John Kerslake and Mary Ann Beedell

Mid Devon : Higher Pitt Farm
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/3667038

John Kerslake married Mary Ann Beedell, in Tiverton, in 1880. The marriage record names her merely as Mary Beedle (sic), but on each of their children's baptisms, she's listed as Mary Ann and on each of the civil registrations of the births, her maiden name is Beedell (a name we've encountered before, when Temperance Southcott married her second husband, Francis Thomas Beedell.) So far, I haven't been able to find the births or parents for either John or Mary Ann to be able to establish the link (if there is one) between these people.

John and Mary Ann Kerslake had ten children: 

1. Jane Kerslake born 19 Mar 1880, bap. 4 Jan 1881 at St Peter's Church, Tiverton. Their abode at the time of Jane's baptism was Clayhanger.
2. Ernest John Kerslake born 5 Aug 1881
3. Alice Elizabeth Kerslake born 21 Jun 1883
4. Lewis William Kerslake born 16 Nov 1885, bap. 31 Dec 1885 at St Peter's Church, Tiverton. At that time their residence was in Burlescombe.
5. Albert Henry Kerslake born 6 Dec 1887
6. Edwin Beedell Kerslake born 2 Jan 1890
7. Geoffrey Kerslake born 1892. (Died aged 3 months and was buried on 29 Jun 1892 in Washfield.)
8. Florence Ellen Kerslake born 1894, bap. 2 Dec 1894 in Loxbeare. On this baptism, the family's address was given as Buttermoor Farm, Washfield, where John Kerslake was a Dairyman Farmer.
9. Manuel Charles Kerslake born 17 Nov 1900, bap. 24 Dec 1900 at St George's Church, Tiverton. Their residence at that time is listed as Castle Barn (Castle Barn Farm, Exeter Hill.)
10. Frederick Kerslake born 5 Nov 1902, bap. 4 Dec 1902 at St Peter's Church, Tiverton. Their address then was East Bicknell Farm, Cove. Once more John's profession is listed as Dairyman.

Mid Devon : Cattle Grazing
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/3667023
Cattle grazing on a grassy hillside near Cadeleigh.

In 1881, John Kerslake (35) is a Farmer of 30 acres at Goldsmoor [Farm], Sampford-Peverell, with Mary Kerslake (25), Jane Kerslake (1), William Kerslake (4) Visitor and 'Eles' Biddle (13) Servant.

In 1891 at Higher Pitt Farm, Washfield, are John Kerslake (43) Farmer, Mary Kerslake (33), Jane Kerslake (11), John Kerslake (9), Alice Kerslake (7), Lewis William Kerslake (5), Albert Henry Kerslake (3) and Edwin Beedell Kerslake (1).

In 1894, five of the children were enrolled at Loxbeare Church of England School: Ernest John Kerslake, Elizabeth Alice Kerslake, Lewis William Kerslake, Albert Henry Kerslake and Edwin Beedell Kerslake. 

In 1901 at Castle Barn Farm, Tiverton, there are John Kerslake (55) Farmer, Mary A Kerslake (42), Jenny (Jane) Kerslake (21), William (Lewis William) Kerslake (15) Tailor's Apprentice, Edwin Kerslake (11), Florence E Kerslake (6) and Charles M (Manuel Charles) Kerslake (0).

With so many changes of address, I have visions of them driving their cattle almost incessantly around the narrow lanes of Devon!

John Kerslake, finally of Luttrell Farm, Bampton, Devonshire, died on 30 Nov 1903, leaving his effects of £271 5s (worth around £33,800 in 2021) to William Henry Beedell, Innkeeper. As yet, I don't know which inn he kept. One can perhaps assume that William Henry Beedell was a relative of Mary Ann's, but again, I've not been able to find out how they might be related. 

In 1911, Mary Ann Kerslake, Widow, Needle woman, was living at 1 The Works, Tiverton with Edwin Beedell Kerslake (21) Gardener, Florence Ellen Kerslake (16) School teacher, Charles Emanuel Kerslake (10) and Frederick Kerslake (8). Jane Kerslake (listed as Jenny) (29) was working as a Cook to the family of Henry William Gould, Solicitor, at Compass Cottage, Stoke Hill, Heavitree.

In 1939, Jane Bowden (Jane Kerslake had married Frank Bowden in 1917) Widowed, was living with her mother, Mary Ann Kerslake, at 1 Castle View, Tiverton. Mary Ann Kerslake (née Beedell) died in 1951, aged 93.

Tiverton : The Works
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/3491779
The Works road in Tiverton with the Baptist Church Hall in view.

James Land and Rose Anna Beamer

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Bampton

cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Rob Purvis - geograph.org.uk/p/6807505

James Land, widower, married Rose Anna Beamer, widow, on 19 Apr 1863 at the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels in Bampton, Devon. 

James Land (b. 1828) was the son of John Land, Labourer, and in 1841, aged 13, was in his father's household at Gate Street, West, Bampton. His mother's given name was Loveday, born 1804 in Rackenford, Devon. I haven't been able to find a record of his parents' marriage, but the only relevant baptism that year in Rackenford, is for a Loveday Flew. If correct, this is the same Flew family of Rackenford that my 2x great-grandmother, Jane Middleton, married into. 

In 1851, James (23) was still at home, unmarried. But by 1861, James (32) was living as a Lodger in the household of Ann Beamer (38) from Norton, Somerset, along with four of her children: Mary (10), Alfred (8), James (6) and Lindy (2). 

The only one of those children for whom I can find a civil registration is James Beamer in 1855, which confirms that Rose Anna's maiden name was Smith. 

At the time of her marriage to James Land, Rose Anna Beamer had given her father's name as Isaac Smith, Labourer. I've found a record of a baptism on 1 Feb 1824 for a Mary Smith, daughter of Isaac and Hannah Smith at All Saints, Norton Fitzwarren, who may have been her sister.

James Land, therefore, must have been both married and widowed between the 1851 and 1861 censuses. There is a marriage of a James Land to a Jane Flew in 1854 and the death of a Jane Land, aged 30, in 1856, which, by process of elimination, looks like it might relate. They were probably cousins. 

Yes, the family tree of my Devon ancestors would be in the form of a circle. Or as 'him indoors' says, a very complicated monkey puzzle tree! LOL

Beamer is a surname found in Clayhanger right back to the 1600s and probably still. In 1851 there was a James Beamer (58), who's a likely in-law.

With a two year old in 1861, one might assume that Rose Anna (Ann) had only fairly recently been widowed, but the only record of a death that may potentially be that of her husband - I haven't [yet] been able to find a record of this earlier marriage, but son Alfred Beamer's marriage gives his father's name as James Beamer - is that for a James Beamer, aged 37, in the last quarter of 1854. That would make James Beamer, born 1855, a posthumous child. Although, it would make Lindy Beamer the child of another liaison. Not exactly unheard of. 

John and Rose Anna had at least three further children together: 

1. George Land Beamer born Q4 1862 (died Q1 1863, aged 0)
2. Loveday Jane Land born 1864, in Bampton, Devon
3. John Land born 3 Feb 1866, in Stoodleigh, Devon

John Land, aged approximately 90, died in 1866. This age would fit with James' father and would explain why he named his son John in the same quarter.

In 1871, in High Street, Bampton, we find James Land (41) and Rosannah (46), with just Loveday J (7) and John (5). Not one of Rose Anna's previous family are living with their mother. It's not the first time I've seen a first family "disappear" when their parent remarries either. Rose Anna's daughter, Mary (b. 1850), I've been unable to find any further mention of; Alfred Bimmer (sic) (19) was working as a [Farm] Servant for Thomas Chave in Morebath; James Beamer (16) Masons Labourer was lodging, with Henry Beamer (21) Ag Lab, elsewhere in Bampton; there are no other records at all of Lindy Beamer (b. 1859).

In 1881, at Westbrook Cottage, Bampton, at a guess, on Westbrook Farm (PDF), were James Land (54) Ag Lab; Ann Land (58); Jane Land (18) Domestic (Out of Service) - just given birth; John Land (16) Gen Labourer; Henry Beames (sic) (8) Grandson and Rosana Land (0) Granddaughter. 

Loveday Jane Land married Frederick James Stone on 10 Oct 1881.

James Land died, aged 56, in the first quarter of 1884.

There is a death of a Rose Anne Land in 1889, with her age estimated as 40. This would be a 20 year discrepancy, if typical lie about a woman's age.