Hardwich

 

The Hardwiches were a distinguished family with firm roots in the village, who lived at Court House Farm and played an important role in the village and the church, where they served as churchwardens. In the parish records, beginning in the 16th Century, over 100 baptisms are recorded, 42 marriages, and 167 burials. 

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In the 1841 census, there were four Hardwich households: Edward Hardwich and Elizabeth, aged 65 and 60, are recorded as being of independent means; John Hardwich, 45, is a half-pay Navy lieutenant, living with Anne, 45, and Albert, 6; Thomas, 25, is a farmer, living with Sarah, 25, and Ann, 4; and James, 75, is also recorded as independent, living with Elizabeth, 65, and Ann, 25. There is also a Maria Hardwich, 15, a female servant living in the household of Edwin Sealey, farmer, and Hannah Sealey, both aged 20.

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Pentecost

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Philip Pentecost was one of five butchers in the village in 1841. There had been Pentecosts in the South West of England for many  generations, mostly in Devon and Cornwall. Philip married Mary Dix on 5 May 1790, and they had 10 children. After Mary's death he married Elizabeth George in 1814, and they had five children.

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The Pentecosts were Baptists. They held meetings in their home, which was licenced as a meeting house in 1816.

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Philip and Mary's eighth child, Hannah, was born in 1808. In 1823, at the age of 16, she was arrested and charged with stealing two shillings, the property of George Bartlett. Hannah was found guilty and sentenced to six calendar months in Ilchester House of Correction, being discharged by expiration of sentence on 29th September 1823. ​In the Felons Register, Hannah was described as 5ft 2 inches, with a fair complexion, green eyes, dark brown hair, with a mole on her right arm. There is no record of what became of her after her discharge.

 

Two of Philip's sons, Charles and Jesse, became butchers in Westbury, following in their father's trade. Their daughter, Caroline, named in the 1841 Census as a dressmaker. She continued in this profession until 1861, when she married Thomas Pavey, a carrier at the Angel Inn in Bristol, where they both lived.

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​George Andrews, veterinary surgeon

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Although described in the 1841 census as a veterinary surgeon, George Andrews was probably an unqualified farrier. The Royal Veterinary College was created in 1791, and its regulatory body was established in 1844 by royal charter. Many farriers assumed the title of veterinary surgeon, but as Andrews was described as a farrier in the 1851 and 1861 censuses, his elevated status is unlikely.

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George Andrews was born in Westbury in 1793. He married Elizabeth Vernon in 1814, and died in Westbury in 1864, aged 71. In 1824, aged 29,

he was 'charged with having left his wife and family chargeable to the Parish of Westbury' and, being found guilty, he was committed to Shepton Gaol for one month. In the Ilchester Gaol Felons Register, he is described as 5ft 9in, with a high dark complexion, dark eyes, and brown hair.

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By 1861, George is a widower, lodging with the family of his son, Thomas Andrews. who is described in the 1871 census as 'cattle doctor (vet).'

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Dix

Urch

Sealey

Masters

Pentecost

Collier

Hole

Bryne