The Edgell Family Story
Part 1
This
is the story of a family from Somerset in the English West Country who, for
various reasons, emigrated in the mid 19th century to South Africa
and the USA.
The
parents of the émigrés were Joseph
Edgell and Sarah Tucker. They
were born and grew up in the area of the Somerset Coalfield. Several of their
relatives were coal miners or in some other way connected with the industry –
Joseph himself was carter for a coal owner.
The Bristol and Somerset coalfield stretched from
Cromhall in the north to the Mendips in the south, and from Bath in the east to
Nailsea in the west, a total area of about 240 square miles.
The coal was probably exploited by the Romans and
there is documentary evidence for pits in the area in the 13th
century. In the 1700s, the Old Pit at Radstock was over 1,000 feet deep. The
heyday of the coalfield was the early to mid 19th century, after
which decline set in and by the time of nationalisation in the 1940s, only
thirteen pits remained. As demand for coal fell, more pits were closed and the
last two, Kilmersdon and Writhlington, ceased working in September 1973.
Joseph
and Sarah’s story will be told later, but the first – Sarah’s parentage…
Benjamin Tucker was born about 1791 at Kilmersdon, Somerset[1],
and on 25 October 1815 he married Mary
Selway at St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington, Somerset[2];
he was described a marine. (His obituary in 1853 says he was “in the army at
the taking of Algiers”, presumably on board one of the ships during the naval
bombardment of 1816[3].)
The
known children of Benjamin and Mary, who were all baptised at Writhlington, were:
·
Martha Tucker (bpt
13 April 1834[16])
·
“Esau Tucker”
[probably Grace Tucker] (bpt 11 April 1837[17])
A transcription of the Writhlington
parish records given in FreeREG uses the name Esau Tucker, but there is no
further record of such a person. In the 1841 and 1851 censuses, the name Grace
Tucker, born 1837, appears.
The
baptismal records for all these children except the last gave Benjamin Tucker’s
occupation as coalminer; for Esau/Grace, Benjamin was described as “Bailiff of
Coalworks”, a designation that appears in later censuses and on children’s
marriage certificates.
Benjamin
and his surviving family – Mary, Henry, Sarah, Ann, Martha and Grace – were in
Writhlington in 1841[18]
Mary
Tucker died at the end of 1841 was buried at Writhlington on 16 December aged
50[19]. Benjamin
remarried the following year.
Benjamin
Tucker’s second wife was Kezia Bourne (nee Shearn) and they were married at
Holy Trinity St Philip Bristol on 6 September 1842[20].
Kezia
Shearn was baptised on 25 January 1801 at St John the Baptist, Midsomer Norton,
the eldest child of Charles Shearn and Harriet (nee Henton)[21].
Kezia
Shearn married George Bourne, a coalminer, on 30 August 1823 at St Nicholas, Radstock[22].
George was the son of Thomas and Mary Bourne and had been baptised at Radstock
on 14 July 1799[23].
Kezia and
George Bourne were witnesses to the marriage of Abel Tucker on 22 November 1823
at Radstock[24]
Kezia
and George Bourne were known to have had one child:
Charles Shearn Bourne (bpt 10 February
1833 at Radstock[25]),
who was to marry Sarah Ann Carter on 29 November 1863 at Walcot St Swithin Bath[26].
George
Bourne died and was buried at Radstock on 14 June 1839[27].
Following
Kezia’s marriage to Benjamin Tucker in 1842, the couple lived in Writhlington
where Benjamin continued as bailiff of the coalworks. Their known children
were:
Harriet Shearn Tucker. The burial record
transcription given in FreeREG is: Thirza Shearn Tucker 26 May 1844 aged 4
months (Harriet’s approximate age, judging by the date of her baptism), whereas
the death in Q2 1844 was registered as Harriet Shearn Tucker
Kezia and
Benjamin Tucker were witnesses to the marriage of James Horsey and Ann Plumer
(nee Martin) on 13 August 1844 at Writhlington[32]
Benjamin Tucker died on 17
October 1853 aged 63 and was buried at Writhlington three days later[33]. The
same obituary appeared in both Bath
Chronicle & Weekly Gazette (on 17 November 1853) and Wells Journal (19 November 1853)[34].
“Oct 17 at Radstock, Benjamin
Tucker, aged 63. He was in the army at the taking of Algiers, and since then he
has been bailiff at the Writhlington Coal Works for upwards of 20 years.”
At
the beginning of 1854, Kezia married Thomas Ponton[35],
a labourer from Warminster in Wiltshire, born about 1796, and they went to live
in Radstock where Kezia died at the end of 1861 (she was buried at St Nicholas,
Radstock on 1 January 1862)[36]. Thomas
died four and half years later and was buried at St Nicholas on 26 June 1866[37].
Although the name given in the index to
the register of marriages for her third husband's is Thomas Ponton, the 1861
census, which seems to be full of mistakes, calls her husband “William
Pointing”[38].
Kezia’s own Christian name is misspelt and it is only the presence of Thirza
Tucker, described as daughter, that confirms the entry is that for Kezia and
Thomas. The death registration and the burial register both give the name was
Thomas Ponton.
[1] 1851 England Census Class HO107;
Piece 1932; Folio 815; Page 11; GSU roll 221090-221091 (Ancester.com 1851 Census
Somerset>Writhlington>District 6>image 9)
[2]
Ancestry.com England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 Writhlington,
Somerset, England FHL file No 1526122; FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene,
Writhlington marriages Reg No 7 PR File No 28625 BT File No 28716
[3] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 17
November 1853; Wells Journal 19
November 1853
[4]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 51 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[6]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 82 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[8]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 122 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[9] FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 33 PR File No 28719 BT File No
28660
[10]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 153 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[11] La Crosse Tribune Wisconsin 21 May 1908
[12]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 175 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[13] FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 163 PR File No 28719; England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index,
1837-1915 Bath Q3 1848 Vol 11 p3 (via Ancestry.com)
[14]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 204 PR File No
28842 BT File No 28791
[15] FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 61 PR File No 28719 BT File No
28660
[16]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 231 PR File No
28842
[17] FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 280 PR File No 28842
[18] 1841 England Census Class HO107; Piece 948; Book 10; Civil Parish Writhlington; County Somerset; Enumeration District 5; Page 1;
Line 17; GSU roll 474600 (Ancestry.com 1841 Census Somerset>
Writhlington>District 5>image 2)
[19]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 122 PR File No
28719
[20] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index,
1837-1915 Clifton Q3 1842 Vol 11 p315 (via Ancestry.com); England, Select
Bristol Parish Registers, 1538-1900 FHL Film No 4178797
[21]
FreeREG.org.uk St John the Baptist, Midsomer Norton baptisms PR File No 17964;
FreeREG.org.uk St John the Baptist, Midsomer Norton marriages BT File No 18026
[22] FreeREG.org.uk
St Nicholas, Radstock marriage Reg No 75 PR File No 28424 BT File No28681
[23] FreeREG.org.uk
St Nicholas, Radstock baptisms PR File No 28739
[24]
FreeREG.org.uk St Nicholas, Radstock marriage Reg No 77 PR File No 28424 BT
File No28681
[25]
FreeREG.org.uk St Nicholas, Radstock baptisms Reg No 60 PR File No 28739 BT
File No 28882
[26] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index,
1837-1915 Bath Q4 1863 Vol 5c p1239 (via Ancestry.com)
[27] FreeREG.org.uk
St Nicholas, Radstock burials Reg No 547 PR File No 28879
[28]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 392 PR File No
28842
[29] FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 144 PR File No 28719
[30]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington baptisms Reg No 418 PR File No
28842
[32]
FreeREG.org.uk St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington marriages Reg No 19 PR File No
28625
[33] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index,
1837-1915 Frome Q4 1853 Vol 5c p373 (via Ancestry.com) FreeREG.org.uk
St Mary Magdalene, Writhlington burials Reg No 188 PR File No 28719
[34] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 17
November 1853; Wells Journal 19
November 1853
[35] England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index,
1837-1915 Frome Q1 1854 Vol 5c p881 (via Ancestry.com)
[36] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index,
1837-1915 Clutton Q1 1862 Vol 5c p475 (via Ancestry.com); FreeREG.org.uk
St Nicholas, Radstock burials Reg No 521 PR File No 28879
[37] England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index,
1837-1915 Clutton Q2 1866 Vol 5c p463 (via Ancestry.com); FreeREG.org.uk
St Nicholas, Radstock burials Reg No 740 PR File No 28879
[38] 1861 England Census Class RG 9; Piece 1681; Folio 40; Page 25; GSU roll 542850 Ancestry.com 1861 Census
Somerset>Radstock>District 10>image 25)
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