In April 1871, William Pitcher, aged 34, was a sawyer at Lyatts.
Early life at West Coker
William was born at West Coker in about 1836. He was the eldest son of William, a sawyer, and his wife, Elizabeth.
In March 1851, William was a servant living with his parents in Yeovil Road, West Coker. In April 1861, he was a sawyer living with his parents at West Coker.
On 4 February 1864, at Odcombe, William married Susan Rodber, the daughter of a blacksmith.
Life at Hardington
William and his family moved to Hardington between August 1866 and April 1871. In April 1871, they lived at Lyatts.
In November 1874, Susan died at age 31.
In the fourth quarter of 1875, William married Ruth Hull of East Coker. She was the daughter of Jabez Hull, a woodman employed by the Helyar family, who William probably met regularly when buying timber.
Return to West Coker
William and Ruth moved to West Coker between February 1875 and April 1881. The move may have followed the death of William’s father in December 1878.
In April 1881, William worked as a sawyer in West Coker village. By April 1891, he had become a timber dealer and employer.
On 21 March 1889, he had a public auction of timber, which included the sale of a hoisting jack, timber carriage, wagon, putt, and roan cart horse.[1]
Ruth died on 10 May 1899, aged 67. The newspaper notice of her death gives her address as Castle Terrace.[2]
In March 1901, William was a sawyer living in the household of his daughter, Phillis, in the High Street at West Coker. He died in August 1905, aged 69.
Children
William and his first wife, Susan, had four children: Thomas Edwin, Sarah, Kate and Phillis.
Appendix 1-William Pitcher’s character
William’s life was not without drama and tension. His lack of self-control often led to violent outbursts, especially when he was under the influence of drink. Four court cases shed light on this aspect of his character.
On 2 August 1865, William was fined 10s and 5s costs for injuring Mary Dalmount, the wife of the landlord of the Forester’s Arms.[3] William had gone to the pub with his brother the previous Saturday and drank two pints of beer. The two brothers started to quarrel, breaking glasses and overturning chairs. When the landlord tried to break up the fighting, he was set upon and had his hair pulled and his leg injured. Coming to his aid, his wife ordered William to leave. He then seized her by the hair of the head, kicked her in the leg, and dragged her out to the garden. Fortunately, some men intervened to protect her. One witness said that what William failed to do with his hands and feet, he did with his teeth.
William’s brother was Nathaniel, who, at the time of the incident, was about 19, while William was ten years older. It is impossible to know what the argument between the two brothers was about, but it may have concerned business because Nathaniel was a carpenter. A few years later, Nathaniel worked as an estate carpenter for the Helyar family at East Coker, serving them for nearly forty years, up to his death in February 1909. Possibly, he had alluded to his wish to leave the family business that night in the Forester’s Arms and met violent opposition from his brother.
On 25 July 1872, William was in court again, this time as a result of an action by Sidney White to obtain full payment of the compensation that was due to him following an assault by William.[4] A few weeks earlier, while drinking at the New Inn, West Coker, the men quarrelled, and William struck White on the mouth with a cup, knocking out two or three of his teeth and loosening others, for which injury White required medical care from Dr Parsons and a considerable break from work. William had agreed to pay £4 plus costs following earlier legal action. He had paid £2-9s, and White sought to recover the balance of £2, which the court awarded him.
The third court case provides evidence of another pub brawl and William’s willingness to use guile and intimidation to extract money from an unsuspecting neighbour.[5] On 1 April 1873, he visited Henry Jeans on his allotment at Cold Harbour, Hardington. With him were George Hutchings, who pretended to be the parish constable, and George’s brother, Peter Hutchings. William produced a document which he claimed was a warrant for Jeans’s arrest. Jeans, believing they were there to arrest for an earlier row with William at the White Post Inn, paid them 7s to avoid a trip to the Yeovil lock-up.
Jeans later discovered the deception, and William and the two Hutchings brothers were charged with obtaining money by false pretences. In court, William said that he was seeking compensation for the injuries Jeans had inflicted on him at the White Post Inn. The Hutchings brothers claimed that their main concern was to reach an amicable settlement. The Bench let them off with a warning and ordered them to repay the 7s.
The fourth case involved a dispute with a former employee.[6] On 7 July 1897, the Yeovil County Petty Sessions heard how William had made several threats to kill John Guppy, his former employee. William employed Guppy until November last, after which Guppy set up on his own account. On 27 May at about 8.30, after coming out of the church where he had been bellringing, Guppy ran into William, who got down from his trap, took off his coat and threatened to kill him, saying, “If I can’t kill him, I will shoot him”. William uttered similar threats against Guppy at Mr Voizey’s shop and the New Inn. Herbert Voizey, saddler, confirmed that he heard the threat in his shop on 2 June. William interrupted witnesses so much that his solicitor left the court. William said that he did not know anything about threats but said he and Guppy had fought in the public house while drunk. The Bench ordered William to find sureties of £10 to keep the peace for six months and pay the costs of £2 4s 6d.
William was also fined on two separate occasions for highway offences. In June 1888, he was fined 20s and 4s 6d costs for leaving his horse and cart unattended at West Coker. He said that while transacting business and “refreshing the inner man,” the horse walked homewards.[7] In July 1897, he was fined 5s for obstructing Yeovil High Street with a timber carriage.[8]
William had a gentler side to his character, too. In January 1884, he won second prize for his entry in the foreign bird class of a caged bird exhibition held in Yeovil, the seventh of its kind organised by the Yeovil and Somerset County Poultry, Pigeon and British and Foreign Cage Bird Association.[9] He also enjoyed tending his allotment, winning prizes from the Live and Let Live Labourers’ Friend Society in September 1885 and September 1886.[10]
Appendix 2-Voting lists for West Coker
1886 Martin and Gould, occupiers
1888-1894 William Pitcher was an ownership elector for freehold cottages at West Coker.
1896-98 William Pitcher was a Division 1 elector for a dwelling house at West Coker
1902 Nothing
References
[1] Western Gazette, 8 March 1889, p.5.
[2] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser,17 May 1899, p.8.
[3] Western Gazette, 4 August 1865, p.7.
[4] Western Gazette, 26 July 1872, p.5.
[5] Western Gazette, 18 April 1873, p.7.
[6] Western Gazette, 9 July 1897, p.6.
[7] Western Chronicle, 22 June 1888, p.5.
[8] Western Gazette, 9 July 1887, p.6.
[9] Western Gazette, 25 January 1884, p.3.
[10] Western Gazette, 2 October 1885, p.8; 24 September 1886, p.7.