Introduction

Thomas Rendell was one of Hardington’s early railway packers or navvies. He moved to the village from East Chinnock after marrying Emily Purchase in 1860. Their relationship was troubled, and after he violently attacked her, Emily sought protection from the magistrates. This may have prompted him to abandon his family.

Birth

Thomas was born at East Chinnock around 1836, the sixth of ten children born to John and Ann Rendell. His father, John, was a thatcher.

Marriage

On 30 June 1860, Thomas married Emily Purchase at Hardington. At the time, Thomas was about 24 years old, while Emily was about 27.

Emily was the daughter of Robert and Ruth Purchase. Her father, Robert, was a farm labourer. Nine years before her marriage, Emily had worked as a servant at Lark Hill Farm, Yeovil.

Children

Five months before her marriage, on 24 January 1860, Emily had an illegitimate son, William Thomas. It is unclear whether Thomas was the father. After their marriage, she had a second son, Walter George, on 24 August 1861, and a third child, Sarah Elizabeth, towards the end of 1863.  

Occupation

After their marriage, Thomas and Emil settled at Hardington. The 1861 census recorded Thomas as a railway packer living in Barry Lane with his family.

Domestic violence

On the evening of Sunday, November 24, 1864, Thomas returned home at 10 o’clock and struck Emily in the face after a disagreement. Her injuries were severe enough for her to decide to press charges against him for assault. At the Yeovil County Police Court two days later, Emily testified that Thomas had ordered her to get out of bed to apply liniment to his back. When she refused but offered to help him if he came to bed, he hit her hard in the face, causing her nose to bleed and instilling fear for her life. In his defence, Thomas claimed he merely “tapped” her face jokingly after she threw a cup at him, which cut his face. He complained to the magistrates that Emily was too close to her mother, which made their home life uncomfortable, and that she never prepared his breakfast before he left for work at seven. The magistrates advised them to live peacefully together and bound Thomas to keep the peace for six months, with a surety of £10. A newspaper account of this case contained crude misogyny, referring to Emily as “a vixenish looking woman.”[1] Following this incident, Thomas Rendell appears to have disappeared from the records, suggesting that he may have abandoned his family.

Emily’s later life

Emily’s father died in the Yeovil workhouse from cancer on 6 May 1864.[2] By April 1871, Emily and her three children were living with her mother at Hill End, where Emily worked as a flax weaver. Her son, Walter George, lived with his uncle, Charles Milton, at Culmstock.

In 1875, Emily had a fourth child, Susan Ellen, fathered by an unknown man.

Emily died in the Union workhouse on 8 June 1877 from cancer of the uterus at the age of 44.[3]

References

[1] Frome Times, 4 December 1861, p.3.

[2] Death certificate of Robert Purchase.

[3] Death certificate of Emily Rendell.