PORTCH family, Nunney

[MikeSC]

Hi Polly,
Noticed that this post is quite old now so maybe you've already got this info.
I have Thomas Portch and wife Susan on my tree they were my ggggrandparents. Thomas died young and Susan remarried quite quickly - an Edward Lintern/Linton/Lusting/ depending on your choice of transcription!I have been trying to find Susan's maiden name but haven't had any luck so far.

Thomas appears on the 1841 census in Westbury aged 14 living with William and Sarah Portch 60 and 59 respectively and two other people I believe were his sisters, Sarah and Emma 20 and 17.
I don't know if William and Sarah were Thos parents or grandparents but still looking!
Regards
Mike

[LorraineP]

I've just found these entries - have also just started looking into the Frome Portch's.
I'm looking for information on Stephen Hunt Portch (c.1833-1894), son of Giles and Hester Portch?.  Census information give his birth location as Frome Vauchurch? He moved down to London and the family continued in London to present date.
I've hit Giles through Stephen's marriage certificate, so am assuming that the family home was Sharpshaw Farm, Nunney.
Any information re this would be much appreciated. I'm not familiar with the area and am wondering also if i was to arrange to visit the area where would be the best places to look for information on the family.
Thanks.
Lorrraine

[Jo Harding]

Hello LorraineP,

Freereg has baptisms for Stephen Hunt Portch as follows:

Frome, St John the Baptist.

1 March 1833 baptised Stephen Hunt Portch, son of George and Sarah Portch. Abode Critchill. Occupation of father: Farmer.

12 November 1834, baptised Stephen Hunt Portch, son of Giles and Hester Portch. Abode: Sharpshaw Farm. Occupation: Yeoman.

There are many other baptisms for Portch children in Frome around that time. Also baptisms in surrounding places as Holcombe, Stoke Lane and more.

There is a baptism for an Elizabeth Fanny Portch in Nunney on 12 March 1833. She was the daughter of Giles and Hester Portch whose abode was shown as Sharpshaw Farm, Nunney. Father's occupation: Yeoman.

See Freereg http://freereg1.freereg.org.uk/search/index.shtml

Jo.

[LorraineP]

Thanks for the info Jo. 
That has put me in a proper pickle.  2 of them in a year!  I guess they ran out of imagination for names.  My new task is to get proof of who is who.  I'll order birth and marriage certificates for stephen's son to check father's occupation.  Also have searched ancestry and find my past and only found 1 Stephen hunt Portch - may be that only 1 survived to adulthood.
Must admit that I'm very new to this - have only been researching for 2 months.  Thought the Portch line would be easy as not common 😕.
Thanks again, Lorraine.

[Jo Harding]

Hello LorraineP,

In your first post you say that you found the name of Giles Portch from Stephen's marriage certificate. This should give you the correct identity of his father, assuming you have the right Stephen that is.

I cannot find a burial up to 1855 for the Stephen Hunt Portch, son of George and Sarah Portch.

A search shows that Sharpshaw Farm, Nunney, still exists, see this;

http://www.visitnunney.com/index.php/little-sharpshaw-solar-farm/?doing_wp_cron=1455101008.9356169700622558593750

There are numerous sites with information on this family. The Frome Local Group site has very many entries for the Portch family of Nunney, plus others including George and Sarah Portch of Critchill Farm, Frome. I suspect that George and Giles Portch must be related, could they be brothers?

http://www.fromeresearch.org.uk/

I have noticed that the name is often mistranscibed as Partch.

There is an entry for a Will of Giles Portch in the records. This shows a Will with a Probate date of  1854. It would be a good idea to get his Will as that should give you more information.

In the 1851 census, his widow, Hester, is shown at Sharpshaw Farm and it seems that must have been quite a size, it says she is a Farmer of 200 acres employing 6 labourers. There are 6 children in the household, including Stephen.

Let me know if I can be of further help.

Jo.

[Jo Harding]

I found this marriage on Freereg:

http://freereg1.freereg.org.uk/cgi/SearchResults.pl?RecordType=Marriages&RecordID=3521275&v=MTQ1NTEwMDczOTpiZDFmYzRkNmZmMzdlMDlkMTlmZTc5ZTZkODNjMDY5OWI2NGNhNDVm

Jo.

[Jo Harding]

I realise you asked for advice on where you can access information on your family when you visit Somerset. The Somerset Record Office is in Taunton. This will give you all the records that are available for Somerset research. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/

The problem is that Nunney is quite a distance from Taunton. There is some material in the library in Frome. This covers an area local to there and around the Nunney area. You might want to visit the Frome Museum which has a variety of displays and other exhibits.

https://fromemuseum.wordpress.com/

There are some local history books available and these are on sale in Frome Museum amongst other places.

The Somerset and Dorset Family History Society also have some books available on their site:

http://www.sdfhs.org/

There is one on Nunney specifically. There are a number on Frome as well.

Jo.

[MikeCrump]

I have these on my line as well. Hester was unable to keep Sharpshaw Farm going for long after Giles died. There are notices in the local paper regarding the sale of assets. Hester moved to Frome town where she worked as a nurse (or possibly matron) at the Blue House which was an almshouse. The building is still standing and is currently used as sheltered accommodation. After a number of years she became an 'inmate' of the almshouse and ended her days there. The children seem to have scattered to the four winds - one of the girls married a publican, one of the boys became a postmaster, another of the daughters moved to Bath and a couple of the boys emigrated to Toronto in Canada. Like you I'm having a bit of trouble nailing Steven Hunt Portch down. He was the executor for his maiden aunt but other than that kept a bit of a low profile. Hester's father John West was from the Trowbridge area and had a couple of businesses at least - one of which was an insurance agent although he was described in some journals as a banker. He was in partnership with his brother in law and two others but it would appear that there was some financial trouble and there was an insolvency involved. Hester's mother went to live at Sharpshaw Farm and it seems she died there - there is a will available which describes her estate. Hope that helps.

[LorraineP]

Thank you both for replying (and so fast).  I'm presently sifting my way through the marriages and baptisms from Frome (had to start somewhere).
I've been working my way back from my dad, who died 8 years ago  Dad knew nothing about his family at all, his father didn't talk about his parents so i've had to work from certificates and census information only.
Stephen Alfred Portch (1894-1957), son of John William Portch (1864-1917) and Mary Cecelia Sapsford (1864-1899). 
John William's father was Stephen Hunt Portch.  This was acknowledged in John William's marriage register, which said Stephen Hunt Portch was a carman, in London.
I've gone backwards through the census and found in 1851 a Stephen Portch, from Frome in Somersetshire (at that time an agricultural labourer), living at 143 Broadway, Trinity, Frome, Somerset - but his father was George!! - now i know this is the wrong man - so will have to look again for the correct census information.
I've set up a spreadsheet, trying to log information from each census and trying to match householders but now will have to do further searching to see if i can clarify/separate the Stephen Hunt Portch's.
I'll continue to look into this.  I've only found ONE Stephen Hunt Portch's death (died Jan-Mar 1894).
Have also found in the Times that a Stephen Portch was imprisoned in 1865 for stealing a sack of malt - he served 6 months.
Lots to look into - thankfully i've got Ancestry membership for a while so i can continue searching in the hope of clarifying some of this data.
I've attached the transcription of Stephen Hunt's marriage certificate - giving Giles as his father.
Thanks again, Lorraine