Alice Jones and William (Bill) Hobbs married on the 10th of December 1914 at Exmoor Church in Simonsbath. Bill was employed as shepherd for the Hoar Oak herding. In July 1915 their only child, David John Hobbs, was born at Hoar Oak Cottage. It was the beginning of the First World War and although the job of being a shepherd was a ‘starred occupation’ – in other words not liable for call up – Bill voluntarily enlisted in the Royal North Devon Yeomanry (Hussars) and the photo below shows Bill, on the far right, at North Hill Camp in Minehead.
During Bill’s time in the army Alice’s younger brother, John Jones, also in the ‘starred occupation’ of shepherd took over the Hoar Oak herding. However, as the war progressed more and more men were needed, and conscription began. John Jones’ job as a shepherd was ‘unstarred’ and he was conscripted into the Army. His tribunal hearing was held at Lynton and reported in the May 25th, 1916, edition of the North Devon Journal. The image on the left shows many men and businesses went before the Tribunal regarding conscriptions. John Jones hearing, close-up on right below, seems to have been short and sweet.
It is not clear who carried on as shepherd at Hoar Oak Cottage but it seems that Bill was demobbed from the Army and returned to Hoar Oak and the herding. The photo below shows him around this time.
Bill was one of the many Hoar Oak shepherds who cut peat turves on their ‘alotment’ in the Hoar Oak Valley as one of their entitlements. These flat, oblong turves of peat were the main source of fuel for cooking, heating, and boiling water at Hoar Oak Cottage. The photo below shows how the peat cutting was done using a ‘chest plough’.
When the time came for Bill and Alice Hobb’s son David to attend school, he went to board on a weekly basis with his Jones grandparents in Simonsbath. The photograph below, taken in 1922, shows young David at Simonsbath School – he is in the back row, far right, next to the young Assistant Teacher.
David was not the first in his family to attend Simonsbath School. The photo below, circa 1898, includes David’s mother Alice. The family know that Alice is in the photo but, unfortunately, it is not known which child she is.
During the time that the Hobbs lived at Hoar Oak Cottage an attempt was made to keep the damp out of the cottage by covering the outside of the walls in black corrugated iron. The photo below shows Bill Hobbs outside of the cottage with, in the background, a roll of black corrugated iron ready to be fixed to the external walls.
Bill, Alice and son David left Hoar Oak Cottage in the mid to late 1920s and went to live and work at Kipscombe Farm at Countisbury. The photo below left is of David and Mum Alice at Kipscombe Farm in 1934 and below right Bill Hobbs with his sheepdog Misty.
David Hobbs married Florence Rawle and they lived at Church Cottage, Countisbury and later at County Gate Cottage, Countisbury – now the Ramblers Rest Cafe. David held a lifelong interest in Hoar Oak Cottage and his son, Eric, explained how he often went back to visit his birthplace. The photo below shows him (middle) on just such a visit. His friends had taken him out in a Land Rover around ten years or so before he died in 2006. He loved to visit the cottage and we can see in the photo that David still has his shepherd’s crook to use as a walking stick.
The photo below shows four generations of the Hobb’s family, all Exmoor shepherds. From left to right is David (born at Hoar Oak); Eric (David’s son as a young child); John (Bill’s father); and Bill Hobbs (once Hoar Oak shepherd.)
Thanks go to Eric Hobbs for his generosity in sharing so many photographs, memories and information about the Hobbs family at Hoar Oak Cottage. Eric was one of a group of descendants of Hoar Oak who took part in a picnic trip, in 2013, to visit the cottage and see the work being done to stabilise it as a heritage ruin. Here he is, below, enjoying a flask of tea.
Eric passed away in 2016. His son Adam Hobs is a Trustee of the Friends of Hoar Oak Cottage and maintains the family’s interest in and commitment to the cottage and its history and heritage.