Ann Gill nee Crandon (1775-1855), schoolmaster’s wife
Mrs Ann Gill was the widow of Thomas Gill, one of Bridgwater’s early schoolmasters.
The Crandon Family of Bridgwater
Ann’s paternal ancestors lived in Bridgwater for generations. The surname Crandon has been present in the parish register of St Mary’s Bridgwater since records began.
Ann was the daughter of John Crandon (1731-1817) and his wife Catherine nee Trott (1732-1813). When John Crandon died, he had been “a member of the Corporation for many years.” The early records are sketchy, but the Corporation means the Borough or Town of Bridgwater. In 1777 a John Crandon was a town bailiff. In 1784 a John Crandon was a corn-factor or merchant and in 1796 a John Crandon was a cooper. At least one of those was Ann’s father.
Ann was baptised as Nancy, a pet form of the name Ann, on the 24th July 1775 at Bridgwater, the youngest of twelve children. Four or more of her older siblings did not survive infancy and the ones who did were all boys. Her mother must have been relieved to see little Nancy because traditionally it was the daughters who helped mother around the home and who cared for elderly parents. There would always have been food on the table and the chance to go to school, as Ann signed her name in the marriage register.
Ann and Thomas Gill
Ann married Thomas Gill on the 16th December 1803 at St Mary’s Bridgwater. Thomas was born in 1779 at Tiverton, Devon, a little over thirty miles away. He may have come to Bridgwater to find work or possibly for family reasons. His predecessor, Rev. Richard J. R. Jenkins B.&D.D., was married to the former Catherine Crandon, presumably a female relative of Ann. Catherine may have introduced Ann to Thomas. He was a writing-master when he met Ann. ‘Mr Gill’s writing school’ had opened in Bridgwater by 1804.
A successful merchant needed good handwriting and expertise in arithmetic including fractions and percentages, plus a sound knowledge of book-keeping. The same applied to commercial clerks and accountants, as book-keepers were called then. Schoolboys were sent to Mr Gill’s writing school as a first step to becoming a commercial clerk or joining the family business. Although Thomas did not call himself an accountant when he married, he did teach both subjects later.
In 1809, Thomas was appointed schoolmaster of Dr Morgan’s Boys’ School, which was held possibly in the old Church House in High Street, or nearby in the town of Bridgwater. Thomas and Ann may have been expected to rent a house with a schoolroom as did the master of the King James Grammar School and as Thomas and Ann did when they had their own schools. Thomas left Dr Morgan’s after only a year. There are two likely reasons. The first is money as Thomas may have been earning more with his own private pupils and wanted to give them more time. Secondly, Thomas may not have had the knowledge or inclination to teach biblical studies to the satisfaction of the Vicar and the Trustees. Rev. Jenkins was an Oxford graduate and a clergyman and those must have been hard shoes to fill.
Thomas was neither a graduate nor a clergyman, but he was a successful teacher and had his own schools in Bridgwater. In 1817 Thomas was the master of a private boys’ school in Castle Street at which he taught penmanship and mathematics. It was a large house with several bedrooms for boarders and a separate schoolroom, as described in the following advertisement in the Sherbourne Mercury.
Meanwhile, Ann quickly had two daughters: Mary Ann in 1804 and Elizabeth in 1806. There was a gap before Clifford in 1811, Charles in 1814, and Edmund in 1815. Elizabeth had died in 1814, probably of an infection, and was buried in St Mary’s churchyard. They named the next baby girl after her: Elizabeth Catherine in 1817. The youngest child was John born in 1818. Ann would have the responsibility of the cooking, housework and childcare, while Thomas ran the school. Ann may well have been called on to help with the very young schoolboys and of course, the schoolroom added to her housework as did any boarders.
Despite having their own school, Ann and Thomas would have sent their daughters to a girls’ school as it was not thought seemly for a master to teach girls. Also, the subjects taught were quite different. The girls were expected to learn needlework and household skills and perhaps music.
Thomas had a ‘boarding academy’ at Cornhill in 1820, a school in Castle Street again in 1830 and a day school for boys in High Street in 1839 and 1841. He was also a part-time bank actuary. He worked for the Savings Bank of Bridgwater, which was also called the “Bridgwater and North Somerset Bank for Savings.’ Depositors were paid dividends (not interest) and in the 1820s, Thomas Gill, actuary, calculated the amount and advertised in the Taunton Courier when he would be available at the office in Castle Street. The hours he spent working in a quiet, orderly, adult banking environment must have been very different to a schoolroom with twenty or more lively boys.
Thomas died in July 1845 aged 66 of heart failure, which was described in the newspaper as ‘a lingering illness.’ His eldest daughter, now Mrs Mary Ann King, was at his bedside at the end and the registrar who signed the official record was her husband Abraham King. Thomas was remembered as a schoolmaster who was “highly respected by all who knew him.”
TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS GILL UPWARDS OF FORTY YEARS A DILIGENT INSTRUCTOR
OF YOUTH AND DURING TWENTY-SIX YEARS THE INTELLIGENT AND UPRIGHT
ACTUARY OF THE SAVINGS BANK IN BRIDGWATER
THE AFFECTIONATE PUPILS HAVE ERECTED THIS TABLET IN GRATEFUL RECOLLECTIONS OF THE DISTINGUISHED KINDNESS, ZEAL AND ABILITY WITH WHICH HE DEVOTED THE BEST PORTION OFHIS LIFE TO THEIR MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL IMPROVEMENT.
HE WAS BORN AT TIVERTON MAY 14th 1779 AND DIED IN THIS TOWN AUGUST 15th 1845
There is a plaque in his honour in St Mary’s Church, Bridgwater. The date of death on the plaque, 15th August 1845, is incorrect as both the newspaper death notice and the parish register burial entry indicate 15th July 1845. Thomas was buried in St Mary’s churchyard with his daughter Elizabeth.
Mrs Ann Gill, widow.
After the death of Thomas, Ann went to live in Dampiet Street with Mary Ann and Abraham King, surgeon and registrar. She had two young grandsons there. Clifford, a Customs collector (of money), had a wife and a growing family too, but H.M. Customs had transferred Clifford to Devon. Charles was an insurance clerk in London and Edmund worked for Stuckey’s Bank in Bristol. Their father’s influence is obvious with all three sons. Daughter Elizabeth was a teacher.
No-one expected Mary Ann to die first. She succumbed to heart disease and congestion of the lungs aged fifty on the 27th January 1855. She was buried at Bawdrip where her husband was born. Ann died of ‘natural decay’ only a few weeks later on the 8th March 1855. At eighty she was a very old lady for those times. Ann was buried in the Wembdon Road Cemetery, which had opened only a couple of years earlier. Perhaps there was no room in the grave with Thomas and Elizabeth. St Mary’s churchyard had become very crowded. Or perhaps her family thought the new peaceful, spacious cemetery a better option for eternal rest.
