The Groom

I've run across another mystery in the Burton family. My great, great, great grandfather, Joseph Burton had a son named John who was a mason. John's only child, Emily, married John Damrel (Damerel) in 1868, a man who lists his occupation, at least in 1881, as a "Groom."

Here's the strange part: when the census is taken in 1871, we find Emily and her two-year-old daughter, Tabitha, living with her father John Burton. No sign of Emily's husband. In fact, there's no sign of John Damrel anywhere in the census record for 1871. We see him living with his family in the 1881 census, but he's gone again in 1891. Emily by that time has a house-full of children aged 13 to 22.

So, where does John go? Into the military? On the road with race horses? If he's working as a groom, maybe he has to live on the estate where he works. That, of course, still wouldn't explain his absence in the census record.

The census actually lists John's employment as "Stud Groom, N.D." The "Studd" part was in incorrect transcription of the census data. The initials mean non-domestic. On the web I found that N.D. meant: "private stable yards and facilities where horses or ponies are regularly bought and sold, broken in, schooled, trained, for reward or profit, and/or are used in the course of a business by a professional/competitive rider."

Deciding I'd look further for John Damrel, I searched the census records for the County of Devon, village of Buckland Filleigh where he is recorded as having been born in 1842. To my surprise, in the 1841 census I found a family there, spelling their name "Damerel," who simply must be his family. I found one-month-old John, who seems to have been born in 1841 not 1842, four-year-old Lewis, a grandfather named Christopher, and John's mother Sarah.

Searching further, I pulled up the 1851 census for Buckland Filleigh and found that John's father, Lewis Sr. had appeared as well as his grandmother, Elizabeth (Betty). They'd been absent in 1841, which seems to be a stardard trait for the Damerel family.

In 1861, Both grandparents are present, but Lewis Sr. is missing again. John by now has moved out on his own and is living in Poltimore, Devon, and working as a stud groom.

Back in Buckland Filleigh in the 1871 census we find that the grandparents have passed away and John's younger brother, William, has also taken work as a groom.

I'm really sorry the Damerels are only distantly related to me as they appear to be a pretty interesting family. I still don't know where the various family members disappear to, but it will probably be fun trying to find out.