne Wakely and the sister of John Wakely.

They moved into a house near Manor Farm. Thomas worked as a farm labourer and Mary as a glover. Their first child was baptised at Hardington church on 1 July 1860.

By April 1871, they had moved to East Field Farm, where they lived with their six children. Another child was born eight months later.

All the children were baptised at Hardington church, but Emily, John and George were baptised together on 5 June 1870, suggesting a relaxation in the family’s religious observance during the 1860s.

Death of first wife

Elizabeth died on 15 November 1873 from bronchitis and childbirth complications at the age of 37.[2] Her death left Thomas caring for seven children under the age of thirteen.

Second marriage

On 18 March 1876, Thomas married Elizabeth Marsh, the daughter of William and Hester Marsh, at Hardington. Thomas was 35, and Elizabeth was about 48.

By April 1881, the family lived near the bakery at the foot of Pig Hill, Hardington Moor. By this time, two of Thomas’s children had left home to work as domestic servants—Ellen at Paddington and Emily at Kingsbury Episcopi. In 1883, Emily emigrated to Australia. During the 1880s, the remaining children also left home, with two of the sons joining the army.

Elizabeth died in 1887 at the age of about 59.[3]

Third marriage

Later the same year, Thomas married Harriet Bagwell, a widow of a shepherd, at Closworth.

Harriet originally came from Dawlish in Devon and had spent many years in domestic service, including a position at Sutton Bingham, before marrying her first husband late in life.

Roadman

Thomas continued working as a farm labourer until the late 1880s. When he married in 1887, he gave his occupation as “Contractor.” The 1891 census recorded him as a “Roadman.”

Death

Thomas died on 29 October 1891 from cardiac disease and “cerebral congestion” at the age of 51.[4] His death was registered under the name “Thomas Hearn Park,” but the middle name “Hearn” does not appear in other records.[5]

Harriet’s later life

Harriet lived on Pig Hill until at least 1911. She died after 1914, possibly at or near Shepton Mallet in 1917.

Children

Thomas and his first wife had seven children:

1860- Ann (married John Eastment of Hardington at Wimborne in 1887; died at Portsea in 1901);

1862- Ellen (worked as a domestic servant in London; married Eldred Jesse Neale, a quarryman, in about 1916; resided at Prestleigh; died in 1951);

Circa 1864- Emily Elizabeth (emigrated to Australia in 1883; died in 1934);

Circa 1866- John (enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry in 1885; became a railway labourer at Doulting and later a quarryman at Shepton Mallet; married Emily Mary Neale, Eldred’s sister, in 1890; died in 1933);

Circa 1868- George Robert (enlisted in the Dorset Regiment; married Louisa Thorne in 1894; died at Dorchester in 1898);

Circa 1870- Alice Henrietta (married Adam Allen in 1895; died at Portsmouth in 1901);

1871- Charles William (became an excavator in London; married Florence Maud Davies in 1894; died in 1953).

References

[1] Death registered Yeovil Q2 1840; baptised 12 June 1840; age recorded as 12 months in 1841 census.

[2] Death certificate of Elizabeth Park.

[3] Civil Registration Death Index (age recorded as 56).

[4] Death certificate of Thomas Park.

[5] The individual who registered Thomas’s death may have intended to highlight that John Park, Thomas’s father, was born out of wedlock to Mary Park (née Hearne) after her spouse had been dead for several years.