Continuation of the Dorset line
Robert I son of William and Eleanor
Of
Hilton and Buckland Newton
Born
1714
Married Susana Coombes
Robert and Susana appear to have had only two
children Luce and William, which was another case of this branch of the family
only surviving by a shoestring.
There does
not appear to be much on the records regarding Robert only that he is referred
to in the records as being a yeoman of Buckland Newton and Hilton.
Robert it appears was the first of the family
to be christened at Mappowder his parents however do not appear to have lived
there.
William VI
of
Buckland Newton
Born
1745
Married
Fanny 1779
After the death of Robert, Williams father,
there appears to be no mention of the family living at Hilton after this time
the family appears to have been mainly centred on Buckland Newton with some
involvement in other surrounding villages including Duntish, Mappowder and
Plush.
William and Fanny had four children Susana,
John, James, William and Robert.
Robert II
Born
1783
Died
1847 aged 64
Married
Eleanor Tizzard 1808
Robert and
Eleanor had seven children Susana, Mary, Thomas, William, Joseph, James, and
Robert,
From this it is easy to understand that from
here on, the various farms would not be of sufficient size to support such a
large family and this would lead to the family becoming more wide spread.
Around this period there were more printed
records, in one such a record which was a directory of the area, giving the names of trades people and farmers, Robert was
listed as being a dairy man and
general store owner of Mappowder. Whether they lived in Mappowder or not it is
not clear. In the same directory there is a reference to their son Joseph being
a miller and storekeeper also a smallholder and as being of Duntish and
Buckland Newton.
At one time the store at Mappowder appears
to have been run jointly by Eleanor and her son James, at around this time
James’s nephews wife Caroline worked there as a sub-postmistress, James appears
to have run the shop and a farm until his death in 1896, Caroline’s husband was
the village blacksmith.
Due to the
foregoing it would appear that during Robert’s
lifetime that they had diversified from being just farmers into local
businessmen, and thus it would
appear that they had
what under
normal circumstances, would have been a very thriving enterprise going in this
small community. But with this amount of children to support the going must
have been tough.
In the
villages at that time the general store would have been the mainstay of local
life, they would not only have sold essential foodstuffs, but also tools
ironmongery, drapery and sewing and dressmaking material, and they would have
also acted as agents for farmers and others who wanted to purchase larger items
from outside the locality and through arrangement with the local carrier for
the purchase and delivery of goods for ordinary villagers from shops in Dorchester
and Blandford.
As with a number of his ancestors I have not
been able to ascertain the exact date of Roberts death but I believe it to have
been around about 1881.
The time
of death of a great number of family members, was not recorded unless they left
a will, the reason being that, they were nearly all nonconformists for a great
number of years, and in the earlier days some being Anabaptists, and later on
Wesleyans.
Most of the present day Dorset family appear
to have descended from Roberts’s two sons Robert and William, as will be seen
from the family tree.
William VII
Born
1818
Married
1 Sarah Jeans 1841
2 Martha Tucker 1858
William appears to have had five children with
Sarah, these were John 1842, Robert 1844, Fanny 1846, James 1848, Priscilla,
1851, and with Martha, Frederic 1861.
Robert III
Born
1814
Died
1906 aged 91
Married
Harriet Jeans 1836
It is rather difficult to compile any accounts
on the last three these later generations due to the large number of offspring.
I have however I hope been able to include most of them on the family tree up
until approximately 1888,
As
mentioned in an earlier paragraph, for at least the last three generations of
that period the family diversified into new occupations, among these was
operating the mill at Duntish, one of the miller members of the family, I do
not who, but was an uncle of my father. Utilised his skill at recutting the
mill stones, to carry on a second trade of Stonemason, various members of this
early family also became, Shoemakers, Blacksmiths, Gardeners, farm Bailiffs
etc.
Quite often some these earlier kinsmen still
maintained small farms whilst carrying out these other occupations. Later on
most of the younger generation moved away into the towns notably Bournemouth,(
which was by the now a relatively new and fast growing town) and also
Dorchester . Bridport and Weymouth.
A very interesting fact, that does not
appear in the records, which is purely anecdotal and as related by the older
generation, it is that, the family at that time contained, quite a number of
accomplished country musicians, at least in the case of Robert III's family, who were in great demand at local functions particularly noted for
their flute and fiddle playing, at least one of them was also a very adept
concertina player (A type of small
accordion) which in those days was a relatively new instrument.
.