Introduction
William Purchase was a railroad labourer in April 1861, but later worked as a farm labourer. Unlike his brother, Albert, who served a 21-day prison sentence for assault, he was peaceful and law-abiding. He married Elizabeth Chick and had eight children, one of whom died of a parasitic infection. After his death, Elizabeth continued living at Hardington for about nine years before moving to Yeovil.
Birth
William was born at Hardington in 1842, the fifth child of seven children born to Robert and Ruth Purchase. His father was a farm labourer.
Occupations
By the age of 18, William was a railroad labourer. However, he soon changed to farm work and general labouring, which he continued for the rest of his life.
Death of father
In 1863, William’s father, Robert, was diagnosed with cancer. He was admitted to the Yeovil Workhouse, where he died on 6 May 1864 at the age of 56.[1]
Marriage
Two weeks later, on 22 May 1864, William married Elizabeth Chick at Hardington. William was about 22 years old, and Mary was about 21.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Samson and Mary Chick of West Chinnock. She had an unsettled childhood, and her maternal grandmother, Julia Rendell of Coker Hill, probably played a significant role in her upbringing.
Elizabeth may have lived with Julia and her husband, Bartholomew, from a young age, as she was there at the time of the 1851 census.[2] If she were living there permanently, she would have felt the impact of Bartholomew’s death in 1852.
Alternatively, Elizabeth may have gone to live with her grandmother after her mother died in 1857. The 1861 census shows Elizabeth living with her grandmother and working as a sailcloth weaver in a factory. Her grandmother died two months later.
Residence
After their marriage, William and Elizabeth settled at Hardington, residing in the High Street. They may have lived at Haselbury briefly, as their only son, Joseph, was born there in 1868. Their seven daughters were born at Hardington.
Crime
On 18 August 1874, William was with his brother, Albert, when Albert assaulted Thomas Farnham. When the case went to court three days later, William appeared as a witness for Albert, testifying that Albert had hit Farnham with the flat of his hand but not punched him.[3]
Family life
The 1881 census recorded seven children living at home, with the eighth born the following year. By April 1891, four of the daughters had left home to work in domestic service, and a fifth had died.
Death of daughter
On 25 March 1883, William and Elizabeth’s five-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, died from Ascariasis cerebral irritation, which was a parasitic infection.[4]
Death
William died on 5 November 1896 from heart disease at the age of 54.[5]
Elizabeth’s later life
After William’s death, Elizabeth continued to live at Hardington until about 1905. The 1901 census recorded her occupation as needlework. At that time, her youngest daughter, Frances, and a granddaughter, Florence, lived with her.
By April 1911, Elizabeth and Frances lived in a three-room house at 1 Mudford Road, Yeovil. Frances ran a dressmaking business from home.
Elizabeth died in 1927 at the age of 83.
Children
William and Elizabeth had one son, Joseph Purchase, and seven daughters. Their daughter Elizabeth died on 25 March 1883, at the age of five years and six months, and is commemorated on her father’s gravestone.
References
[1] Death certificate of Robert Purchase.
[2] The 1851 census describes Elizabeth as a “visitor”, but this term does not rule out the possibility that she was living there permanently.
[3] Western Gazette, 28 August 1874, p.6.
[4] Death certificate of Elizabeth Purchase.
[5] Death certificate of William Purchase.
