Ross Beattie's BAKER Lineage
[please contact Ross Beattie for further details of this lineage, especially for details regarding more recent generations]
This Page was Last Updated on 18th August, 2009

Locality
Early Generations (5)

Locality

This family is first identified about Cutcombe and Wheddon Cross in north-western Somerset.

Early Generations

1. William Baker m.(1770) Mary Edbrooke

William Baker and Mary Edbrooke, both of Cutcombe, Somerset England, married at Cutcombe in April 1770; they were the parents of eight known children:

1.1 William Baker (1777…)

The Cutcombe parish registers (1806…1837) include references to several William Bakers, any of whom may have the son born 1877 of WILLIAM and MARY BAKER. The references follow…
A. William Baker and his wife Ann ? were the parents of:
B. William Baker, bachelor sojourner of the parish of Cutcombe, married spinster Sarah Heard of the same parish at Cutcombe on 23 July 1807.
C. William Baker was buried at Cutcombe on 19 March 1809.
D. William Baker and his wife Amy ? were the parents of:

1.2 Thomas Baker (1781…1857) m. Jane Crockford (1788…1860)

Jane Crockford, born 1788 to JAMES and JOANY CROCKFORD, may have been she who at Cutcombe in May 1812 , married Thomas Baker, son of WILLIAM and MARY BAKER of Cutcombe. Thomas was baptised 1781. Thomas and Jane Baker's children were:
The baptismal registrations record Thomas (snr.) as a smith, at Cutcombe in 1813, a blacksmith in 1820, and a smith at Luckwell Bridge in 1824, 1826 and 1828. They also illustrate the frequently large delays between birth and christening.

Annie Topham (in 1988) considers that the Thomas Baker baptised 1813 is her great-grandfather. The 1841 census has the following entries:
Name Age Occupation . Notes
p9: Cutcombe/Luckwell Bridge
Thomas Baker 60 Blacksmith Y .
Jane Baker 53 . Y nee Crockford
Richard Baker 21 . . .
Mary Baker 11 . Y nee Crockford

The 1851 census has Thomas and Jane Baker at Coombshead farm with their youngest child, 21 year old Mary Baker, and son Thomas as the Luckwell Bridge blacksmith:
Name Position Marital Status Age Occupation Birthplace eYoB
Coombeshead Farm, Cutcombe [HO107; piece 1920; folio 270; page 12; entry 42; GSU# 221075]
Thomas Baker Head Married 70 Farmer of 91 acres
empl. 3 labourers
 Cutcombe SOM 1781
Jane Baker Wife Married 63 Farmer's Wife Cutcombe SOM 1788
Mary Baker Dau Unmarried 21 Farmer's Dau. Cutcombe SOM 1830
John Willliams Serv Unmarried 24 Ag. Lab. Cutcombe SOM 1830
John Quartley Serv Unmarried 19 Ag. Lab. Cutcombe SOM 1830
George Barns Serv . 18 Ag. Lab. Cutcombe SOM 1830
Mary Widlake Serv Unmarried 17 Gerneral Serv. Porlock SOM 1830
Village of Luckwell Bridge, Cutcombe [O107; piece 1920; folio 267; page 6; entry 19; GSU# 221075]
Thomas Baker Head Married 38 Master Blacksmith Cutcombe SOM 1830
Harriott Baker Wife Married 38 Blacksmith's Wife Monksilver SOM 1813
Emma Baker Dau Unmarried 14 Blacksmith's Daur Monksilver SOM 1837
Robert Baker Son . 12 Blacksmith's Son Luckcombe? SOM 1839
Thomas Baker Son . 7 Scholar Coombemartin DEV 1844
Mary Baker Dau . 4 Scholar Cutcombe SOM 1847
Harriott Baker Dau . 3 Scholar Cutcombe SOM 1848
Sarah Baker Dau . 3M Home Cutcombe SOM 1851

Thomas Baker of Cutcombe, aged 76 years, was buried at Cutcombe on 28 March 1857. Jane does not appear in the 1861 census and presumably had passed away by then. It seems likely that she was the Jane Baker of Minehead, aged 72 years, who was buried at Cutcombe on 24? July 1860. In 1861 the farm (Coombshead Farm) was being run by Mary and her husband William Crockford.

In the 1861 census Coombeshead was occupied by William Crockford (born c1824, son of Willam Crockford [brother of Jane Crockford the apparent wife of Thomas Baker] and Jane Fish) and his wife Mary Ann Norman and their family:
Name Position Marital Status Age Occupation Birthplace eYoB
Coombeshead Farm, Cutcombe [RG9; piece 1602; folio 92; page 10; entry 58; GSU# 542838]
William Crockford Head Married 37 Late Farmer
 Cutcombe SOM 1824
Mary Ann Crockford Wife Married 31 . Cutcombe SOM 1830
William Crockford Son . 5 . Cutcombe SOM 1856
Maria Jane Crockford Dau . 4 . Cutcombe SOM 1857
Sarah Ann Crockford Dau . 11m . Cutcombe SOM 1860
Sarah Williams Serv Unmarried 16 . Cutcombe SOM 1845

Jane's older sister Grace Crockford had also married a Thomas Baker, on 17 February 1801 at Cutcombe; presumably the two Thomas Bakers were cousins.

Annie Topham (1988) considered that Ellen Baker's parents were in Coombe Martin DEV where their Thomas was born in 1843; by 1846 and Mary's birth they were in Cutcombe or Luckwell Bridge SOM. Annie also said that Bill Hirt (snr.) thought the Ann who married Michael could be Thomas Baker's sister: this would give a nice fit for the Ann born 1822, but this is based on a sole reference (the gravestone photograph).

The 1891 census has the following entries:

Name Pos MS Age Occupation Emp.Status Birthplace eYoB
Location : Cutcombe/North Hill [ ]
Thomas Baker Head M 44 Agricultural Labourer e Cutcombe SOM 1847
John J Baker Son   10 Scholar  . Cutcombe SOM 1881
Location : Cutcombe/Ford
Ann Gregory Head W 68 Farmer E Wootton Courtenay SOM 1823
Elizabeth Gregory Dau S 33 . n Cutcombe SOM 1858
Eva Gregory Dau S 31  . n Cutcombe SOM 1860
Frederick J Gregory Son S 29 Farmer's son e Cutcombe SOM 1862

Pos = position in Household; MS = marital status (S:single, M:married, W:widowed); eYoB = estimated year of birth (inferred from census)


1.2.1 Thomas Baker (1813…) m. Harriet Watts (c1813…)

Thomas Baker (born 1813 Cutcombe) married Harriet Watts (?at Cutcombe) in July 1836. Harriet, the daughter of JAMES WATTS and SARAH, both of Monksilver, was born thereat c1813. Thomas Baker and Harriet Watts' children were:
Of these nine children, one "disappeared" about age 20, three never married, two married without issue, one had one child, Harriet died leaving a young family and Ellen had four children. Robert, first son of Thomas and Harriet, took up the blacksmith trade.

Annie Topham (1993) found Harriet, her husband George Maggs and their children in Cardiff WLS in the 1891 census. Of the Magg children, one died at sea, one never married and the son of another went to the United States in the 1940s.

The 1851 census has Thomas and Harriett Baker at Luckwell Bridge, where he was a blacksmith, following his father's trade. His father Thomas and mother Jane had retired to a farm with their daughter Mary, who later married William Crockford. Thomas (b1813) was still a blacksmith at Luckwell Bridge when his daughter Emma was born in 1856.

1.2.1.1 Ellen Baker (1856…) m. Frank George Farthing (1857…1929)

Frank George Farthing, born at Lamyatt ?, Bruton, 1857, was the son of CHARLES FARTHING of Milton ?, Clevedon and JANE HILLARD of Bruton. On 29 December 1880 at Newport MON (near Cardiff GLA), Frank married Ellen Baker, born 1856 at Luckwell Bridge SOM to THOMAS BAKER and HARRIET WATTS.

Frank and Ellen Farthing moved to Cardiff GLA after their wedding where they lived with Frank's sister and widowed mother. At about the same time (c1880), John and Anne Smallridge (nee Crockford) and their children George William and Laura Smallridge were in Cardiff. Frank and Ellen Farthing had three children before emigrating to the USA where their fourth child was born:
Frank and Ellen with their three children emigrated from Cardiff to USA in 1889, just after the widowed Annie Smallridge and her two children George and Laura. The Farthing's moved to a fruit farm at Mattawan, Van Buren MI, in 1903, assisted by George Smallridge who obtained land adjoining. George's mother and sister apparently intended to join him there, but Annie died in 1903, and Laura stayed in Chicago. George's daughter Mary spent much of her teen years with Laura in Chicago, attending college.

Frank George Farthing died in January 1929, about one month before George William Smallridge.
 

2. Other Baker families

2.1 Richard Baker (c1720…) m. Ann He(a)rd (c1720…)

Richard Baker and Ann Herd, both of Cutcombe, were married in the parish church in October 1763. Children baptised at Cutcombe to Richard and Ann Baker were:

Some other families are known, but not yet filed on the Web. Please contact Ross Beattie with a query.
Anything to add?
If you have any queries about this family, or information to add, please eMail
Ross Beattie ( rossbtgenealogy@gmail.com )
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