Great x3 Grandmother Dinah Herd (nee Bennett)

My Great x3 Grandmother Dinah (1805 - 1869) was a servant, housekeeper, and mother of two.

Dinah Bennett was born around 1805 in Sampford Courtenay, Devon, to William Coombe (about 23) and Loveday Bennett (about 19), a female servant.

Dinah was illegitimate. She was baptised Dinah Coombe, on 11th August 1805 in Sampford Courtenay, but would later go by Dinah Bennett. Her father William Coombe was ordered by the parish to pay maintenance. He was the son of Loveday's employer, Simon Coombe, who Loveday, back when about eleven-years-old, was apprenticed to in 1794.

On 4th November 1811, when Dinah was six, her mother Loveday married George Turner, a labourer, in Stoke Damerel, near Plymouth, which is over thirty-miles south of Dinah's native Sampford Courtenay.

Soon Dinah gained nine younger half siblings (six sisters and three brothers):

• Mary  1813 -
• Loveday  1816 -
• Rebecca  1818 -
• Elizabeth  1821 -
• Susan  1822 - 1826 (3 years old)
• Eliza  1825 - 1826 (1 year old)
• George  1827 - 1828 (4 months old)
• George  1829 -
• William  1832 -

Sometime between 1822 and 1825, the family moved back northwards to Jacobstowe, which is only three miles west of Dinah's native Sampford Courtenay.

On 9th January 1826, Dinah (about 20) married William Herd, a sawyer, in St Mary Steps, Exeter. Whilst William left only his mark, implying he could not write, Dinah was able to sign her name.

Dinah Bennett's Signature, 1826

Sadly, less than six months later, two of Dinah's younger half sisters, Eliza and Susan, passed away in infancy. Eliza (1 years old) passed away first - she was buried on 30th June - followed by Susan (3 years old) - she was buried, less than a week later, on 6th July. Touchingly, Dinah, who was about one or two months pregnant with her first child at the time, would name that child, a daughter, after her sisters. Eliza Susan Herd was baptised on 26th February 1827 in Jacobstowe. Eliza Susan was Dinah and William's only child.

Just over one year later, another of Dinah's young siblings sadly passed away in infancy. George was only four months old, when he passed away, in 1828. He was buried on 9th March 1828 in Jacobstowe. George had been his mother's eighth child, but her first son - I imagine his death was felt acutely.

Around 1834, Dinah's husband William went to America. He had been absent over three years, when on 19th July 1839, Dinah (about 34) gave birth to an illegitimate son, Ezekiel, in Exbourne, which is only about one and half miles from Jacobstowe. Ezekiel was baptised on 25th August 1839 in Exbourne. Ezekiel's birth certificate would acknowledge his father to be widower Walter Easterbrook (about 50), an agricultural labourer and thatcher. On Ezekiel's baptism record and when a baby on the 1841 census, his surname is given as Herd (his mother Dinah's married name); however, on all later records, Herd is listed as his middle name, Easterbrook is listed as his surname, and Walter is listed as his father.

Though Dinah and Walter would never marry - likely because she was still married, though to an absent husband - they would live together for many years, with their son Ezekiel. On censuses, Dinah's given relationship to Walter is inconsistent: she is listed as his servant, housekeeper and visitor.

In 1841, when Dinah was about thirty-five, her step-father George Turner passed away, aged about fifty-four. He was buried on 21st February 1814 in Jacobstowe. Dinah's widowed mother Loveday would find work as a servant.

1841 Census:

On 16th November 1847, Dinah's daughter Eliza (about 20) married labourer and excavator Walter Chapman (about 28), in Stoke Damerel. Meanwhile, Dinah remarried in Exbourne.

1851 Census:

In 1854, when Dinah was about forty-nine, her mother Loveday passed away, aged about sixty-eight, in Jacobstowe. She was buried on 25th June 1854 in Jacobstowe.

On 7th March 1859, Dinah's son Ezekiel (19), a blacksmith, married glover Mary Saunders (22) in her native Highampton. Mary moved in with Ezekiel and his parents. Two years later, in 1861, the family could be found living in Brooks Cottage, Towns End, Okehampton.

1861 Census:

In January 1862, when Dinah was about fifty-six, Walter Easterbrook, the father of her son, passed away, aged seventy-two, in Exbourne. He was buried on 24th January 1862 in Exbourne.

In July 1869, Dinah herself passed away, aged about sixty-four, in Exbourne. She was buried on 23rd July 1869 in Exbourne.