The Gazard family – George (a butcher), Charlotte his wife and their 7 children were living on Barrs Lane at the time of the 1841 Census. The cottage still stands today, and is circled in orange. in the Tithe Terrier on 1847, it was rented by George from his elder brother Isaac, who died a year later. In his will, written in 1855, Isaac the elder, George’s father, refers to the house as being lived in by George, but states that George’s brothers, Joseph, Edward and George, should divide the estate.
Both Elizabeth and Emma took the traditional path of going into service. In 1851 Elizabeth (aged 14) was living in Devon as a ‘childrens caretaker’ and in ’61 Bilhah was a servant in Wotton under Edge.
By 1861, only Isaac, now a butcher himself, was living with his parents.
Emma married Samuel Phillips, a cooper, when she was 24. They had 4 daughters, and lived in Bristol from the 1870s onwards. She died aged 74.
In the 1871, Isaac is living next door to his mother, in Forthay Cottage. With him is his wife Jane, and their children, Emma, Elizabeth, Henry and Kate. But, in 1876, he died of bronchitis.
It seems that, despite the census record, Isaac and Jane didn’t marry. Jane, nee Brown, had been married to Rowland Witchell. They married in October 1860, and Rowland died 4 months later. They had a daughter, the Emma recorded as Emma Gazard on the ’61 Census.
Isaac and Jane seem to have had children, Elizabeth, Henry George, Kate, George Henry, and Louisa, though I can find no record of baptism. But in the register of birth, they are all given the name Gazard Witchell. Similarly, in their marriage certificates, they are recorded as Gazard Witchell, and Isaac, their presumed father, becomes Isaac Gazard Witchell as well.
On the 2nd August, 1873, the Stroud Journal reported that
Fanny Carpenter, wife of Thomas Carpenter, labourer, was summoned by Jane Witchell, of the same place, widow, for an assault on the 22nd inst. Both parties were bound over to keep the peace for 6 months.
In 1879, Jane Witchell, singlewoman is recorded as the mother of Florence Saunders (probably a clue to the father) Witchell, baptised in Wotton under Edge.
In the 1881 Census, Jane Witchell, singlewoman, is living in Wotton under Edge with 4 of her children – all now surnamed Witchell.
In 1882 she married Andrew Minchin, and they had two children.
One can only leave the facts there, and wonder at the stories, and personalities, behind these bare details.
Elizabeth married Sidney Bloodworth at the age of 30. Sidney was a builder, living in Dursley, who, to quote his obituary, published in 1923 ‘was one of Dursley’s most prominent townsmen. A baker by trade, he achieved considerable business success’. The family initially lived in Silver Street, but then moved to Claremont, a prestigious Edwardian house, still standing on Kingshill Road. They had three children.
Elizabeth died in 1917, aged 82.
Bilhah married Alfred Raggatt, a baker and innkeeper when she was 22. They lived on the High St in Wickwar. In 1901 Alfred was recorded as being a licensed victualler, at the Beaufort Arms in Wickwar. Bella and Alfred had 4 children.
Incidentally, Bilhah, a name from Genesis, is how she is recorded. This changes, over time, to Billa, and then to Bella, in 1881, probably seen as less old-fashioned by then.
Bella died in 1910, aged 70.
North Nibley One-Place-Study 