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Ecgbeorht of Wessex was recorded as "King of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Essex"

Statistics
Latest update2024-01-08 15:58
No. of families2146
Most children13
No. of individuals4595

Family


woman Mary Milton‏‎ 1)
Born ‎± 1755 Culmstock, Devon, England‎ 2) 3) 4)
Died ‎Jan 1852 Blagdon Hill, Pitminster, Somerset, England Aged 97 at death. There is a discrepancy with date of baptism.‎, approximately 97 years 5) 4)
Buried ‎11 Jan 1852 Blagdon Hill, Pitminster, Somerset, England 5) 4)
Occupation: ‎1851; Pauper 2)
Residences: ‎1841 Blagdon, Pitminster, Somerset, England 3), ‎1851 Blagdon Hill, Pitminster, Somerset, England 2)


Married ‎9 Nov 1792 Culmstock, Devon, England 6) (44 years married)
to:

man Richard Ball‏‎ 1)
Born ‎± 1751‎ 7)
Died ‎Jan 1837 Blagdon, Pitminster, Somerset, England Aged 86 at death.‎, approximately 86 years 7)
Buried ‎18 Jan 1837 Pitminster, Somerset, England Age: 86 7)

Children:

1.
man William Ball‏ 8) 9) 10)
Born ‎± Mar 1793 Culmstock, Devon, England‎ 8) 11) 12)
Baptised ‎31 Mar 1793 Culmstock, Devon, England 1)
Died ‎10 Jun 1848 Dunster, Somerset, England Died age 55 of bronchitis‎, approximately 55 years 13) 11) 12)
Buried ‎17 Jun 1848 Dunster, Somerset, England 11) 12)
Occupation: ‎between 10 Jun 1818 and 17 Jun 1848 Dunster, Somerset, England; Blacksmith (and farrier) 14) 9) 8) 15) 16)
Residence: ‎1841 West Street, Dunster, Somerset, England 8)


Notes: William Ball was born circa 1793, given he was 55 at his death in 1848. There is no record of his marriage to Sarah, or his baptism in the parish records for Dunster. Given his wife was born in Bampton, Devon, it is very possible William was also born across the county boundary. There is a 1793 baptism for a William Ball in Culmstock, Devon. The parish is on the county boundary between Somerset and Devon. A younger brother to William, named Robert, was baptised there in April 1795 but four others, probably brothers and sisters, were subsequently baptised at the nearby parish of Pitminster, near Taunton, in Somerset between 1798 and 1806. The parents of these children were Richard Ball and his wife Mary Milton who had been married at Culmstock on 9th November 1792.

William was resident in Dunster from at least 1818, when baptism records for his children start appear in the Dunster parish records. He was probably working as as a “journeyman blacksmith” for the resident Dunster blacksmiths in St George's Street, John and Thomas Weetch. Their names appear in the 1830 Somerset Directory. In the “William Bragg” Somerset Directory for 1840, William Ball is shown as a “smith” in Dunster, the Weetch pair apparently no longer in business. This is confirmed by the 1841 census which records William and Sarah with three daughters and one son at their home in West Street, Dunster. William at that time had two blacksmiths working for him. Thomas Weetch, then 70 years old or thereabouts, seems to be retired and living nearby. William and Sarah's eldest son William, then 23 years old, also a blacksmith, was married to Sarah Gay and living within his in-laws at nearby Withycombe.

“The Dunster Tithe Apportionment” dated 14th October 1840 shows both the house and “smiths shop” occupied by William Ball at the bottom end of St George's Street. The landowner was William Withycombe. The second item in the “Apportionment” which sets out the details on page 27 showing the William Ball occupancy and the dimensions of their house numbered 66a - 4 perches - and smithy numbered 67 - 2 perches.

On 12th January 1846 William and Sarah's oldest daughter Mary Ann married John Willicombe, a carpenter, at the Wesleyan Chapel, Dunster, witnessed by her father and mother. She remain in Dunster and brought up a family there. The year before she had had a daughter named Elizabeth who died in December of the same year. William Ball died at Dunster on 11th June 1848 aged 55 years. In order to keep their business going Sarah employed a blacksmith named James Stanbury who came from Nether Stowey. Sarah's eldest son William did not seem to be part of the family business although by 1851 he was back in Dunster but soon to move to Dulverston where he worked as a blacksmith. The 1851 census for St George's street shows Sarah Ball, then a widow, as “Head” of household aged 53. Her daughter Maria, 18, was at home, also son John, 16, a blacksmith. Living there, as well, was James Stanbury, aged 30, a blacksmith and at the time married to Sarah's second daughter also named Sarah, aged 24. They had one daughter, 4 months old. Written in the record opposite William's widow, Sarah, is the comment “employs a blacksmith” referring to James Stanbury.

By March 1861 changes had occurred at St George's street smithy. Sarah and her youngest son John, then 26 years old, were employing an apprentice and apparently maintaining the business from that address. James Stanbury and his wife Sarah had moved to a “Smith's shop” in the High Street. This smith's shop, was close to the Luttrell Arms Hotel (formerly The Ship) at the top of the High Street and therefore well placed to provide shoeing facilities for coach and carriage horses using the hotel stables there. At this time they had five children at home. Back at St George's Street, Mary Anna and her husband John Willicombe were still there. Maria Ball, the youngest daughter, was now married to William Yeandle, an agricultural worker, and they had three children."

William's widow, Sarah, died at Dunster on 5th March 1864. She was then 66 years old. She is buried in the churchyard, along with William, in a grave situated prominently next to the path leading tothe South door of the church. A photograph said to have been taken circa 1865 shows quite clearly the memorial headstone in place. On it is inscribed “Sacred - In memory of William Ball who died June10 1848. Aged 55 years. Sarah Ball wife of the above wife of the above who died March 5 1864. Aged 66 years.”. The headstone stands outside the row of homes facing the church where the family lived and, although somewhat less upright, now remains well preserved.
2.
man James Ball‏‎
Born ‎± 1801 Pitminster, Somerset, England‎
3.
man John Ball‏‎
Born ‎± 1803 Pitminster, Somerset, England‎

Sources

1) Source: England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Record for William Ball. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FS1EnglandBirthsandChristenings&h=45480902&indiv=try (Questionable reliability of evidence)
2) Source: 1851 England Census Record for Mary Ball. Reference: Database online. Class: HO107; Piece: 1922; Folio: 108; Page: 29; GSU roll: 221078-221079. (Data from secondary evidence)
3) Source: 1841 England Census Record for Mary Ball. Reference: Database online. Class: HO107; Piece 959; Book: 19; Civil Parish: Pitminster; County: Somerset; Enumeration District: 3; Folio: 16; Page: 5; Line: 17; GSU roll: 474604. (Data from secondary evidence)
4) Source: Somerset, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1914 Record for Mary Ball. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=60859&h=4686853&indiv=try. Reference: Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1914; Reference Number: D\P\PITC/2/1/7 (Data from secondary evidence)
5) Source: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 Record for Mary Ball. Reference: Database online. (Questionable reliability of evidence)
6) Source: England, Boyd's marriage indexes, 1538-1850
7) Source: Somerset, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1914 Record for Richard Ball. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=SomersetParishDeaths&h=4686542&indiv=try. Reference: Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1914; Reference Number: D\P\PIT/2/1/7 (Data from secondary evidence)
8) Source: 1841 England Census Record for William Ball. Reference: Database online. Class: HO107; Piece 936; Book: 4; Civil Parish: Dunster; County: Somerset; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 24; Page: 17; Line: 3; GSU roll: 474595. (Data from secondary evidence)
9) Source: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 Record for John Ball - 1835, Dunster. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=SomersetParishBirths&h=1866697&indiv=try. Reference: Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1913; Reference Number: D\P\du/2/1/6 (Data from direct source)
10) Source: Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 Record for Jane Woolcott. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=SomersetParishMarriages&h=905069182&indiv=try. Reference: Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1914; Reference Number: D\P\ROW/2/1/7 (Data from direct source)
11) Source: Monuments "Sacred to the memory of William Ball who died June 10 1848 aged 55 yearsSarah Ball wife of the above who died March 5 1864 aged 66 years". Reference: St George, Dunster (Data from secondary evidence)
12) Source: Somerset, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1914 Record for William Ball. External Link
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=SomersetParishDeaths&h=719698&indiv=try. Reference: Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Somerset Parish Records, 1538-1913; Reference Number: D\P\du/2/1/17 (Data from secondary evidence)
13) Source: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 Record for William Ball. Reference: Database online. (Questionable reliability of evidence)
14) Source: England, Parish Registers Baptisms for William, Mary Ann, Sarah, Maria, John, Sarah Ann, Elizabeth and William Henry Ball. Reference: St George, Dunster (Data from secondary evidence)
15) Source: U.K., City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s Record for William Ball. Reference: Database online. (Data from direct source)
16) Source: Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser "On the 5th instant, at Dunster, Mrs Sarah Ball, relict of the late William Ball, smith and farrier, aged 66 years.". Reference: Wednesday 16 March 1864 (Data from direct source)