Introduction
Tom Marsh’s life combined mobility with a strong attachment to his Somerset roots. Born into a long-established Hardington family, he spent part of his working life away from the village, finding employment first on the railways and later in the rapidly expanding dock town of Barry in South Wales. After returning to Somerset, he endured the loss of his first wife and may have served in the army during the First World War. At the age of sixty, he began a new chapter by marrying a much younger woman and becoming the father of two more daughters.
Early life
Tom Marsh was born on 10 January 1861 at Hardington Marsh, the fourth of ten children born to Albert Marsh and his wife Hester (née Eastment).[1] His birth was registered, and he was baptised simply as “Tom,” rather than “Thomas,” showing that the name was not a later abbreviation. However, some records refer to him as Thomas. Both of his parents belonged to long-established village families. Albert worked as a farm labourer throughout his life, while Hester was employed as a glover before her marriage.
In February 1877, Tom appeared before the magistrates alongside his elder brother James and another village youth, John Delamont. The three were accused of assaulting John Abbott after he had been ejected from a public house for being drunk. According to the evidence, the Marsh brothers threw mud at Abbott while Delamont struck him and knocked him to the ground. All three were convicted and fined one shilling each with costs. The light penalty suggests that the magistrates regarded the incident as youthful misconduct rather than a serious offence, and there is no evidence that Tom came before the courts again.[2]
A more significant event occurred on 8 April 1885 when his father died from cancer of the tongue at the age of fifty-three.[3] By this time, Tom was twenty-four years old and beginning to establish his own life.
Railway labourer at Shepton Mallet
At some point during the 1880s, Tom left Hardington and moved to Shepton Mallet. His departure reflected a broader pattern of rural migration as young labourers sought better opportunities outside agriculture. In Shepton, he found work as a railway labourer.
While living there, he met Maranetta Eckett, the daughter of a widowed silk weaver who lived at 6 Town Lane. Maranetta also worked in one of the town’s silk factories. The couple married at Shepton Mallet parish church on 2 April 1890. Maranetta signed the marriage register with a mark, indicating she could not write her name.
Dock labourer at Barry
During the 1890s, Tom joined the flow of workers attracted to Barry in South Wales. The opening of the Barry Docks in 1889 transformed the area into one of the fastest-growing industrial centres in Britain, leading to a massive demand for labour. Thousands of men, including those from rural areas and small towns, migrated there in search of employment.
By 1898, Tom and Maranetta were living at 19 Harvey Street, Barry, where their first daughter, Annie, was born on 19 March.[4] Although the precise nature of his work is unknown, he later described himself as a dock labourer, suggesting that he was employed in or around the docks during this period.
The family’s stay in South Wales was relatively brief. By 1902, they had returned to Shepton Mallet and were living in Garston Street, where their second daughter, Melita Charlotte, was born on 21 March.[5] In January 1907, Maranetta’s mother died, which severed a significant tie to the town.
Return to Hardington
In 1908, Tom returned to Hardington with his family. His daughters Annie and Melita were admitted to the village school on 26 October of that year.[6] The family occupied a four-room cottage at Hill End owned by Edward Beaumont, a grocer and sub-postmaster of Haselbury Plucknett.[7]
The 1911 census recorded Tom as a dock labourer, even though he had left Barry several years earlier. This description may indicate that he continued to identify with the occupation he followed in South Wales rather than with whatever local work he was undertaking at the time.
The following year brought tragedy. Maranetta was admitted to Crewkerne Hospital suffering from malignant disease of the liver and heart disease. She died there on 21 October 1912 at the age of forty-nine, leaving Tom a widower with two teenage daughters.[8]
West Coker and a second family
Tom may have served during the First World War. Pension records refer to a Thomas Marsh born in 1860 and residing at West Coker Hill, who served as a private in the Royal Defence Corps and was discharged on 25 March 1918. The age and place of residence closely match Tom’s circumstances, but this identification cannot be regarded as certain.[9]
By 1921, he was living at Coker Hill with his brother James and James’s wife. The census recorded him as unemployed, although he had previously worked as a builder’s labourer for W. Hallett of East Chinnock. By this time, his daughters had entered domestic service in Yeovil. Annie worked in a private household in Grove Avenue, while Melita was employed at the Nag’s Head Inn at Reckleford.
While living at West Coker, Tom became acquainted with Maud Alice Fudge, a woman twenty-eight years his junior. Maud had a son, Percy Walter, born out of wedlock in 1914, who was brought up by her parents at Coker Hill. On 4 December 1921, Tom and Maud married at West Coker parish church.
The marriage marked a new beginning for Tom. Fourteen days after the wedding, Maud gave birth to their daughter, Frances Maud.[10] A second daughter, Rosalind Mary, followed in 1923. At an age when many men were becoming grandparents, Tom had started a second family.
Final years
By 1939, Tom, Maud and their daughters were living at Dibbles Cottage, West Coker. Despite his age, Tom was still employed as a farm labourer, returning in later life to the occupation that had first provided his livelihood more than sixty years earlier.
Tom died in 1942 at the age of eighty-one. Maud probably died in the Yeovil registration district in late 1967 or early 1968, although the age recorded in the civil registration index appears to be inaccurate.
Tom’s elder daughter, Annie, married John Thomas Male, a moulder employed at Petters Ltd, in 1922. They settled at Grass Royal and raised four children before Annie’s death in 1951 at the age of fifty-three. His younger daughter, Melita, married Edwin Cox William, an engineer’s machinist, in 1925. By 1939, they were living in Bristol, where traces of their later lives became more difficult to follow.
Conclusion
Tom Marsh experienced more changes in his life than many rural labourers. Born into an agricultural family at Hardington Marsh, he left the village to work on the railways and later in the booming dock town of Barry before returning to Somerset. After the death of his first wife and possibly after a period of wartime service, his life entered a new phase with his second marriage. This union brought him two young daughters and significantly changed his later years. Despite these changes, he ultimately concluded his life much as he had begun it: living in the Somerset countryside and earning a living through agricultural labour.
References
[1] 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] Western Gazette 9 February 1877 p.7.
[3] Death certificate of Albert Marsh.
[4] Baptism register of Cadoxton-Juxta-Barry.
[5] Shepton Mallet baptism register; 1939 Register.
[6] Hardington School Admission Register.
[7] Guardian Valuation Lists.
[8] Death certificate of Maranetta Marsh.
[9] World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923.
[10] West Coker baptism register; 1939 Register.
