James Bale was born in 1806 in Brendon. His parents were Richard Bale and Grace Barnes.
Mary Brooks was born circa 1800.
James Bale and Mary Brooks married in 1835 and the witnesses at the marriage are recorded as Rebecca Ash and Alexander Vellacott. They were both recorded as being ‘of Lynton parish.’
In 1838, the couple were living at Lyncombe Cottage about five miles from Hoar Oak Cottage in the Hoar Oak Water valley. Here, in 1838, a daughter Elizabeth was born. The birth was likely late in the year as it was not registered until 1839.
Between the birth of Elizabeth and 1841 the Bale family had moved to Hoar Oak Cottage as the 1841 census records the Bales as occupants:
- James Bale (45) agricultural labourer born in the county.
- Mary Bale (40) wife born in the county.
- Elizabeth Bale (3) born in the county.
The family tree below has been prepared from this information:
I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Both death certificates record the cause of death as ‘Decline’ and both are registered by James Bale who marked the certificate with his mark X. It wasn’t until 1875 that a doctor had to sign and identify the cause of death on a death certificate and the next of kin could be the reporters to the Registrar. ‘Decline’ as a cause of death was used to mean several medical conditions from old age to cancer but one of the most likely causes in Mary and little Elizabeth’s case would be tuberculosis or a similar respiratory disease prevalent at the time from living in cold, damp homes such as Hoar Oak Cottage. More recently it has become recognised that people can die of ‘broken heart syndrome.’ Perhaps the loss of young Elizabeth caused, in turn, the death of her mother Mary.
There are no photographs associated with the Bales but an image of the ruins of Lyncombe Cottage is included in Mary Bale’s chapter in The Women of Hoar Oak Cottage. An untold history. For more information go to Books4Sale – hoaroak (hoaroakcottage.org)
We have had little success in finding out more about James Bale after this tragedy, he appears to have been alive and still living in Lynton in 1871 (lodging with a family called Weedon) and died in Lynton in 1874. If you have any further information, please do contact the Friends via info@hoaroakcottage.org
Thanks go to:
- Colin MacDonald from the North Devon Record’s Office in Barnstaple who interrogated the Lynton parish registers and found key information for this story.
- Jonathon Frayne, who has Bale ancestors in his family tree and shared his family researches – primarily the descendants of Thomas Bale, born around 1786 in West Down, Devon who may be the grandfather or uncle of James Bale of Hoar Oak Cottage.