OCCUPANTS OF STONE, EXFORD, 1841—1891.
1841
Stone Farm
Mary Poole, widow, aged c 55 with her children Sarah c 20, William c 20 farmer, Thomas 18 labourer, Jane 15, and Elizabeth 13; her grandson Hugh Poole 1 and farm servants Richard Gregory aged c 25 and William Hole c 15 agricultural labourers.[1]
1851
Stone Farm
Henry Skinner aged 34 born at South Molton farmed 500a employing 7 labourers with his wife Harriet also aged 34 and born at North Molton.
They had several indoor servants: a housemaid Ann Newton aged 24, kitchen maid Ann Passmore aged 18 and Richard Gregory aged 39 all born at Exford. It is interesting that Richard had stayed on but as a house servant.
Their farmworkers also lived on the farm and comprised three agricultural labourers: Thomas Bowden a widower aged 55 born in Dalton, Devon, John How aged 21 born at Cutcombe and Richard Rawle aged 17 born at Linton, Devon; and cow boy Ephraim Newton aged 15 born in Exford.[2]
1861
Stone farm was divided.
Henry Skinner now aged 43 and saying he was born at Chittlehampton in Devon only farmed 15 a. with his wife Harriet now aged 46. Her unmarried sister Ann Yendall aged 37 and also born in North Molton lived with them working as a dairymaid. Henry and Harriet had four children all born in Exford; Sarah aged 7, Henry 5, Harriet 3 and William 6 months old.
William Hooper Vellacott aged 32 and born in Linton, Devon, son of James and Mary farmed 500 a. with his wife Hagnes {sic} aged 34 and born in Brendon, Devon, daughter of Richard and Mary Hobbs. William and Agnes had a daughter Jemima aged 1 and also born in Linton so the family were new arrivals at Stone. Jemima was named after William’s sister who had kept house for the family after their mother died. William was the son of James Vellacott of Linton and his wife Mary. The eldest child of William and Agnes, also William Hooper was living with his cousin Ann Marie Crick of Exford at their grandmother’s house in Linton. Ann Marie’s mother Mary had married Thomas Crick of Exford and may have persuaded her sister and brother-in-law to move there.
William and Agnes had five resident servants: Mary Ann Pollard aged 19, a dairymaid born at Porlock, Dorcas Rawle aged 14, a nurse born at Linton and had therefore probably moved with the family to Exford, John Burnell aged 20, a carter born in Exford, John Bale aged 17, ‘of all work’ born in Countisbury, Devon and William Hawkins 13 ‘of all work’ born in Exford.[3]
1871
The Skinners had moved to Braunton in Devon where Henry worked as a butcher and the whole of Stone, now 700 a. was farmed by William Vellacott now 41 with four men and a boy. William and Agnes now had five children at home. Jemima had been followed by Richard James Hooper born in 1862, Mary born 1863, Agnes born 1865 and John born 1867, all baptised at Exford church. William Hooper now 14 was at the boarding school in East Street, Taunton kept by Charles and Harriett Green with 25 other boarders. The Vellacott family had a governess Alice Allen aged 30, Mary Lord aged 20 also from Linton, John Bindon aged 21 born at Winsford and William Pope aged 13 born at Wootton Courtney.[4]
1881
William Vellacott then 52 was farming 800 a. and employing six men and a boy. He and Agnes had all their children at home except John who like his eldest brother was at boarding school, this time at the Devon County school at West Buckland Devon where he was one of 93 boarders.
The resident servants at stone were Anne Quick aged 24 born at Withycombe, Mary Parkhouse 14 born in Exmoor, James Cann 21 born in Exford and John Webber 15 born at Winsford.[5]
1891
William Vellacott now 63 was still farming Stone with Agnes 64 and three children were still with them Jemima, Agnes and John. It is not clear what had become of William but Richard was farming at Hindon, Bratton, Minehead with his sister Mary who in 1892 married Joseph William and Agnes had four young resident servants Gabriel Hawkins aged 18, Amelia Hawkins 17 and Ellen Quartly 14 all born at Withypool and William Norman 13 born in Exton.[6]
1901
The Vellacotts have left, presumably following William’s death. Agnes has retired from farming and gone to live with her son Richard at Bratton and his wife Maude and their children. John and his wife Edith, also from Exford are farming in Northamptonshire. The younger Agnes had moved away but was visiting Exford in 1901 and stayed at the rectory on census night.
Stone was now farmed by John Williams aged 26 and his wife Ida 25 both born in Withypool. Their resident servants comprised John Huxtable carter aged 22 and Elizabeth Huxtable 17 a general servant both, born in Exford two of the many children of John Huxtable of Exford labourer and his wife Kezia who was one of the illegitimate children of Mary Ann Bristow, a domestic servant, and Herbert Thomas, also a carter aged 15 who did not know where he was born.[7]
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Mary SuiratPage 1 Exmoor Reference
[1] TNA, HO 107/936.
[2] TNA, HO 107/1890.
[3] TNA, RG 9/1601.
[4] TNA, RG 10/2358.
[5] TNA, RG 11/2358.
[6] TNA, RG 12/1868.
[7] TNA, RG 13/2266.