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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Somerset => England => Somerset Lookup Requests => Topic started by: patannk on Tuesday 04 November 08 07:43 GMT (UK)
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There is a memorial plaque in the parish church of Dulverton, listing 3 Anstey brothers, the first being
"Thomas Anstey of Draydon in this parish died 10 Apr 1809."
I looked through all the census images in 1841, for Dulverton, but could not see Draydon Farm?
I looked on a current map and found the farm located north west of Dulverton, on the way to Ashwick?
I would love to know who was running the farm in 1841, as the only Ansteys left at Dulverton were living in town by then.....
I wonder what happened after the memorial plaque in the church.....
???
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Bit late I know, but having extended my family search, I found a Thomas Follett and family living at the farm in 1851 census. His parents were also living there, so I assume they were farming it from the early 1800s
Rob
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Here it is on an 1887 6in OS map
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=51.05763&lon=-3.57813&layers=257&b=osm&o=100
The underlying modern map has it as Draydon Cottages but on the current OS map it is labelled as Draydon Farm
In the tithe records of 1839 it is named as Draydon Farm (but marked as Draydon on the tithe map) and the plots add up to 216 acres, so a little smaller than the 1851 census indicates (260 acres). The owner is the Reverend George Ansley and the occupant is John Webber.
I found John Webber at Drayford in the 1841 census (John Webber is a remarkably common name at that time in the county!). He is 65, a farmer and his wife Mary is 70.
Added: There is a death record (Somerset Archives via FindMyPast) for the burial 20th Jan 1848 of John Webber of Draydon in Dulverton age 72, so I suspect this is when the farm passed to the Follett family.
For anyone following this up, be careful to not confuse this John Webber with another John Webber in the area of a similar age who fought in the Peninsular War, but survived until 1868.
Added again: I just realised that the owner’s name in the tithe records is probably Anstey, not Ansley, connecting back to the original question. So the farm was still owned by the same family, but rented out.
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The only trace that I have found of John Webber at Draydon in newspaper records:
11 May 1844: Bell’s Weekly Messenger
SINGULAR OCCURRENCE.—About three weeks since, as some men were employed sowing oats near Marshwood, in the parish of Dulverton, Devon, they heard the sheep-female dog, and a female dog terrier that had accompanied them, barking in the adjoining wood, and fancied it was at some bird on one of the trees. After finishing their work, they went to look for them, and strange as it may appear, found the sheep-female dog suckling four young foxes, which the terrier had helped her to dig out. Both the dogs had whelped about ten days before, and had their young destroyed. The cubs are doing well, and may be seen at Mr. Webber’s Draydon farm, under the fostering care of both the sheep-female dog and terrier, who share in their support, and who appear to vie with each other in cherishing them.