Reverend James Bartlett 1816 - 1881
Reverend James Bartlett, my great-great-grandfather, was born on Good Friday, 12th April 1816 in Somerton, Somerset to James and Elizabeth Bartlett (née Taverner). He was the sixth and youngest child and the only one of four sons to survive childhood. Elizabeth had previously been married to a farmer by the name of Haggett, and they had one child. [Source]
His father, James Bartlett, is described as "a poor but industrious husbandman who eked out a livelihood by working for gentry and gentleman farmers. Though poor himself many of his forebears had been respectable and comparatively wealthy members of South Somerset's agricultural community. It was only when he reached the grand old age of ninety that he inherited from one of his uncles a small plot of land three miles from his home in Somerton." [Source].
Family legend has it that Reverend James Bartlett's ancestry can be traced back to a Timothy Bartlett, who owned land in Somerset at the time of the English Civil War. My great-grandfather, James Elijah, says that " [James'] great-grandfather was a staunch supporter of the Somerton Independent Meeting House, and a very good man." According to Dr. David Shorney, another ancestor was an Independent minister at Martock in Somerset. [Source]
James' father attended Somerton Parish Church but his mother, "a kind and tender-hearted woman, greatly attached to the Wesleyan Methodists", ensured that James was baptised in the Wesleyan chapel and taken to Methodist services as a small child. James' father was "highly respected by his neighbours for his industry, honesty and integrity ... an indulgent father who scarcely ever corrected his son" [Source].
James married Elizabeth Rendell on 3rd December 1849 in Yeovil. At the time of the marriage, James was living in Hardington Mandeville and Elizabeth was living in West Coker. The marriage certificate records that James' father was another James Bartlett and Elizabeth's father was Bartholomew Rendell and that both fathers were Labourers.
Elizabeth Rendell was working as a glover and was a minor at the time of her marriage [Source].
James Bartlett and Elizabeth (née Rendell) had at least six children including my great-grandfather, James Elijah Bartlett.
James was a Bible Christian Minister for 34 years, which meant that the family moved regularly. I have been able to piece together some of their movements by looking at census information, Dr. Shorney's article [Source] and from a biographical sketch written by my great grandfather.
James died, aged 65, on 21st June 1881, at South Street, South Petherton, Somerset.
Key Events in James' Life
See also James' biographical sketch.
- 12th April 1816 - Born in Somerton, Somerset.
- Attended Sunday school and day school from ages five to thirteen, then Somerton Free School. [Source]
- June 1829 - Apprenticed to Mr. Hart, Boot and Shoe Maker, of Long Sutton, Somerset, who was landlord of the "Hare and Hounds" Inn.
A written account by James Elijah paints a great picture of his father in this period of his life: "He had some time previously learnt to dance and beat the drum, and now his dancing improved and his skill as a drummer brought him into frequent request. He added to his accomplishments a knowledge of whist and soon won applause in the skittle alley. His reading abilities made him popular in the tap room. On arrival of the "Sherbourne Journal" there was generally a full room to listen to his reading of the latest news. Discussion and argument followed as a matter of course and James became a politician, an out and out Reformer, and from that time throughout his life took a lively interest in Public Affairs. Never did he lose his singular love for a newspaper. " - 1834 - James' family transferred their allegiance to the Bible Christians. [Source] James attends one of their meetings and by 1835 is a devout worshipper.
- 9th June 1836 - James' apprenticeship ended. Received into Bible Christian membership.
- 1840 - Obtained a position in a shoemaking workshop in Langport, Somerset, owned by William Nott and catering to the town's wealthiest clientele [Source].
- 1840 - James becomes a Bible Christian minister, where he served in home circuits for the next thirty-four years. [Source]
- August 1840 - Moves to Monmouth and lodges with the Moxley family at Porthcasseg, not far from the River Wye and Tintern Abbey. Also spends time at Cwm Avon in South Glamorgan. [Source].
- 1840 - According to the Bible Christian Magazine, December 1907 (pp.538-43), James' preaching converted William Higman (born 4 November 1830 at Roche, Cornwall). [Source].
- 1841 - Living in the parish of Michaelston-super-Avon in Cwm Avon in South Glamorgan. In the 1841 census he is staying with Samuel and Sarah Hoare, who are Agricultural Labourers.
- 1842 - Posted to Northlew in Devon. [Source]
- 1843 - Posted to Breage Circuit in West Cornwall, where he lived in Leeds Town in Crowan parish. [Source]
- 1847 - Posted to the Chard Mission from Luxulyan in Cornwall. [Source]
- 1849 - Marries Elizabeth Rendell on 3rd December 1849 in Yeovil. James was in Hardington Mandeville, Somerset at the time. Elizabeth was born in East Chinnock around 1830 and was living in West Coker, Somerset, at the time of the marriage. They started their married life in a rented house in Pitway Street, South Petherton.
- 1850 - Posted to Kilkhampton Circuit on the Devon / Cornwall border. [Source]
- 1851 - Living at Eastcott, Morwenstow, Cornwall with wife Elizabeth.
- 1852 - First child, Elizabeth Jennie Bartlett ("Jennie"), born in Eastcott, Morwenstow, Cornwall.
- 1852 - Posted to the Winkleigh Mission in Devon. [Source]
- 1853 - Second child, James Elijah Bartlett (my great-grandfather), born on 1st March 1853 in Winkleigh, Devon.
- 1854 - Hephzibah Rendall Bartlett, born in Hatherleigh, Devon. Hephzibah married William Henry Drew (born 1854) in 1882 in Yeovil, Somerset. They had a daughter, Hephzibah Marion Drew (1882 - 1961), who married William Joseph Free (1882 - 1955) on 23 July 1904. [Source]. (My Cousin Irene mentioned that one of James Bartlett's daughters, Effie, married and emigrated to Australia. This was probably Hephzibah.)
- 1855 - Wrote a series of 33 autobiographical letters to his wife, Elizabeth, to tell her more of his personal history, the first from Beer Hill, Sampford Courtenay on 31st January [Source].
- 1857 - Mary Ann Bartlett born in Newport, Isle of Wight. (The family live at Quay Street, next to the Bible Christian Chapel.)
- 1860 - George Jabez Bartlett born in Shanklin, Isle of Wight. At the time of the 1881 Census he was a Carpenter and Wheelwright. He later married and had a son, George.
- 1860? - The family moves to Southampton.
- 1861 - Living at 9, Amoy Street, Southampton. The 1861 Census records James (44) and Elizabeth (30) with children Elizabeth J. (9), James E. (8), Hephzibah K. (sic) (6), Mary Ann (3) and George Jabez (6 months), with Mathilda Rendell (born in West Coker) visiting. Mathilda must be one of Elizabeth's relatives, perhaps a niece?
- 1863 - The family moves to Timberscombe, Devon.
- 1867 - Edward Charles Bartlett ("Charley") was born in Timberscombe. At the time of the 1881 Census he was a first year Pupil Teacher. Like James
Elijah he went to school at the Bible Christian Shebbear College. He wrote home to his father on 23rd May
1879, and the letter is now in the Lewis Court Bible Christian Collection in John Rylands University Library, Manchester
(MAW Ms 91.10.1).
Charley entered the Bible Christian ministry in 1890 and served as Journal Secretary at seven Conferences. For his services during World War One as a chaplain to the Belgians in France, he was awarded the Order of the Belgian Crown. His later ministry was spent in circuits in the North of England [Source].
My Cousin Irene in Beverley recalled Charley visiting James Elijah in Beverley. Charley died in 1936. - 1867 - The family leave Kingsbrompton, Somerset (now know as Brompton Regis). James is presented with a writing slope inscribed with his name (see picture below).
- circa 1870 - Living in Portland, Dorset.
- 1871 - Living at The Village, Northlew, Devon. The 1871 Census records James (54) and Elizabeth (40), Elizabeth J. (19), Hephzibah A. (sic)(16), Mary A. (13), George J. (10) and Edward C. (4). James Elijah had left home and was working as a Pupil Teacher in Portland.
- 1874 - James retires.
- 1881 - Living in South Street, South Petherton, Somerset. The 1881 Census records James (64), Elizabeth (50), George J. (20) and Edward C. (14).
- 21st June 1881 - Dies aged 65 at South Street, South Petherton, Somerset. In his obituary in the "Minutes of the Bible Christian Conference" (1881) he was described as "a loving and lovable man" who excelled as a pastor [Source].
- 1891 - Elizabeth, James' widow, is living in James Street, South Petherton, Somerset with her daughter Elizabeth J. (Jennie). In the 1891 census Elizabeth is described as a widow living on her own means and Jennie is a 39 year old spinster. It is probable that Elizabeth died in early 1895, but I still need to confirm this.
The Makings of a Bible Christian Itinerant, James Bartlett, 1816-1881 by Dr. David Shorney
In 1855 James wrote a series of 33 autobiographical letters to his wife, Elizabeth, to tell her more of his personal history.
The excellent article "The Makings of a Bible Christian Itinerant, James Bartlett, 1816-1881" by Dr. David Shorney, examines these letters, and can be found in the Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Volume 56, Part 1, February 2007, pp10 - 20.
The letters were copied into a notebook now in the Lewis Court Bible Christian Collection in John Rylands University Library, Manchester (MAW Ms 91.14).
Picture Gallery
Detail of James Bartlett's writing slope, presented to him by The Friends of the Kingsbrompton Circuit in 1867.
Kingsbrompton is in the Exmoor National Park in Somerset and is now know as Brompton Regis.