William Park was a thatcher from the 1870s to 1915.

William was born in Hardington in late 1858/early 1859, the son of John and Elizabeth Park.

His father, John, took up thatching in the 1860s, having previously been a sailcloth weaver. William had joined him in the craft by April 1881. Both men were employed rather than self-employed. The Portman Estate may have employed them.

In November 1886, William was imprisoned for one month for not paying Harriet Eastment maintenance for a child.[1]

William’s father died in 1897. William and his sister, Elizabeth, continued living in the family home, a four-roomed cottage near the church, number 335.

On 11 November 1907, William married Fanny Kate Elliott, the daughter of a dairyman of Pykes Mill, Crewkerne. William was 48, while Fanny was 34. At about the same time, William’s sister, Elizabeth, married Charles Milton.

William died in 1915, aged 56; Fanny died in 1920, aged 47.

Children

William and Fanny had two daughters: Julia Fanny Elizabeth and Emily Elliot F. In June 1921, Emily was a patient at Yatton Hall, Yatton. Sadly, she died later in the year, aged 11.

References

[1] Western Chronicle, 26 November 1886, p.6.