Welfare

Another criterion by which we can judge a country is the care which it takes of its unfortunates, its 'disadvantaged'. Under the Poor Laws, which were first enacted in Elizabeth's reign, the parish of origin had the duty of supporting its destitute deserving poor, the cost of which was met by a poor rate.

There is a reference in the Payhembury parish register to the marriage of Ambrose Bendon and Dorothy in 1626, and in 1677 a removal order requiring Dorothy to be removed from Honiton to the parish of her birth, Awliscombe, as she was now destitute.

One hundred and forty years later, Salisbury Parish raised a removal order on the family of Robert Bending and sent them back to Ottery St Mary where Robert had been born. Robert was a woolcomber (see below) perhaps times had been hard and he had moved to Salisbury, another sheep area, but without success.

There are another three removal orders at this time. (see Devon Record Office, Removals)

The Overseers of the Poor could issue indentures for 'Poor Law' apprentices who were pauper children who lived on the charity of the parish and who were sent out to employers to learn a trade and cease to be a financial burden on the local community. Most of them were sent as domestic servants to private homes or as labourers to farms or large estates.

Betwen 1753 and 1811 The Overseers of the Poor for Ottery St Mary issued 20 indentures for Bending children between the ages of 8 and 11. (see Devon Record Office, Apprenticeships)

Two of these apprentices were Thomas Bending and Mary Bending. Thomas was apprenticed in husbandry when he was eleven, for a term of thirteen years, and Mary also aged eleven was trained in housewifery for ten years. (Transcripts of their indentures are at -Tom - Mary.)

Besides statutory arrangements for welfare, charities were set up by private individuals, particularly in Victorian times.

Dr Barnardo was appalled at the sight of destitute children in the East End of London, and in 1867 started working to provide education and homes for them.

In 1892 Alfred was sent to Canada as a Dr Barnardo's boy on ss Mongolian. He was 12 years old and an orphan, his parents having died in 1888. His mother, Matilda, died of heart disease at the age of 39, in February, and his father, John James, committed suicide by 'violently throwing himself in front of a passenger engine at Bethnal Green Junction whilst temporarily insane', in October.

Trades

Devon had its traditional crafts, two of these, lace making and wool combing.

Lace making in Honiton and the surrounding area including Ottery, dates back possibly to the 16thC, and was a major occupation until mechanisation started coming in at the beginning of the 19thC. Silk thread, possibly a raw material of the lace making was made at a factory in Ottery in the 19thC where young women, including Bendings were employed.

Elizabeth Bending, 1844-1929, was born in Ottery St Mary to a lace maker and master shoemaker. She too was a lace maker, and, in Ottery St Mary, at the age of twenty married a blacksmith. In the 1870's she moved with her husband and family to Camberwell in London. Elizabeth brought up a family of six and contributed to the family income by dress and lace making. Her life as described by her granddaughter, is probably not untypical of the times. A struggle for existence, hardships met with great resource and humour, and no whingeing.

The ancient craft of woolcombing, dating back to the 14thC at least, disappeared with mechanisation in the mid 19thC. The process resulted in high quality wool for worsteds. The work was highly skilled, well paid, and required a seven year apprenticeship. To restrict entry to the craft woolcombers were organised into clubs, and in some instances only eldest sons were admitted as apprentices.

There were four Bending woolcombers in Ottery; William, 1746-1779, Robert, 1751-1834, Robert, 1778-1850, and William, 1817-1886, the last three being grandfather, father and son. The son, William, emigrated to Australia in 1857 as mentioned earlier.