19th c. Stone masons near Yeovil

[Annie65115]

Hi, I'm looking into a relative's family tree and hence find myself, metaphorically speaking, in a part of the country - Somerset - about which I know very little.

My relatives ancestors were rooted in Norton sub Hamden and Stoke sub Hamden, near Yeovil, and they were stone masons.

Does anyone know, or can anyone point me towards web resources, to tell me a bit more about stonemasonry in this area in the early 1800's? Was it quarrying or something else? And did the industry slump in the mid-late 1800's --- if not, can anyone think of why a stonemason whose family had lived in Somerset for generations should uproot himself and children and shift to Liverpool?

Many thanks for any further information.

[favell44]

My wife and I were holidaying in Norton sub Hamden a year ago checking out family history.  The two villages nestle under Ham Hill which is famous for providing quality building stone.  I don't know about the history of the quarry, but there is a nice memorial to the stone masons on the top of the hill.

I hope this helps.

[Birtle]

Hello Annie,
I think the reason for your family uprooting themselves and heading for Liverpool could be down to Somerset having been severely economically depressed in the mid-19th century. Rural conditions were bad, and from the little I've read it's possible that the local quarries were getting exhausted.
George Mitchell of Montacute (nr Yeovil) was another man who made the move to the smoke. He was a young stonemason who in the 1850s moved to London and became a successful marble and stone merchant. He was also instrumental in setting up  the National Agricultural Labourers Union. With a bit of sifting out of other George Mitchells you can find some stuff about him on the web, and there is a biography of him by  Brendon Owen, though it deals more with him as a political activist than as a mason. But the early chapters do illustrate the appalling conditions that the rural poor endured.
(Some of my own family (they were in the gloving industry) went so far as to emigrate to the States at that time...)
As for the quarries, there's a bit of info in the Victoria County History for Somerset which you can access at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/catalogue.aspx?gid=29.    Stoke sub Hamdon is in vol. 3.
Also a bit at http://www.wainwright.co.uk/history.php  (Perhaps the intro of steam haulage mentioned there led to a reduction in the size of the labour force?)
Sorry that these really are only snippets of info. I wish I could help more, but looking for info about 19th century economic conditions in Somerset, let alone histories of specific industries, makes me realise how much really good info has been lost from the web since the 1990s. I'm thinking in particular of some really interesting articles on the Somerset gloving industry that I found then (I think it was in conjunction with an exhibition) but can't find now. Seems like a case of 'the book is dead, long live the book'!
Anyway, I hope this helps a bit. And good luck in your quest.
Birtle

[Benzol]

Hello Annie,
Not much help but my great grandmother "Bull" was the daughter of a stonemason from Crewkerne, 3/4 miles from the Nortons. Many Bulls were Master Masons, Masons, Journeymen Masons. My grandfather's first wife a "Parsons" was the daughter of a bricklayer from Yarcombe, Somerset. I understand that many Parson men were stonemasons as well. I'm guessing but I assume that stone-masons were the equivalent of today's bricklayers. The population in the big cities was expanding rapidly all through the 1800s and I guess there was much more work Liverpool than in the Crewkerne area. The Parson mentioned was living in Battersea when his daughter married my grandfather.

I've a long lost cousin who is very keen on the Bulls and Parsons of Devon/Somerset. I'll find out if he knows anything.

Benzol

[Annie65115]

Thanks for the extra info, I'll pass it on to my cousin!

His ancestors were a family called Brake which seems to have been an unusual surname. Anyone else got any Somerset Brakes in their tree?

[Benzol]

Hi Annie,

This is the reply from my cousin. I looked at the database but couldn't find any Brakes.

"Can't really help with the Somerset to Liverpool move, unless it preceded a move to the Welsh mining areas.

As to what Stone Masons did, well they tended to build things, repair buildings, and simply cut slabs of stone.

There is a Stonemasons site at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stonemen


which features a number of the BULL & PARSONS Stonemasons from Crewkerne and surrounds."

Benzol

[billy2s]

Thanks for the extra info, I'll pass it on to my cousin!

His ancestors were a family called Brake which seems to have been an unusual surname. Anyone else got any Somerset Brakes in their tree?

Hi Annie,

Came to Rootschat through googling Brake Yeovil! My grandmother was born Brake, I believe from Ilchester, and lived at Stoke Sub Hamdon.

One of the other families I have is Warry also of Stoke Sub Hamdon, and a couple of my great uncle Warry's were stone masons on Ham Hill.

Would be interested to compare notes!

[ncamp]

Good Morning
I am just starting to search for information on a relative who we believe was a stonemason who worked on Montacute House. His surname was Johnson and first names were either Horace Thomas or Thomas Horace. Any information would be wonderful.