The (Salisbury) Bakers

For several generations the Salisburys are traceable in Shepton Beauchamp, Somerset and appear to have been a family of substance and standing. William Salisbury was born in 1661 or 1670 (two appear in the date records) and he had a son Stephen born 1699 and a daughter Mary 1700. Stephen's children were William 1735-1807, John 1736-1792, Rebecca 1739-1815 and Thomas 1739-1806.

I am not sure whether the line descended through William or John but I would think the latter as his wife Mary seems to have been 20 years younger and would have been 26 when their son Stephen was born in 1782. In either case it is definite that Stephen (born 1699) was the progenitor of the Danbury Bakers. The change of name is due to the fact that Stephen 1782-1857 co-habited with Anne Baker, and apparently sought marriage with her over a period of years, during which at least three sons were born - and all given the middle name of Salisbury - Edward Salisbury 1808, Stephen Salisbury 1809 and John Salisbury 1811-1890.

Anne Baker is reputed to have been very hot tempered and seems to have rejected her lover's final proposals in a rage and married a certain Bishop - the village schoolmaster. In her old age she was known to all and sundry as Granny Bishop. She is also said to have been a very fine horsewoman. She appears to have been the daughter of John and Sarah Baker and to have had a brother Josiah 1788 and a sister Diana 1790. If this is so she was born in 1786. The foregoing John Baker died in 1805 aged 49. There must be a fascinating story here but I have been unable to get any light on it. After his rejection by Anne, Stephen married Jane ? 1786-1821 and they had a daughter Mary 1814-1891.

This daughter Mary married a William Best, born 1815 and may well have been an ancestor of Edna Best of South Petherton, who is a granddaughter of Susan Browning (nee Baker), sister of William Baker. An item of interest is that when Edna's mother Cassie Browning married Reginald Best, Frank Baker was asked to give her away (Cassie's father having died) and he was only too pleased to step in.

Of the three sons of Stephen and Anne, I know nothing of Edward - Stephen married (i) Jane Garrett in 1829 and (ii) Eliza Hucken in 1850 and John married Elizabeth Beck of Ilminster 1813-1887 in 1836. Stephen and Jane had a son John Salisbury who married Jane Maddock (both under age) in 1855.

The children of John and Elizabeth were John, Mary, William 1846-1929, Susan 1852-1921, Edward and Diana. Of these Mary married - Bullen, lived at Barrington in Somerset and had four or five children most of whom died young - Susan married Joseph Browning a Somerset farmer and had children Bessie, Winifred, Florence, John and Cassie who married Reginald Best - daughter Edna. Edward married Cassie C and had a number of children. He was a successful businessman in Ipswich. John married Sarah Godfrey and their daughter married ? Merrill. Their daughters (Merrills) were Ivy and Stattira both well known to the Danbury Bakers and the latter of whom married Archie Deavin. The Deavins still (1979) live in Danbury as do two of their three children. I have no further record of Diana, but the name indicates that Ann Baker (above) was the child of John and Sarah Baker as another child was Diana and the name was not very common at that period.

William married Mary Godfrey 1841-1935, (the sister of Sarah who married John and the daughter of William Godfrey and Joan Dean).

William Baker was apprenticed to a Mr Lillycap of Taunton and afterwards worked for Thos Penny & Sons of Taunton by whom he was sent to Colchester to supervise the erection of buildings for an agricultural show. He liked the area and moved to Chelmsford being given a supervisory post by Mr Christy, looking after works in Ireland and I believe in Canada. He persuaded his two brothers John and Edward to come to the area, John later moving to Kingston; Edward to Ipswich. It appears to have been about this time that he joined the Brethren and having leased a house and Blacksmith's and Wheelwright's business in Danbury, opened and founded the firm later known as Baker & Sons. The house at Eves Corner Danbury is interesting in that it was once the home of J D Rockefeller's grandmother. In later years it became a school known as Heathcote and an interesting link is that several of his, William's, great grandchildren received their early education there.

William and Mary's family were Charlie Salisbury 1871-1945, Harry 1872-1954, Meliora 1874-1965, Albert 1876-1956, Constance 1877-1934, Frank 1879-1943, Winifred 1882-1971 and Maud born 1884 died 1983..

Charlie married Laura Cozens and had children, Horace William John 1896-1978, Douglas Charles 1899, Enid Laura 1908 Norman 1906 and Myra 1910 (died as a child). Harry spent many years in New Zealand, married late in life Gladys and had no children.

Meliora married (i) Harry Cozens (Laura Cozens' brother) and (ii) Fred Knapman. Her children by (i) were Stuart, Raymond and Kathleen.

Albert married Kate Goldfinch, a cousin of Marion Dodd (see below) and they had six sons, Gilbert, Stuart, Geoffrey, Wilfred, Frederick and Ronald. Constance died unmarried.

Winifred married Robert Armour and had one son Robert and one daughter Mildred.

Maud did not marry and died in 1983.

Frank married Marion Bessie Dodd (see Dodd entry) and they had children (1) Doris Frances Marion who married Ernest E Pettman, three sons Marcus, Jonathan and Barnabas and one daughter Joanna. (2) Cecil Frank who married Inez Ford and had children June, Annette and Roger. A second little girl Margaret died at a very young age. (3) John who married Agnes Shackleton and had children Jocelyn, Heather, Patrick and Timothy. (4) Mary Janet who married Reginald Ernest Perrott and had children Godfrey, Gillian and Edward. (5) Margaret Joan who married Arthur John Willoughby Barker and had children Bridget, Nicholas and Kenneth (adopted). (6) Eileen who married Allan Richard Ford and had children Richard, Catherine and Annabel. And (7) David Thomas who as a spitfire fighter pilot was killed in 1943 in the 1939-45 war.

At present there are a further generation of great grandchildren numbering 25 boys and 25 girls .

Mark Baker (son of Roger Baker of St Albans) has discovered two William Salisburys - presumably father and son - from the Land Tax Assessment Records. They are there listed as in the reign of Charles I and as living in the Parish of Norton-sub-Hamden which is only some four miles from Shepton Beauchamp. When searching records at the Somerset Record Office I discovered that a William Salisbury married Mary Rowsell on the 5th April 1641. As I could not find records of Salisburys at Shepton Beauchamp earlier than my William born 1661 it would seem likely that we have two or possibly even three generations of William Salisburys before him. If this is so there would be eight or nine "greats" in succession before the grandfather Frank of the generation mentioned in my opening paragraph.

It is of interest that further intermarriages between Salisburys and Rowsells are recorded. John Rowswell married Mary Salisbury in April 1743 and William Salisbury Rowswell married Rebecca Salisbury in December 1808. Further marriages of interest are John Salisbury to Mary Toulman in August 1775, William Salisbury Rowsell to Elizabeth Ann Stephens in 1784, John Phelps to Joan Salisbury in 1804, Thomas Welsh of Barrington to Marie Salisbury in 1655, Stephen Manning to Mary Salisbury also in 1655, and Thomas Rowswell of Lopen to Katherine Salisbury in 1713. A William Jennet married Marie Salisbury in 1665, ten years later than the Marie Salisbury just previously mentioned.

Baptisms recorded are Jane 1683, Sarah 1686, Katherine 1689, Jane 1691, 1693, John 1695 all offspring of John and Joan Salisbury. Robert son of William and Anne Salisbury was baptised in 1685. Other records show that Jane Salisbury married Henry Pond in 1714 and Stephen Salisbury married Susannah Woodbridge in 1756. This could well have been a second marriage of Stephen (born 1699).

The reader is left to make what he can of all these marriages and baptisms; I would only comment that it is strange that there are two Marie's (or did Marie II retain her maiden name for a second marriage), and also it is remarkable how the Salisburys and Rowsells are mixed up! It is fairly clear to me that the John who married Mary Toulman in 1775 is the ancestor John, son of Stephen.

What is however quite definite is that several of the family are buried in the garden of the family house at Shepton Beauchamp now known as Mountfields; Stephen 1779, Jane 1792 aged 56, Mary 1816 aged 60 and William 1807 aged 72. I have a strong feeling that Jane should read John as the age and year of death both coincide with those of John and if this is so then clearly Mary is Johns wife, Stephen his father and William his brother. William is noted as churchwarden in the C.18. A letter from the County Archivist dated June 1959 informs me that the family owned and occupied property in both Barrington and Shepton Beauchamp, but his impression is that their main holding was in the latter. He quotes land tax assessments, registers of electors and the tithe map of 1839. C18 manorial records and surveys of Shepton Beauchamp are also quoted and in particular a survey of 1754 mentions Mary aged 47 years, Stephen aged 46 and William 18. This age of 18 ties up with our William born 1735 and it can be assumed that the other two are his parents although ages do not quite agree. He says the survey also shows a Joseph Baker aged 54 and Sarah Baker aged 60, and it could well be that these are ancestors of Anne. Unfortunately Wills proved in the diocesan courts (Bath and Wells) were removed in 1857 to Exeter and were destroyed. This must have been during the "Baedeker" raid of 1942.

In 1979 I searched the Tithe Records at Kew. When after the Enclosure Act, the Tithe Act was passed in 1836, registers of all holders were compiled and detailed apportionments (IR29) according to the Tithe Map of 1839; the value of the commodities had been fixed by the Tithe Act 1837 and were 7s. 0¼d per imperial bushel of wheat, 3s. ll½d for barley and 2s. 9d for oats. The map shows Stephen Salisbury as the owner or tenant of some 26 lots amounting to about 105 acres in all including one lot apparently managed by him and in the ownership of the late Rebecca Salisbury. I would think that this Stephen is the co-habitee of Anne Baker as he would have been 57 in 1839.

A certain Charles Salisbury emigrated to America in 1873. I am not sure how he was connected to "our" Salisbury and as Stephen appears to have had no son and only one daughter by his legitimate wife Jane the name seems to have died out, but I would think there are probably a number of Rowsells (female line) around and possibly some Phelps. How intriguing it is that the name Baker however is prolific!

Reverting to the offspring of John Salisbury Baker (born 1810) and Elizabeth Beck, I have briefly mentioned John and Sarah's daughter Laura who married Maurice Manfred Merrill. She died early leaving her two young daughters to be brought up by her brother Frederick and his wife Mary at Woodham Ferrers in Essex. John and Sarah's third child was named Kate Salisbury. The Salisbury name was therefore retained in the families of both William and John. The second child of John and Elizabeth was Mary (Bullen) and I have a torn off half sheet of paper addressed to Wm Baker from Stunt and Son Solicitors with an enclosure of an interest payment due from Miss M E Bullen on a loan of £850. This M E Bullen was clearly the daughter of Mary Bullen, the date being March 1922.

I have said earlier that Edward the fifth child ran a successful business in Ipswich. He owned considerable property there including, I understand, the Ipswich Football Stadium. He is remembered by his brother William's grandchildren as driving over fairly frequently to Danbury in an open touring car. In those days cars were rare and a suitable impression was created. His children were Cassie, Eva, Frank, Edward, Fanny, Rosie, Jessie and Ivy. Some of these I understand went to New Zealand or Australia. The only one I ever met was Jessie who married a Philip Smith of Danbury.

This will conclude my notes on the Salisbury Baker family but as a footnote of interest a builder acquaintance of mine, J V Baker of Broadway near Ilminster, told me some thirty years ago that his brother had received inquiries regarding the Salisbury-Baker family. The Salisbury Baker making the enquiry was a wholesale fruit merchant of Covent Garden and as Broadway is only a few miles from Shepton Beauchamp I concluded he was a descendant either of Edward or Stephen Salisbury Baker. I have since discovered that this request occurred around the year 1900 and that searches were made at Taunton, but with what result I do not know.

It is noted above that John and William Baker married two sisters, Sarah and Mary Godfrey. A third sister was Ellen and these three were daughters of William Godfrey and his wife Joan (nee Dean). Ellen appears to have married ? Sealy and a daughter Ellen Sealy came, after her fathers death to live with William and Mary Baker at Danbury, it may well be as a result of her mothers second marriage to ? Stubbins.

The two Ellens are clearly those mentioned as to the third and fourth parts of the Deed cited below. William Godfrey seems to have had the following brothers and sisters:- Thomas, Charles, Rebecca and Mary Anne, and Charles is quite probably the husband of Elizabeth, the annuitant in the said Deed.

In 1956 whilst searching the church yard of Ruishton, Taunton my son, Edward, spotted the graves of Charles and Elizabeth Godfrey. Charles seems to have been a farmer and to have owned Drake's Farm in the area and it is possible this farm came to Meliora, Williams sister. By his Will Charles left a life interest in Ruishton Inn to his wife Elizabeth, the remaindermen being his nephew in law William and Mary Baker. William then persuaded Elizabeth to sell the Inn on his guaranteeing her an income.

In 1894 William Baker purchased five cottages on the High Path (main road) in Danbury for £290. The following is an extract of the Abstract document in the Deeds of Woodford and Hillside Cottages (two of the five above mentioned) later owned by Mary Perrott.

The foregoing general notes refer to the ancestry of Frank Baker and it is therefore desirable to append a few words about Frank himself.

He was brought up in Danbury Essex in the house known then as Ivy Lodge. The house stood and still stands on the corner of the main road from Chelmsford to Maldon and the Little Baddow Road. It adjoins the present premises of Bakers of Danbury Ltd and what was then a large area of grassland with some ancient cottages on the main road. Over the years considerable building development has taken place including the Danbury Village School, the Village Hall, some 25-30 Council houses, the South Essex waterworks and reservoir and further along the Little Baddow Road some better class houses lying back from the road and on the site known as 12 acres. The yard formerly contained a wheelwrights and blacksmiths business and in 1878 the whole was leased from Mr P Spencer-Phillips in order to set up the building business which has prospered greatly in the last 111 years. The whole was later purchased, the younger children of William and Mary being born in Ivy Lodge, now known as Heathcote School.

An interesting point is that the house was once occupied by a Mrs Spooner the grandmother of John D Rockefeller. It is fairly clear that this fact was instrumental in the naming of Danbury Connecticut. One is tempted to quote "what great oaks from little acorns grow".

At the end of the century William brought his eldest son Charles into the business and at the beginning of the 20th century his fourth son Frank entered.

On his retirement soon after, the two partners Charles and Frank developed separate branches, the former covering house building and the latter developing the church restoration side for which the firm has been noted for many decades. The successive names by which the firm has been known are William Baker, Win Baker and Sons, Baker and Sons, Baker and Sons (Danbury) Limited and Bakers of Danbury Limited.

In 1940 Charles Baker decided to retire and moved to Bournemouth. During the preceding forty years a successful branch of the business was brick and tile making, and by now the two arms had developed into general building work and brick making. It was decided by the casting of lots that the brick making should be carried on by the family of Charles and the building side by Frank.

Soon after the outbreak of war both branches were phased out (of necessity) and all effort concentrated on war damage repairs and essential war work. All now under the control of Frank. It is interesting that during the Great War, the work was carried on by Charles, Frank having enlisted and during the second World War by Frank, Charles having retired.

Frank was a despatch rider and was very proud of the fact that he was entrusted with a top secret despatch to be delivered by him personally into the hands of the Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig later Earl Haig of Bemersyde. A personal receipt had to be obtained from Sir Douglas himself. After his demobilisation the church restoration work was developed considerably a close link being formed with the Diocesan surveyor Wykeham Chancellor and this continued until the National Emergency caused it to lie dormant for five or six years.

The business suffered heavy blows in 1943. Frank Baker had groomed his youngest son Thomas to succeed him, but in October of that year Thomas, a fighter pilot (Spitfire) was killed just 10 days after his father died at the comparatively early age of 64. Baker & Sons was left with no one at the helm, and Frank's youngest daughter Eileen (later Mrs Allan Ford) took over and kept the firm going for the next two years.

Of the two elder sons one was a Quantity Surveyor and therefore precluded from taking over at the same time retaining his professional practice and the other was in the service of Barclays Bank DCO in Malta. In view of all this and the fact that the only closely connected member with a technical qualification was serving in the RAF the Executors tried to persuade him to seek an emergency discharge. This he (Reginald Perrott, the husband of Mary, Frank's second daughter) was not prepared to do. After demobilisation in 1945 however he took over the business and a limited company was formed a couple of years later.

As noted above the church restoration work had faded out, but a chance meeting with the Rector of Woodham Walter, revealing that he had been let down by a building firm in Kent, resulted in an introduction to the well known London architect Lawrence King and that was really the springboard from which the wide spread ecclesiastical work resulted.

In 1976 Reginald Perrott was succeeded by David Wood and recent notable work has included the restoration of Lincoln's Inn library roof and the Great Hall roof as well as extensive work on St Albans Abbey and Chelmsford Cathedral and Colchester Castle in addition to the reconstruction of Coggleshall barn one of the largest and oldest in Europe.

Reginald Perrott's introduction to Frank Baker in 1940 was an event to be remembered. He was travelling with Mary Baker to Danbury to ask Frank for his daughter's hand in marriage. They were caught on Tilbury Ferry on the occasion of the Luftwaffe's first great raid on London, and then Reginald had to face Frank. His reception appeared to be frosty but this was due to Frank's having recently suffered a stroke and later that day relations improved and a good friendship resulted on a close personal basis. Frank was a warm-hearted and very loveable man and was held in very high regard by his business and professional acquaintances.