Inherited Craziness
A place to share all the nuts found on my family tree

Showing posts with label Shortlands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shortlands. Show all posts

Sunday 2 July 2023

Benjamin Tompson Soppit and Ida Lily Hepworth

St Nicholas ChurchDurweston, Dorset

Benjamin Tompson Soppit, son of John Soppit and Louisa Tompson, married Ida Lily Hepworth (b. 16 Sep 1891 in Exeter), daughter of Vincent Hepworth and Mary Ann (Annie) Rogers, at St Mary Major, Exeter, on 2 Jul 1913.  

Ida Lily Hepworth gave her residence as 3 Cathedral Yard, Exeter (which is now the address of Al Farid restaurant). Witnesses were Annie Adams (Ida's mother who had remarried in 1908), H W (Henry Wood) Adams, her step-father, and John Soppit, presumably Benjamin's father.

The Church of St Mary Major, Exeter, formerly Exeter Minster, stood in Exeter Cathedral Yard, between the west front of the cathedral and next to The Three Gables, the building which now houses Al Farid restaurant. Having been rebuilt several times, St Mary Major was demolished in 1971.

In 1911, Ida Hepworth was a Hospital Nurse at The Croydon Borough Hospital for Infectious Diseases (Waddon Hospital). The Hospital was extended in 1911 to include two isolation pavilions and a Nurses' Home.

Benjamin and Ida had two children: 

  1. John Vincent Soppit b. 15 Jul 1914 S Quarter in YORK Vol 09D Page 27
  2. Ida Louisa Soppit b. 1916 M Quarter in PLYMPTON ST. MARY Volume 05B Page 293
In March 1916 Benjamin Tompson Soppit M2/115307 was serving with the Royal Army Service Corps in Salonica [Thessaloniki] on the Macedonian front. He ultimately achieved the rank of Second Lieutenant And Adjutant

In 1939, Benjamin and Ida were living at 46 Cambridge Drive, Lee, Lewisham.

Final resting place of Benjamin Tompson and Ida Lily Soppit

They later moved to 43 Barrack Row, Durweston, near to their daughter. 

Benjamin Tompson Soppit died on 28 Jan 1969, aged 85. Ida Lily Soppit died on 3 Jun 1995, at the age of 103 years 9 months. They're buried together in the churchyard at St Nicholas ChurchDurweston, Dorset. 

The inscription reads:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF
BENJAMIN TOMPSON SOPPIT
WHO FELL ASLEEP 
28th JAN 1969
Faithful in all things
ALSO OF HIS WIFE
IDA LILY
3rd June 1995
In her 104th year

  • John Vincent Soppit married Olive Constance Archer in 1943 in Bromley, Kent. Listed in the 21 Jun 1945 edition of The London Gazette is Lieutenant-Colonel (temporary) John Vincent SOPPIT (124996), Royal Army Service Corps (Beckenham, Kent). They had one daughter, Amanda Janet Soppit, born in 1946. John Vincent Soppit died in London in 1990. Olive Constance Soppit of 54 Greenways, Beckenham, Kent, died on 1 Dec 2010. Amanda Janet Soppit appears not to have married and died on 9 Apr 2015.
  • Betty I L Soppit (Ida Louisa) had married, although the record of the marriage incorrectly states to Alfred W Woodley, in Deptford, London in 1938. In 1939, Alfred E Woodley (b. 22 Jan 1913) School Master, and Betty I L Woodley were living at 77 Salisbury Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset. They had one son, born in Carlisle, Cumberland, in 1942. Alfred Ernest Woodley of The Old Bank House, Blandford, died, aged 30, on 17 Feb 1943 at Bewaldeth Village, Cockermouth, Cumberland. Betty I L Woodley then remarried to Harold Greenleaves in Blandford, Dorset in 1944. They had one son in 1945. Harold Greenleaves, born 1904, died in North Dorset, in 2003. Betty Ida Louisa Greenleaves died, on 29 Jul 2014. Both sons appear to have married and have families and to be still living.

Saturday 23 January 2021

John Soppit: From Coal Mining to Pulling Pints and Emma Smith, Louisa Tompson and Marian Johnson

The Shortlands Tavern, Station Road, Shortlands, Bromley
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Quinn - geograph.org.uk/p/2255969

Two more pubs on the endless (that's not a complaint) family pub crawl ... 

Louisa Tompson, daughter of Daniel Thompson and Mary Adcock, married John Soppit, son of Joseph Soppit and Catherine Winship, who later became landlord of The Shortlands Tavern in Bromley. John Soppit had also been the licensee of the Princess Royal in Croydon, where he employed his nephew, John Benjamin Botterill, as his manager, but that was not his first marriage and his origins are very far and away from the pubs of South London: 

John Soppit first married Emma Smith (23) (bap. 5 Apr 1848) - daughter of Martin Smith, Coal Miner, and Mary Picken (m. 1827) - in East Rainton on 12 Dec 1869. Mary Smith, daughter of Emma Smith, had already been born in Houghton Le Spring and baptised on 11 Mar 1866 in West Rainton, Durham. Whether Mary was his natural daughter or not, John Soppit must have brought the child up as his own as she subsequently took his surname. 

John and Emma then had a further two children, who, given the early dates in the same year, must have been twins.
  1. Joseph William Soppit b. 1st quarter of 1871 in Guisborough, Yorkshire and baptised in Eston, Yorkshire on 17 Apr 1871. Buried, at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole, on 27 Apr 1871.
  2. Catherine Emma Soppit, b. 1871, also baptised in Eston, Yorkshire on 17 Apr 1871. Buried on 30 April 1871, aged 2 weeks or months.
In 1871, John Soppitt (sic), now an Engine Fitter, was living with wife, Emma, and children; Mary (5), Joseph Wm (0) and Catherine (0), and Elizabeth Turner (15), Servant, in Princess Street, Normanby, Guisborough, Yorkshire.

But Emma Soppit (née Smith) died, aged 26, and was buried on 17 Apr 1871, in Eston, Yorkshire. It looks very likely that she had died after giving birth to the twins, who were both baptised on the same day as their mother's funeral. 

John Soppit must have immediately taken the babies back to the home of his father, as his residence was listed at that time as South Hetton, Durham. At just weeks old, son, Joseph William Soppit died and was buried, at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole on 27 Apr 1871. And just three days later, on 30 Apr 1871, his presumably twin sister, Catherine Emma Soppit, was buried, also at St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole. Heartbreaking.

St Nicholas Church, Hetton-le-Hole, Graveyard
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Alexander P Kapp - geograph.org.uk/p/2443014

John Soppit then married Louisa Tompson at Christ Church, Watney Street, St George in the East, in the first quarter of 1875. They had another 6 children.
  1. Catherine Sarah Winship Soppit b. 4 Apr 1876 in Greenwich
  2. Joseph Daniel Soppit, b. 23 Sep 1877 in Greenwich
  3. John Benjamin Soppit, b. 1880 in Greenwich (died in the same quarter)
  4. John Winship Soppit b. 1 Mar 1882 in Greenwich, bap. 10 Jun 1883 at Christ Church, Watney Street [Source]
  5. Benjamin Tompson Soppit b. 13 Nov 1884, bap. 1 Mar 1885 at St Mary, Shortlands, Kent
  6. Louisa Adcock Soppit b. 26 Oct 1887 in Bromley, Kent
In 1881, John Soppet (sic), 36, Engine Fitter, was a boarder in the household of Jane Granger (58) at 29, Donald Street, Stockton upon Tees. Louisa was at the pub with her brother-in-law, Daniel Bottrill, with Emma's daughter, Mary; daughter Catherine and son Joseph, while her sister was away in Devon. 

Emma's daughter, Mary, died, aged 24, in 1891, in Bromley, Kent. Then confirmed in the Kent 1891 Public House Directory Listings, by the time of the 1891 Census on 5 Apr, the family were living at The Shortlands TavernStation Road, Beckenham, Bromley. Living with John Soppett (sic) were wife Louisa (46), sons John Winship (9), Benjamin Thompson (6), daughter Louisa Adcock (3) and John Thompson (25), nephew, barman. 

The following report of The Bromley Petty Sessions appeared in the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser of 6 July 1893:
REFUSING TO QUIT. George Herbert, builder, of 19, Plaistow Lane, Bromley, was summoned by John Soppit, landlord of the Shortlands Tavern, Shortlands, for being disorderly and quarrelsome on licenced premises and refusing to quit the same, on June 27. Mr Gregory appeared for the complainant, and Mr L. Lewis for the defendant, who pleaded guilty. Mr Gregory stated that the defendant used fearful language towards the complainant. Mr Lewis stated that the defendant had not the slightest idea of having used any bad language until he received the summons. He urged that as the defendant had made this apology the magistrates should inflict a mitigated penalty. The Chairman said he had never heard such bad language. The defendant would be fined 40s with 8s costs, or 21 days' hard labour. Mr Lewis asked for time, but this was refused. 
20, Honley Road, Catford, Lewisham

The London (South) 1896 Suburban Publicans directory still lists John Soppit at the Shortlands Tavern, but by 1901, the family were residing in a quite grand double-fronted house at 20, Honley Road, Catford, Lewisham. John Soppit (56), Licenced Victualler, is listed with wife Louisa (56), sons John (19) and Benjamin (16) - who have followed their father's original trade as Joiners - daughter Louisa (13) and they can afford a General Domestic Servant. 

Louisa Soppit (née Tompson) died, aged 57, in the 3rd quarter of 1902. 

Then on 27 Jul 1903, John Soppit married for the 3rd time to Marian Johnson in Bermondsey, in the district of St Olave, Southwark. And in 1911, John Soppit (66), Retired Licenced Victualler, was still living at 20, Honley Road, with new wife Marian (46), son Benjamin (26) and daughter, Louisa (23). 

In 1921, John Soppit (76) Retired Engineer and Marion Soppit (51) from Poplar, were still living at 20, Honley Road, Lewisham.

John Soppit of 20, Honley Road, Catford, died on 24 Jan 1924 at 390, High Street, Lewisham (University Lewisham Hospital, the former Lewisham Workhouse). He left £3467 18s 1d (£212,166 in 2020) to his widow, Marian Soppit and a further £2208 to son, Benjamin Tompson Soppit, engineer. 

Marian Soppit died, in 1943, in Bournemouth, Dorset.