The Atkins Odyssey |
| Thomas James Chard (1811 – 1874) James Atkins Chard's father The precise date of Thomas James' birth or baptism is unconfirmed, but supporting evidence indicates that he was born in 1811 at Hense Moor in Gullylane, Luppitt. |
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| The Blackdown Hills Parishes. Compiled around 1850, this detailed land survey shows the Devonshire parishes where James Atkins Chard's ancestors lived. Hense Moor (circled) is in Luppitt parish which borders those of Hemyock, Clayhidon, Dunkeswell, Upottery and Churchstanton. Map courtesy of Colchester, Essex: History Data Service. |
In the Chard family's time at Southey farm, Churchstanton's population had grown considerably, largely due to the activities revolved around the Stapley mill. In the year that Thomas James was born, Buckland Bluett, the rector of St Peter and St Paul church in Churchstanton, conducted his own parish census. |
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| Churchstanton's population in 1811. |
Growing up on the Luppitt moorlands was challenging because his parents were experiencing diminishing returns from farming compared to previous generations. For young Thomas, better prospects arose from living nearer to the Churchsanton mill in Stapley. By the time he was 15, he was residing in Biscombe and employed as a labourer at the mill. Two years later he was married to a fellow mill worker and his Luppitt neighbour Mary Warren Atkins. |
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| Thomas Chard's marriage to Mary Warren Atkins in Churchstanton's St Peter and St Paul church in 1828. Image courtesy of Somerset Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914. |
THE ATKINS FAMILY - James Atkins Chard's maternal ancestry |
| James Atkings (born about 1690) Mary Warren Atkins' great great grandfather The precise date of James' birth or baptism cannot be verified, but supporting evidence indicates that he was born in Dorset. The details of his marriage are unknown but baptisms for three children, James, Joseph and Lydia can be confirmed to have been performed at St. Nicholas Church of England, Silton, Dorset in 1708. |
| James Atkins (1708 – 1796) Mary Warren Atkins' great grandfather James' baptism, together with those of his siblings Joseph and Lydia were performed at St. Nicholas Church of England, Silton, Dorset on the 11th of December 1708. |
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| James Atkins' baptism in St. Nicholas Church of England, Silton, Dorset in 1708. Image courtesy of Dorset Church of England Parish Registers. |
It is uncertain whether the Atkins odyssey includes the whole family, but at the time of his marriage, James was a resident of Axminster, Devon – a distance of approximately 58 Km south west from where he was born. At the age of 28 he married Mary MICHELL (1712 – 1785) also a resident of Axminster, the ceremony performed [1] on the 13th of April 1737 at the Church of England, Hawkchurch, Dorset. Following their marriage, James and Mary carried on the family journey by relocating to Membury, Devon, a parish within the Axminster Hundred. It was here in the Church of St John the Baptist that their eldest son, James (1738 – 1814), was baptised. This generation of the family farmed in Membury for over twenty years before removing to the neighbouring parish of Luppitt. Mary died at Ararat farm, Gullylane in 1785 with James surviving her by 11 years, both being buried at St. Mary's church graveyard. |
| James Atkins (1738 – 1814) Mary Warren Atkins' grandfather James spent his younger years with his parents grazing cattle and sheep in the parish of Membury. At the age of 31 he married Hope DUNSCOMBE (1740 – 1810), the ceremony being performed [2] at St. John the Baptist Church, Membury, Devon on the 6th of June 1769. The couple remained in the area for the birth of their first child James (1770 – 1838) but then, along with James' parents, removed to the neighbouring Devon parish of Luppitt, taking up residence at Ararat farm in Gullylane. It was here that Hope gave birth [3, 4] to another two children, Abraham (1771 – 1837) and Mary (1773 – 1843). Hope died in March 1810 at the age of 70 whilst her husband James lived another three years. Both were buried at St. Mary's church graveyard. It is through James' and Mary's daughter Mary and her descendants that our family heritage continues. |
| Mary Atkins (1773 – 1843) Mary Warren Atkins' mother Mary was raised to adulthood in a predominately dairy farming community with fewer than 600 [5] residents. Life on Ararat farm brought Mary many joyful moments, particularly in 1791, when her oldest brother James wed a local girl [6], and Mary, then an impressionable 18-year-old, became an aunt later that same year. By 1801, Mary is an aunt four times over and also pregnant with her own child. Born out of wedlock, a girl named Mary Warren Atkins was baptised on the 5th of January the following year in Luppitt's St Mary’s Parish Church. The father, George Warren was entered on Luppitt's list of Bastardry Orders [7, 8] in 1802. George was James Atkins Chard's maternal grandfather. The next few years saw Mary become a housekeeper to William and Rachael Burrough in Dunkeswell and during her servitude fell pregnant to William's son Edward. Again, born out of wedlock, a girl named Elizabeth Burrough Atkins was born in 1810. The child was eventually baptised on the 12th of April 1812 in Luppitt's St Mary’s Parish Church. |
Although no evidence can be discovered to support the fact it would seem that Mary and Edward did indeed marry in Dunkeswell after the birth of Elizabeth. Their son James (1813 -1871) appears on the 1841 census records as a “Burrough” born in Dunkeswell. Further boys, Joseph (1814 – 1855) and John (1816 – 1901) followed for the Dunkeswell Burrough family. |
During the next few years Mary and Edward farmed at Gulleyhayes, a neighbouring property to the Atkins' Ararat. It is uncertain how long the couple stayed together, but by the England census of 1841 Edward is registered as a farm labourer at Dunkeswell Abbey whilst Mary and her 30-year-old son James are recorded at Gulleyhayes. Their other two boys, Joseph and John had chosen to follow their father and were both married by 1840, settling in Hemyock and Dunkeswell Abbey respectively. |
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| Portion of the Luppitt Tithe Apportionments, mapped in 1842, show Gulleyhayes farm (shaded blue) and Ararat farm (shaded pink). Note: After Mary Atkins' brother James' death in 1838, Ararat farm was owned by James Griffin, but it was back in the hands of James Atkins' son (James) by the census of 1851. Image courtesy of the Luppitt History Group. |
Mary continued farming in Luppitt until she died [9] in 1843, aged 70. Gulleyhayes and Ararat farms remained in the Burrough and Atkins families until the middle 1860's. |
| Mary Warren Atkins (1801 – 1870) James Atkins Chard's mother Mary was baptised in St Mary’s Church, Luppitt on the 5th of January 1802. Base born at Ararat farm, she was 9 weeks old. |
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| Left: St Mary’s Parish Church (c1896), photographed by Alfred Newton. Right: The Gulleyhayes Longhouse. Images courtesy of English Heritage Monuments and the Luppitt History Group. |
Although it was common in rural English communities at that time for children to be born outside of marriage, it was rare for the father to be held responsible. In Mary's situation, her father, George Warren, was publicly named and recorded on Luppitt's list of Bastardry Orders providing her with a modest stipend so long as she resided within the parish until she was 18. George however had no further involvement in Mary's upbringing as her mother opted to move away from Luppitt gaining employment as a housekeeper in Dunkeswell. Effectively, infant Mary was raised by her grandparents, primarily living with her uncle and aunt and her three older cousins on Ararat farm. During her first ten years, young Mary assisted with dairy chores and learned the skills of spinning and weaving. In 1810, the eight-year-old experienced major changes in her life: first, her 70-year-old grandmother passed away, and then she was introduced to her new baby sister Elizabeth. Born in circumstances mirroring her own, the two girls bonded from day one and spent the next decade with their uncle James and auntie Mary at Ararat farm. It was around 1820 when Mary Warren departed Luppitt for Churchstanton finding lodgings with James and Mary Knight in Redlane and gainful employment at Stapley mill. Many of her workmates came from Luppitt, but one young carter named Thomas Chard captured her attention and subsequently her hand in marriage. |
References
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