Somerset and Dorset

 

Robert Percy the only son of Thomas Percy the Gunpowder Plotter married Emma Meade Wiveliscombe near Taunton in 1615. We know that four children Francis, Ann, Thomas and James were born in Taunton and christened at the Taunton St. Mary Magdalene Church. Thomas also fits very nicely into the time frame to be the father of John Purse.  Once again however there are no records available to prove such a linkage.

Research done on our behalf shows however that a succession of Percy's have had their births, baptisms, deaths and marriages recorded at St Mary Magdalene.  These include all of our known line before they moved to Sherborne, so there is some continuity.

Anybody wishing to research their family history in the Taunton Area quickly runs into a wall.  Many of the church records pertaining to the years of the English Civil War (1642-51) were destroyed or in many instances not taken at all, as Taunton was besieged on more than one occasion.  Many of the dead were buried in mass graves without identification.  Any linkage occurring during this period may never be verified.

 

 

 

For all that, we do know that Thomas was still resident in Taunton during the war as he was recorded as one of the "men of substance" who swore allegiance to Charles I in the "Protestation Orders".  Our first record of John Purse is in 1664 when he married.  If he was the son of Thomas then Thomas would have been about forty-two when the marriage took place.  The time frame fits, as does the venue for the marriage, St Mary Magdalene.

The earliest direct link that we have dates to c.1645 when John Purse would have been born.  As almost all of the later family were carpenters or woodworkers of some kind, it is reasonable to assume that he too plied the trade.

In 1664 John married Joanne Reade (St Mary Magdalene) followed in 1670 by the baptism of their son Edward in the same church.  A couple of points can be made here.  It is almost certain that Edward had been born a few years before 1670 as most children in those times were not baptised when they were infants.  Secondly, the spelling of the family name on the Baptismal Roll was recorded as Pursey.  Five more children (3 male, 2 female) were to follow Edward.

This Edward just may have been a 'bit of a lad' in his time because in 1692 an illegitimate son was born.  Named Edward, this boy's records show that Edward Snr. was the father.  Because the records identify the father only, and that the child's name was recorded as Pursey, some doubts are raised.  In that era it was normal in such 'incidents' for the mother's name to be recorded as the child's name.  This suggests that the mother may have died during childbirth or soon after.  Who she was, we do not know for certain.

One possibility is that she may have been Sarah Lucas who appears to have been "attached" to an Edward Pursey about the same time Edward may have also fathered two other sons, George and Henry.  More on that soon.

Edward Jnr. continued the family association with wood and plied his trade as a carpenter in the Taunton area.  In 1716 he married Anne Blissit, the daughter of a Taunton pavier (a layer of paving stones) who lived in High Street. 

Back now to George and Henry.  They married in 1718 and 1731 respectively and all three of these marriages are recorded at St Mary Magdalene.

The union of Edward and Anne produces a family of seven that we know of - all boys.  We need only concern ourselves with Thomas, the fourth oldest.  Of course this is another blow to the theory of inheriting the Earldom unless the elder sons had no male heirs.

Thomas was born in 1725 and followed his father into the carpentry trade.  He plied his skills with a lot more mobility, working not only in Taunton, but in London as well.  He was later to shift operations to Crewkerne in Dorset.  After marrying Rebecca Pitman in 1749 at Sherborne he returned to Taunton for a short period before moving to Sherborne.  The Percy family remains in Sherborne to this day.

Once again a large family was raised, five boys and two girls.  Yet another blow to inheriting the Earldom arises as Joseph, our ancestor, was the fourth boy.  It must be admitted however that only one of his older brothers married and there is no indication that his brother's sons married.

Born in 1759 Joseph was another carpenter and examples of his skill can still be found in Sherborne.  It was in this era that the family business branched out to include working as both mill and wheelwrights.  Copies of their business "card" have been preserved and are reproduced in this book.

A perusal of the wills left by Joseph and others, and a study of the "Terrier" (a form of rent-roll) of the Parish of Sherborne, makes it quite obvious that the Percy family of this era had rather substantial means.  In excess of thirty dwellings, shops or gardens are listed as being owned by Joseph, his wife or his sons.

Joseph married his wife, Elizabeth Hewlett, at Yeovil in 1794.  They raised five children to adulthood the oldest of who was christened Joseph Hewlett, two names that remain in our family to this day.  Born in 1797, he married Esther Mary Pearce in 1819 at Sherborne at the age of twenty-two.  They, along with their four surviving children, were to be the ones who sailed to New Zealand a few years hence.

Before going further we should mention that the elder Joseph (1759-1823) had a younger brother.  John was not a woodworker but an auctioneer, another vocation that remains to this day in the New Zealand family.  John also found time to father a large family with a number of sons who concentrated on land appraisal, surveying and architecture.  One of John's sons, Edward, was author of the Sherborne "Terrier" for 1834.

Another son of John was one William John Percy.  He graduated from Cambridge University with a Master of Arts degree.  He also appears to have been the favoured son!  Ordained as a Minister of Religion, he is listed in the Census of 1851 as being the Curate at Maperton, Dorset.  Now this man had money, real money.  The Census also lists in his employ
a) Governess (his wife's sister)
b) Housemaid
c) Nursemaid
d) Coachman
e) Cook.

He may also have decided that his family was on a higher social plane to the rest of his siblings.  His daughters both received three christian names and his son got four!  Two of these names, Hugh and Algernon, were directly taken from the family of the Duke of Northumberland.

Back to our family.  Besides the business "card", various wills and the "Terrier", another document survives from the era.  This is the apprenticeship paper for Joseph Hewlett's eldest son, Joseph Jnr.  It gives an indication as to the severity of conditions that were endured in those times for anyone entering a trade.  Those even further down the social and work scale must have had intolerable odds to overcome.  The clauses of the apprenticeship show just how dominant the "Master" was in any trade contract.

In 1835 at the age of fourteen Joseph Jnr. was apprenticed to a John Green, "in the art of builder, joiner and cabinetmaker."  The apprenticeship was to last for six years.  His father witnessed the document and signed to the effect that either his son, or he on his son's behalf, would be paid the weekly wage of one shilling in the first year with the wage rising by sixpence a week until in the sixth year the apprentice would receive three shillings and sixpence per week.  For those of us who have not encountered the Imperial monetary system, one shilling was converted to ten cents when New Zealand adopted the metric system.  So three shillings and sixpence equates to thirty-five cents!

Not only were there clauses in the apprenticeship papers regarding business matters, there were also clauses that if incorporated into any work or employment contract today, would severely discourage anybody to take up that trade.

Among other clauses were those stating that "during the term and to the end of the six years Joseph Percy, his master shall faithfully serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands everywhere gladly do.  He shall do no damage to his master, nor see it to be done of others, but to his power shall tell or forthwith give warning to his said master of the same."

"He shall not waste the goods of the said master nor lend them unlawfully to any.  He shall not commit fornication nor contract any matrimony within the said term, shall not play at cards or dice tables or any other unlawful games whereby his said master may have any loss with his own goods or others during the said term without licence of the said master."

"He shall neither buy nor sell.  He shall not haunt taverns or playhouses, nor absent himself from his said master's service day or night unlawfully.  But in all things as a faithful apprentice, he shall behave himself towards his said master and all his, during the said term."

The document was signed on November 26 1835, "the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Fourth."

And we think times are tough!

There is no mention in his father's will (1828) that Joseph Hewlett was a legatee to any money or property.  For that era the will was rather substantial!  Joseph however must have been reasonably wealthy in his own right for within a short passage of time after arrival in New Zealand he was solidly established.  Not only had his dwelling and bridge building "prospered", he had also acquired a not inconsiderable parcel of land and had set up a flour milling venture.

So why then did Joseph and Esther decide to emigrate?  We can only speculate as to the reason, for none of the surviving letters or documents give any hints.  Was it as a result of a family argument or the wish to build for themselves a new direction for their lives?  Whatever the reasons may have been, the thought of a sea voyage of such great distance to an unknown and often hostile environment would have daunted all but the most venturesome, or desperate, souls.

Of the voyage we also know very little.  The 820 ton ship "Clifton" sailed from Gravesend on the River Thames on October 2 1841 under the command of a Captain Cox.  One would have thought that the name Gravesend was not the most promising departure point for such a venture!

There were 287 passengers for the voyage.  Only four of these were classed as cabin or full payment passengers.  The remaining 283 travelled as "steerage" or "assisted labour".  This last grouping included the Percy family.

The register for the voyage lists only four Percies, Joseph Hewlett, Esther Mary, Joseph Jnr. and Eliza.  The males are listed as carpenters with mother and daughter listed as dressmakers.  There is no mention of the two younger children, Henry aged nine at the time of the journey, and Eunice then only two years old.  There had been another child.  William John was born in 1831 but had always been a sickly lad.  He was to live but a short six years before his demise in 1837.

The "Clifton" arrived at Wellington Harbour on February 17 1842 after a passage lasting 109 days.

What thoughts went through the minds of the new arrivals as they viewed their newly chosen homeland?  The rolling downs of the Southern England they had left would have seemed far away as they surveyed the steep hills and mountains covered with towering forest.  What is now Petone and Lower Hutt were then little more than a few rough, crude dwellings among clearings in the forest and swamp.

They had come to work and work they did.  They had also come to prosper - and prosper they did.
 
 
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