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William Atkins and Mary Guppy © A clue to William’s place of birth as Portesham is given in the 1851 Census and this, with later Census records, indicate he was born around 1770. A baptism for a William, on the 11th September, 1774, the son of Benjamin Atkins and his wife Rachel1, has been located in Portesham, Dorset, and is believed to be my William. A quaint little village of limestone thatched cottages and a medieval church, Portesham is spoken in the Dorset dialect as ‘Possum’, and was originally granted as a manor by King Canute in 10247. The lands had been given to Orc his servant, and his wife subsequently gave it to the Monastery of Abbotsbury, which is less than 2km south-west of the village. Also called Portisham in earlier days, the village is approximately 7km south-south-west of Winterbourne. Appearing in the Domesday Book with a total population of 34 households, the village was under the Lordship of Abbotsbury Abbey. Running through the parish is an outcrop of Purbeck limestone, which was quarried in Portesham in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, producing stone that was used in domestic and ecclesiastical buildings within the local area. The quarry also contained a lime kiln. A document for the Dorset Milita8 which lists 'All Persons liable to enrol in the Milita in the Parish of Winerbourne Abbas for the Year 1796' suggests No.155, William Atkins, Labourer, 5ft6inches was given 'Approval to be board at Kings Arms in Dorchester on Saturday the 23 Day of this Instant January 1796'. It is thought that William married first Hannah Gale in the Parish of Burton Bradstock, Dorset, on the 25th November, 17982. Records also indicate William and Hannah had five children: Hannah 1799; John 1802; William 1804; Ann 1806; and Jane 1810. Hannah died in 1814, and was buried in Burton Bradstock, on the 14th April3. Nothing more is known of William until, on the 6th June, 18162, it appears that he married Mary Guppy, by Banns, in the Parish Church, Netherbury, Dorset. Both indicated they were members of the Parish, William signed the register, but Mary made her mark. The marriage was conducted by W. Mallard Vicar and the witnesses were Frances Gillham and Richard Tolley. Searches of parish records suggest that Mary was the daughter of John Guppy and his wife Ann (nee Symes). Born on the 20th October, 17951, she was baptized in the St Mary Parish Church, Netherbury, five days later on the 25th October2.
Further examination of parish records around the area also indicate that William
and Mary had five sons and one daughter: Henry c1820; Thomas c1821, he married
Phoebe Govier 1845; Robert c1823-1865; and Richard 1826, all baptised Netherbury;
James 1828-1851, baptised Whitchurch Canonicorum; and Rachel 1832, baptised in
Symondsbury, in this last record the family are recorded as from Wormstall.
Netherbury is said to have been given to the See of Sherborne by King Edgar, in
the late-10th Century. In the Domesday Book of 10864, the
village is recorded as ‘Niderberie’, In 1835, it appears that William lost his second wife, as a burial record for a Mary Atkins, of Wormstall has been located. Aged 48, Mary was buried in the Churchyard in Symondsbury, on the 20th October, 18353. William can be found on the 1841 Census5 at Wormstall, Symondsbury. Aged 68, William's occupation is given as an Agricultural Labourer, and the record indicates he was born in Dorset. Living with him are his children: Thomas 20; Robert 18; James 13; and Rachel 8, all born in Dorset. The 1851 Census5 has William as a Widowed 80year old Lodger, in Venn, Symondsbury, Dorset. He is in the house of Henry Atkins, believed to be his son, William’s occupation is given as Pauper Dairyman (Agricultural Labourer), born in Possom (Portesham) Dorset. At some stage after the 1851 Census was taken, William moved into the Union Workhouse in Bridport, where he died in January 1854. Bridport Union records indicate the existence of a pre-1834 workhouse, although its location is not known. On the 28th of March 1836, the Bridport Poor Law Union was formed and a new union workhouse, for 200 inmates, was built in Britford. The three-storey building was constructed from local stone and followed the popular cruciform plan, which created yards for the different categories of inmate. In 1840, the Guardians' minutes record that they ‘moved that the Master be directed to keep those paupers infected with the Itch separate from the other inmates’, and that ‘his attention be particularly directed to this Resolution as the disease has so long been prevailing in the House’. In 1948, the institution became Port Bredy geriatric hospital. Finally closed in 1996 the buildings were converted in 1999-2000 for residential use. Bridport is about 2kms south-east of Symondsbury. Aged 85, and from the Union Workhouse, William was buried in Symondsbury, on the 29th January, 18543.
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