elizabeth ashton + james bowditch
Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward Ashton and Sarah Lang, was born in Donyatt, Somerset in 1823 and baptised at the local parish church on 19 November 1826. Her family moved to Chard in 1841 and five years later, Elizabeth married James Bowditch but not before they had their first child in 1844.
James was born in Thorncombe, Dorset, the son of James Bowditch and Mary Bridle. Thorncombe lies about 5 miles south of Chard and in the mid 19th century, it was a large village of about 1000 inhabitants with thriving wool and lace making industries. James’ father was a carpenter by trade but as his older brother Richard was already apprenticed as a carpenter with his father, James trained in the lace trade. By 1841, the Bowditch family had left Thorncombe and also moved to Chard.
Elizabeth and James’ first son, James, was born in Chard in 1844 and registered under the name Ashton but all subsequent records list his surname as Bowditch. Over the next seven years, Elizabeth and James had three more children: Mary Ann born in 1847, George in 1849 and Sarah Jane in 1851.
Elizabeth, James and their children were living on the High Street in Chard in 1851 along with her father and two younger brothers, Abraham and John. James Bowditch was employed as a Lace Manufacturer’s Labourer and likely worked in one of the large mills in town — Bowden’s Old Lace Factory on Mill Street or the Gifford Fox Company on Holyrood Street.
Their daughter Emma was born in 1854 but five years later, their eldest son James died aged only 14 years and was buried in the church yard of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chard on 15 January. Several months after losing one son, Elizabeth and James welcomed another when John Henry was born.
In the fall of 1860, they had their seventh child, a son named Edward and six months later when the 1861 Census was taken, the family was living on Holyrood Street, possibly in a worker’s cottage owned by the nearby Gifford Fox factory. James Bowditch was still working in a lace factory along with his 12 year old son George while Elizabeth and her eldest daughter, Mary Ann, were working as Dressmakers to help support the family.
Ten years later, they’d had two more sons, Frederick in 1864 and Herbert in 1866, and were still living on Holyrood Street in Chard with six of their eight surviving children. Their daughter Sarah Jane had left home to work as a Domestic Servant for a local cloth manufacturer in nearby Chardleigh Green before marrying George Medway in Chard in 1874. Son Edward is listed with the family but his birth year is mistakenly recorded as 1864 — coincidentally, that of his younger brother Frederick who does not appear with the family. Frederick was only seven years old and would have been too young to send into service but it is possible he was visiting relatives even though he has not been found elsewhere in the census or he may have been mistakenly left off of the census return form as he is back with the family in 1881.
The Bowditch family was still living together on Holyrood Street in 1881 with the exception of sons George and Henry. Their daughter Mary Ann was listed as marrie’ and ‘a grocer’s wife’ but her husband was not listed in the household. Three grandchildren are also listed under the surname Bowditch, two were born in Ohio, USA and the youngest in Chard, and presumably these were Mary Ann’s children however no marriage, birth or baptism records have been found to confirm this or identify their father. Daughter Emma and sons Edward, Fred and Herbert were still at home and all employed in the drapery business with the exception of Herbert who worked as a Printer’s Apprentice. The final member of the large household was Elizabeth’s niece, Annie, her late brother John’s daughter.
By 1891, their children had grown and left home so Elizabeth and her husband James retired to a small cottage next door to their daughter Sarah Jane on Rack Stile Lane in Chard Old Town. Sarah worked as a Grocer’s Manageress and lived with her husband George who worked as a Wool Clerk. They had two children but only one, Bessie Emma, survived infancy.
There are no signs of their sons George and Henry beyond the 1871 census and daughters Mary Ann and Emma do not appear in any records beyond 1881. But their three youngest sons, Edward, Frederick and Herbert all left Somerset to work and start families of their own.
Edward moved to Cheltenham where he worked as a tailor. In 1891, he was lodging with another tailor, Elijah Ashton and his family, on Queen’s Road and he was still there ten years later. He married Emma Smith in Cheltenham in 1903 but they did not have any children. Edward and Emma were still in Cheltenham in 1911 living at 39 Duke Street along with Emma’s two sisters. Edward died in Cheltenham in 1923.
Their son, Frederick, moved to London and initially settled in Islington where he worked as a Draper’s Assistant. He married Florence Andrews in West Ham in 1899 and two years later, they appear at 22 Cecil Road in West Ham where Frederick was working as a Window Dresser at a draper’s shop. Their son, Frederick Edward George, was born in Plaistow, Essex in 1903 but by 1911, the family had moved from east London to Edmonton in North London and were living at 103 Marlborough Road. Frederick was still working in the cloth trade and was employed as a shop assistant for a gentlemen’s outfitter.
Their youngest son, Herbert, also moved to London settling in Lambeth where he was working as a Compositor. In the printing trade, a compositor was the one who inserted each letter block into the printing frame. Herbert married Eliza Hutson in Lambeth in 1894 and they had a son, Herbert Frederick Hugh in 1898. They were still in Lambeth in 1901 and living at 92 Ballater Road. They had a daughter Beatrice in 1902 and when the 1911 Census was taken, they had moved a few doors down to 86 Ballater Road and had taken in three lodgers.
Elizabeth and James left their cottage in Chard and moved to the village of North Curry near the town of Taunton along with their daughter Sarah Jane and her family. James Bowditch died at North Curry in 1900 but Elizabeth stayed and appears in the 1901 Census with daughter Sarah and her husband. Elizabeth died in North Curry in 1904 but the Ashton/Bowditch line continues through her seven known grandchildren.