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| St Peters Church, Knowstone cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Cornfoot - geograph.org.uk/p/6092409 |
Robert Medelton (sic) (b. ~1791) married Elizabeth Baker (b. ~1800) at St Peters Church, Knowstone, Devon on 21 Sept 1821. Unfortunately, there are no baptism records to trace their origins further, however, Elizabeth Baker was from Knowstone and came to the marriage with an illegitimate daughter, Mary Baker, born ~1821, but for whom there's no baptism record either.
Robert and Elizabeth added seven children, baptised in Knowstone:
- Elizabeth Medelton (sic) bap. 19 Jan 1823 (buried 23 May 1824)
- William Medelton (sic) bap. 13 Mar 1825 (buried 5 Jun 1825)
- Robert Medelton (sic) bap. 4 Jun 1826
- Jane Medelton (sic) bap. 15 Mar 1829
- Maria Middleton bap. 22 Jan 1832 (buried 21 Sep 1834)
- Harriot Medelton (sic) bap. 4 May 1834
- Thomas Middleton b. 1841 M Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON Volume 10 Page 209, mother's maiden name BAKER, bap. 25 Jul 1841
Spellings are always variable, but none more so than with Middleton / Medelton and it's variations, which I'm sure is as a result of the officiator writing down what they heard said in a thick West Country accent.
The North Devon Journal of 25 Jun 1835 reported that "Farmer William Blackwell, of Knowstone, charged Robert Middleton, a labourer, with harbouring Mary Baker, his parish apprentice. It seemed that for some fault the farmer's wife had beaten her, not by any means with undue severity, and that she had run off to the defendant's (her father-in-law)[1], who, instead of taking her back to her master, had kept her at home a fortnight: this he had done on other occasions before. The defendant appeared to have acted under the idea that the child had been treated cruelly; but the magistrates warned him that supposing that had been the case, of which there was not the slightest proof, his duty was to apply to the overseers who would see that the parish apprentices were not subjected to any improper usage."
[1] On many occasions I've seen "in-law" used in place of "step".
In 1841, Robert (50), Agricultural Labourer, and Elizabeth (40), were living, as were many other families, in "Part of Lower High Building" in Knowstone, with Harriet (7) and Thomas (0). Robert Middleton Jnr (15) Ag Lab was out working, for William Follett at Bransford, Knowstone, while Jane Middleton (12), was similarly employed by John Bucknell at Beaple's Barton.
Robert Middleton died, aged 50, and his death was registered in 1842 J Qtr in SOUTH MOLTON Vol 10 Page 140. The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of 19 Mar 1842 reports on the particulars. "Suicide: On Monday last the 14th inst., an inquest was held in the parish of Knowstone, before J Partridge, Esq., coroner on the body of Robert Middleton, a man of rather weak intellect, and a pauper of that parish, who had committed suicide, by lacerating his left arm with a razor, and bled to death. It appeared that on Saturday the 5th, he had received half-a-crown for labour, from a farmer of the parish, and that he went to a public house, and spent the greater part of it. In consequence of spending the money, an altercation took place between him and his wife. On the Sunday morning following he was heard to say that he would destroy himself, and one of his children observed that he took a razor and made a slight laceration in his arm, from which blood appeared; soon after which he left his house, and about nine o'clock the same morning, he was discovered lying upon his face in a barn, a few hundred yards distant from his cottage. He was desired to leave the barn, which he did, and walked in the direction of a coppice on the other side of the field, and was never seen alive afterwards. He was accidentally found on Sunday the 13th by his landlord, in the coppice towards which he had been walking. The body presented a most emaciated and wretched spectacle, being enveloped in rags and filth, with the same shirt in which he had left the Union [Workhouse] at Christmas. In the left arm were several slight lacerations, but one had divided the artery and caused death; in his waistcoat pocket was found a razor stained with blood. The Jury returned a verdict of Felo de se, and he was accordingly buried in the church-yard, between the hours of nine and twelve the same night."
Persons who were judged guilty of Felo de se (felon of himself) - it was then a crime - would forfeit their property (very doubtful Robert had any) and be subjected to 'a shameful burial'. Burials for felones de se typically took place at night, with no mourners nor clergy. In England and Wales, the offence of felo de se was abolished by section 1 of the Suicide Act 1961.
Then the following item appeared in the same newspaper of 2 Apr 1842. "KNOWSTONE AGAIN: Resurrectionists.- Several attempts have been made to steal the body of that poor unfortunate creature, Robert Middleton, who a short time since committed suicide, and was buried about midnight in the churchyard of this parish; but hitherto the villains have been disappointed. It was suspected that on a certain night an attempt would be made, and the grave was accordingly watched; when in the dead of the night two notorious characters of the parish were observed to remove the earth to within about a foot of the body, when finding they were discovered they made a most precipitate retreat, once more disappointed of their booty."
A Beginner’s Guide to Body Snatching, explains why the interest in his body: "In the early days of surgery, dissecting a corpse was seen as a heinous defilement of the body, akin to cannibalism in its vulgarity. But the growing field of surgical science demanded bodies for study. The gallows were the only place surgeons could get cadavers. Executed criminals were fair game to slice and dice, as were suicide victims, but not regular law-abiding corpses."
In 1851, Betty Medelington (sic) (46) Widow from Knowstone, Devon; Thomas Medelington (10) and Robert Medelington (24) were all Lodgers in the household of Thomas Chapple, Farm Lab, at Rock, Knowstone.
In 1861, Thomas Middleton (19) was a House Servant to James Perryman at Higher Radnidge Farm, Old Way Road, East Anstey, Devon.
In 1871, Elizabeth Middleton (71), widow and annuitant, was a lodger in the household of George Bawden, at Bawden Cottage, Knowstone, who was Elizabeth's son-in-law, married to her eldest daughter, Mary Baker.
Elizabeth Middleton died, aged 73 in 1873 S Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON and was buried on 31 Aug 1873, at St Peters Church, Knowstone.