Descendants of Thomas Stark

In March 1796, Thomas Stark (ca.1771-1836) married Lydia Castle at the neighbouring village of Christon, Somerset. Thomas was the son of Samuel and Mary (nee Burroughs) referred to in 'Early Records'. Many of the descendants of Thomas and Lydia have remained in or near Loxton for the last two hundred years, and their first child Ann was baptised at Loxton in 1802. They had six children and their eldest son, Robert, married Mary Ann Baker in 1835 and had eleven children at Loxton, (see his family tree), before moving to the village of Hutton, a few miles away. Robert was employed as a groom and gardener for the Galton family. The descendants of Thomas Stark are displayed on the outlined family tree.

The daughters of Thomas and Lydia seemed to be a little 'wayward'. Three of them had children before they were married. In 1825 Ann, the eldest, had a daughter Jane by William Pym. She later married Thomas Castle in 1832. Two of the younger daughters had at least one child each, before they were married. Jane, a washerwoman, had a son, baptised Henry Fear in 1834; and in 1849 married John Fear junior, a widower, the father of Henry. The other daughter, Sarah had a son, baptised William Staples in 1838. In 1842 Sarah married Henry Staples. On the 1841 census return Jane and Sarah were living with their mother, Lydia, a widow, with four children, Thomas (10 years), Henry (8 years), William (3 years) and Samuel (1 year). The eldest child Thomas was living with his mother, Jane and stepfather, John Fear, in Compton Bishop in 1851. Sarah was the mother of Samuel, but his father is unknown.

There was a group of six or seven cottages at the top of Hill Street (now part of Hillview Road) in Loxton, long since demolished. Many were occupied by various members of the Stark family in 1839. It is likely that the cottages, of which three were terraced, were very small, single storey dwellings and their position on the edge of Loxton Hill common, suggests that they may have originally been encroachments. Lydia Stark occupied the most northerly terraced cottage, Hannah Stark the middle terrace and Robert Stark the most southerly.

Sarah's son Samuel, married Elizabeth Rawlings at Loxton in 1857, (see his family tree). They had 4 children, Charles, William Henry, Fanny and Earnest. In the 1891 census, Samuel was recorded as a widower, living with his children Fanny, William and Ernest at the small hamlet of Webbington, Compton Bishop, about half a mile from Loxton.

Charles, the eldest son of Samuel was living in 1881 at 3 Nursery Cottage, Foots Cray, Kent as a lodger and working as a gardener. Charles married Annie Southwood in 1883 and returned to settle in Loxton as a farm labourer.

Although described as a labourer in the Parish Registers, Charles later became a shop keeper and village postman. He kept a small shop in one of the group of houses known at the time as Pump Cottages. The shop sold sweets, tobacco and general provisions. The cottage together with its neighbouring cottage have now been combined to create an individual property known as Mendip Edge. When he retired a presentation was made and the occasion was reported in the Bleadon, Biddisham, Compton Bishop and Loxton Parish Magazine :-

'On Thursday, July 25th, a presentation, amounting to £1:14:6, was made by the Rector to Mr. Charles Stark, on behalf of the inhabitants of Loxton, on the occasion of his retiring from duty after 32 years' service as postman for this district. It was generally felt that after so long a period of work, which brought him into almost daily connection with most of us, some acknowledgement should be made of the faithful and obliging manner in which he had always fulfilled his office.'

No date was recorded, it was probably 1911 or 1912.

Around 1922, in a letter of from Annie to her brother George in Tasmania, she writes the following at the beginning of her letter :

Now My Dear Brother
I am going to write a few lines to you I really cant tell you how very pleased we all were to hear from you sorry to hear you didnt enjoy very good health but you know my Dear I and my husband is both in the same Boat as you Charley havent been to work now for over 3 years he have had thumadic gout and it left him a cripple have to use a cruch and stick so I had to turn to and do the garden and I got on very well I like outdoor work we never ---[very faint and indistinct] for the first 2 years but this last year I had to draw mild and this last 6 months I have had ciatic that is a most painful complaint I do wish I could get rid of it it has drawn me down 2 double I havent been upwright for over 6 months but I think I am a little better sometimes but it dont keep to it, think when we once leave 60 years behind we got to make the best of what God sends us for the next 10 years I always say you dont value health enough till we have lost it..................................................................

One of the grand-daughters of Charles remembered him suffering badly with asthma. In the last four years of his life, he apparently was neither able to go outside or climb the stairs to go to bed and sat in an armchair for most of the time.

Charles and Annie had five children. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth was a good pupil at school and at church, an assessment in 1893 of her church lessons by the Sunday School teacher, Miss Gertrude Agnes Tiarks, the daughter of the Rev. J. G. Tiarks was highly praised. At the age of 11 years, Elizabeth was appointed school monitress to teach the infants class. She left school at the age of 13 years to go into service. Elizabeth married George Body at Loxton in September 1903, the event was recorded in the Weston Mercury :-

A very pretty wedding and one which attracted a good deal of attention took place at St. Andrew's Church on Thursday afternoon the contracting parties being Miss Elizabeth Mary Stark, only daughter of Charles Stark of this parish, and Mr. George Edgar Body, fifth son of Mr. Henry Body, of Biddisham, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. J.E. Page (rector). The bride, who was given away by her father, looked well in a brown dress trimmed with white satin and cream insertion, and wore hat to match. She was attended by two bridesmaids, namely Miss Margaret Young, friend of the bride, and Miss Caroline Body, sister of the bridegroom, their dresses being of pink, and cream blouses and they wore picture hats to match. The bridegroom was attended by Mr. Jessie Stark as best man. During the afternoon and evening the bells rang forth merry peals in honour of the event. The presents were numerous and useful.

In the photographs of Elizabeth above, the right hand photo is believed to have been taken just prior to her marriage. The married couple settled in village of Biddisham nearby. Her grand-daughter, Betty Baker still lives in Biddisham today. On the left hand side of the photo below, alongside Mrs Margaret Starks (nee Young) from Compton Bishop, Elizabeth is pictured as one of the maids at the rectory in Loxton.

Jesse, the eldest son of Charles and Annie, was at Loxton School for seven years, leaving at the age of eleven to go to work.

Samuel, the second son, did not seem to like school. On March 10 1899, the headmistress wrote in the School Log :-

'Samuel Starks St III has been absent from School for the past fortnight bird keeping for Mr. Tilley.'

On July 7 in the same year she wrote :-

'Put Samuel Starks back into the 3rd Stand: as he is utterly unfit for Stand. IV. He attends little more than half time.'

Later in the year a new headmistress was appointed and she set tests to determine the progress of the schoolchildren. Samuel Starks was absent for the tests and his parents were requested to send a note stating a reason for his non-attendance. In June 1900, at the beginning of term, he was absent from school working for a farmer in the village. On another occasion with another boy, Sidney Pullen, he returned to school in the evening and made noises in the school lobby. Their punishment was to be kept in the classroom during morning playtime of the following day. Samuel left school for work in 1903, at the age of fourteen.

A few more photographs of the Stark(s) families can be found in the picture gallery section.
 

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