In the previous post in this series on my family history I described my research on the early references to Nurses in North Somerset, in particular the history of William Nurse of Chew Stoke.
Whether the theory discussed in this earlier article is correct or not the Nurse family can be traced with a high degree of confidence to a Robert and Sarah Nurse, who were living in Compton Dando in the 1730’s.[1] Compton Dando parish is just south and west of Keynsham in the north of Somerset.
The first reference to Robert and Sarah Nurse in the parish register is to the baptism of a daughter, Ann on 8th July 1736.
In 1748 Robert leased a cottage[2] and some land “on the east side of the highway leading from Woollard to Houndstreet” for the princely sum of 3s 4d payable “at the 2 most usual feasts terms in the year (that is to say) the feast of St Michael the Archangel and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.
In the lease, Robert is described as a Yeoman of the parish of Compton Dando.[3][4] There is another lease for the same property in 1762 where the rent increased to 4s 0d.
Figure 1 - Map of the Area around Compton Dando (~1782) |
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Figure 1 shows a map of the area around Compton Dando as it was in about 1782, where the road from Woollard to Houndstreet is shown quite clearly.
Over the course of the next 18 years six more of Robert and Sarah’s children were baptised in the parish church of Compton Dando. The two daughters and two sons - Thomas and John - were married in Compton Dando, Ann in 1757 to Thomas Ford, Thomas in 1763 to Mary Long (and in 1781 to Jane Pow), Sarah, the youngest, in 1773 to Robert Ashley and John, also in 1773, to Ann Dozens.
Samuel, my direct ancestor married Rachel Dolman at Keynsham on the 11th October 1772.[5][6] Keynsham was the home of the Dolman family[7], and the parish registers, and Land Tax records both contain many references to the Dolman name. [5][8]
In the Compton Dando Land Tax assessments for 1781,[9] Robert Nurse is mentioned as the occupier of three pieces of land, owned by James Pittman, Robert Ford and John Ford, the total assessment for these three pieces of land being £1 14s 3d (quite a considerable sum in those days). This may have been the same land on the Woolard-Houndstreete road mentioned earlier. [10]
Figure 2 - The Family of Robert and Sarah Nurse |
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In December of 1781, just before Christmas, Robert Nurse died. He was buried at Compton Dando on 23rd December 1781. In the following year’s tax assessment, Sarah Nurse is shown as the occupier of only one of the pieces of land - the piece owned by James Pittman, which she continued to occupy until her death in December 1792.
She was also buried in Compton Dando, on 12th December 1792. In the parish register entry for her death it states that she was 84 years old. This is probably not completely accurate, as it would mean that she was 28 years old when she had her first child, and 46 years old when she had her last child. However, even if it is a slight exaggeration it was still a ripe old age indeed for the 18th century. It also states that she was a pauper.
Bibliography and Notes
[1] Parish Register for the Parish of Compton Dando Somerset, 1652-1812. Microfiched by the Somerset Record Office, Taunton.
[2] Somerset Record Office Ref DD / CD 5
[3] In English History a Yeoman refers to a class of men intermediate between the gentry and the labourers; a yeoman was usually a landholder, but could also be a retainer, guard, attendant, or subordinate official.
[4] Encyclopedia Brittanica, 15th Edition (1980), Micropaedia, X, p 814.
[5] Parish Register for the Parish of St. John, Keynsham, 1750 - 1807. Microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Film No. 1526662.
[6] By the late 18th century, parishes were required to complete a standard registration form, and for both Sarah and Samuel’s marriages Robert Nurse is listed as a witness. Whether, this was the father or the elder brother is not clear, but it was probably the brother, as Samuel and Robert both moved to the Hanham area.
[7] Rachel Dollman was baptized in Keynsham parish on 16 Apr 1749 – the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Dollman. There is no reference to Jonathan and Sarah’s marriage, but Jonathan was apparently baptized on 6 Jan 1714 – the son of Barnabas and Mary Dolman. Joanathan was buried in Keynsham Church on 4 Apr 1790 and his wife Sarah was buried on 20 Jul 1785. .
[8] Land Tax Records for the Parish of Keynsham, Somerset, 1766 – 1831. Microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Film No. 1526847.
[9] Land Tax Records for the Parish of Compton Dando, Somerset, 1766 – 1831. Microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Film No. 1526847.
[10] Whether this was the same land mentioned in the leases of 1748 and 1762 is not clear as the Land Tax records are specified differently from the lease documents.