Thursday 14 March 2019

Great x4 Grandmother Mary Dyment (nee Cudmore)

My Great x4 Grandmother Mary (1799 - 1877) was a housewife and mother of nine.



Mary Cudmore was born around 1799 in Dolton, Devon, to Richard Cudmore (about 33), a husbandman and agricultural labourer, and Elizabeth Cudmore (nee Williams) (about 30).

Mary was baptied on 31st March 1799 in Dolton.

Mary was the third of eleven children:

  • Elizabeth  1796 -
  • Joan  1797 -
  • Mary  1799 -
  • William 1801 -
  • John  1802 -
  • Jane 1806 - 1806 (about one week old)
  • George  1807 -
  • James  1809 -
  • Richard  1811 -
  • Thomas  1813 - 1815 (about eighteen months old)
  • Christopher  1816 -

In April 1806, when Mary was about seven, her baby sister Jane passed away. Jane was baptised on 6th April and buried on 13th April in Dolton, making her only about one week old when she passed away.

In May 1815, when Mary was about sixteen, her little brother Thomas passed away, aged about eighteen months. He was buried on 11th May 1815 in Dolton.

On 2nd June 1822, Mary (about 23) married Robert Dyment (about 26), an agricultural labourer, in Dolton. Each left only their mark on their marriage certificate, implying neither could write.

Mary and Robert had nine children:

  • Robert  1824 -
  • Thomas  1825 -
  • William  1828 - 1849 (21 years old)
  • Mary  1830 -
  • Elizabeth  1832 - 1842 (10 years old)
  • Martha  1833 -
  • Susan/Susanna  1836 - 1853 (18 years old)
  • Joanna  1839 - 1853 (14 years old)
  • John  1841 -

All nine children were baptised and grew up in Mary's native Dolton. Sadly four of their children passed away young.

1841 Census:



Alas the 1840's saw for Mary the deaths of her parents and two of her own children...

In 1841, when Mary was about forty-two, her mother Elizabeth passed away, aged about seventy-two, in Dolton. She was buried on 6th June 1841 in Dolton.

The next year, Mary's daughter also called Elizabeth - likely after Mary's mother - also passed away, aged only ten years old. Elizabeth was buried on 16th August 1842 in Dolton.

In 1847, when Mary was about forty-eight, her father Richard passed away, aged about eighty-one, in Dolton. He was buried on 8th April 1847 in Dolton.

In 1849, when Mary was about fifty, her son William also passed away, aged twenty-one. William was buried on 12th August 1849 in Dolton.

On the records of burial for Mary's children Elizabeth and William, their residence is listened as alas Torrington Union [Work]House. Poor families often used local workhouses for cheap or free health care. These young persons may have been receiving medical care in the workhouse before their premature deaths there. The Censuses imply the family were not living in the workhouse, or if they did it was not for long.

In middle age, Mary's husband Robert seemingly changed career from agricultural labourer to road contractor. Mary and Robert's second son Thomas followed in his father's new trade - on later Censuses he is listed as a roadman.

1851 Census:


In 1853, Mary's eighth child Joanna also passed away, aged only fourteen. She was buried on 11th March 1853 in Dolton.

And later that same year, her seventh child Susan passed away, aged eighteen. She was buried on 28th August 1853 in Dolton.

Mary's closest sibling in age, her younger brother William, as well as being a agricultural labourer, like most of the men in Mary's life, we learn from newspaper articles that in the 1850's he was also a poacher and more surprisingly a musican.

William had a local rival musican, Thomas Dymond. Now the only Thomas Dymond/Dyment I can find living in Dolton in the 1850's in Mary's own son Thomas! Was William's rival then his own nephew? It seems likely. Their rivaly made the local newspapers, when it turned violent. From the North Devon Journal of 15th June 1854:



In late 1858, William attempted to poach on the land of a local lord, Lord Clinton. Such was reported in the North Devon Journal of  9th December 1858:


A year later, in 1859, William was again caught attemping to poach - this time on land belonging to the local reverand. From the Exeter Flying Post of 13th October 1859:


Sometime in the late 1850's, Mary, Robert and their youngest child John moved from Dolton to Torrington. Also living with the family was Mary and Robert's grandson William, the illegitimate son of their fourth child and eldest daughter Mary. It's nice William stayed with the family.

1861 Census:


In 1871, when Mary was around seventy-two, her husband Robert passed away, aged about seventy-four. He was was buried on 31st January in Dolton.

It seems Robert spent the last years of his life back in Dolton, for there he was buried and there Mary, widowed, and their grandson William can be found living together, back by the brook, in the 1871 Census.

1871 Census:


Mary herself passed away in late 1877. She was buried on 9th December 1877 in Dolton.

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