Bowditch James - The Disappearance of Maria Glenn

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

PEN AND SWORD HISTORY

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Pen and Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright Naomi Clifford, 2016

ISBN: 978 1 47386 330 9
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Contents

Part 1
Taunton, 22 September 1817

Part 2
Dorchester

Part 3
London, 1 October 1820

Illustrations

Characters

It is the readers misfortune that many characters in this story share surnames, even though they are not related, or at least not closely. Two men called James Bowditch appear in the narrative, one a young farmer who played a central role in the drama, the other a draper who was only on the sidelines. John Burroughs appeared as a defence witness for the Bowditches but should not be confused with Judge John Burroughs who tried one of the cases in the story. Neither of them were any relation to William Burroughs, a parliamentary candidate in Taunton in 1818. James Scarlett, a son-in-law to Mrs Bowditch, was not related to the eminent barrister of the same name who defended the Bowditches from 1819 and later became known as Lord Abinger. William Woodford, a Taunton carpenter who appeared as a witness for Maria Glenn in London, was not connected with the wealthy Woodforde family of Taunton, who were powerful Bowditch supporters. The story features both Henry James Leigh, a Taunton solicitor, and James Henry Leigh Hunt, a radical journalist. Two women called Susanna and two called Elizabeth also feature, so I have used Betsey Bowditch and Susan Bowditch to distinguish them from Elizabeth Snell and Susanna Mulraine. And as if that were not enough, both the churches that feature in the story, one in Taunton and the other in Thornford, Dorset, are dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.

The Tuckett household and friends

Maria Glenn A young heiress from St Vincent

George Lowman Tuckett Marias second cousin and uncle by marriage; a barrister in Taunton

Martha Tuckett Marias aunt, her mothers sister

Frederick, Glenn, Fenton, Gertrude, Lucretia and Anna Eliza Tuckett Marias cousins

Mary Ann Whitby Nursemaid to the Tuckett children

Jane Marke Cook in the Tuckett household

Elizabeth Snell Housemaid working for the Tucketts

Sarah Slade The Tucketts former nursemaid

Mary Fenton Glenn Marias widowed mother, resident in St Vincent

William Glenn Marias paternal grandfather, owner of two plantations on St Vincent

Rachael French Marias maternal grandmother

Maria Burrows George Lowman Tucketts sister, married to John Burrows, a magistrate in London

The Rev Blakely Cooper A Church of England clergyman, resident in Yetminster, Dorset

William Thompson A Taunton doctor

William Woodford A Taunton carpenter

The Bowditches and their friends

Joan Bowditch A widowed farmer at Holway Green, Taunton

William Bowditch Joan Bowditchs eldest son, an innkeeper resident in Taunton

James Bowditch Joan Bowditchs second son, a farmer living at Holway Green

Betsey Bowditch (later Gibbens); Susan Bowditch (later Gibbens); Sarah Bowditch Joan Bowditchs daughters resident at Holway Green

Ann Bowditch Joan Bowditchs daughter, working in Ireland

Mary Scarlett Joan Bowditchs daughter, married to James Scarlett

James Scarlett A journalist and printer at the Taunton Courier

Juliana Paul Joan Bowditchs eldest daughter, married to Thomas Paul

Thomas Paul Julianas husband, a gentleman, of Thornford, Dorset

Susanna Mulraine A young married woman, often resident at Holway Green farm

Charles Puddy A farmer

Rev George Henry Templer A clergyman and magistrate, of Thornford, Dorset; nephew of Thomas Paul

James Bowditch A Taunton linen-draper, not related to the farm James Bowditch

James Sutton An innkeeper in Taunton

Lawyers and judges

Henry James Leigh Tucketts solicitor, of Taunton

Thomas Fooks A solicitor in Sherborne, Dorset

Serjeant Albert Pell A barrister, head of Tucketts team

Stephen Gaselee A barrister (Tucketts team)

Abraham Moore A barrister (Tucketts team)

Charles Frederick Williams A barrister (Tucketts team)

Robert Casberd A barrister (head of the Bowditches team at Dorchester)

William Selwyn A barrister (defence team)

Henry Jeremy A barrister (defence team)

James Scarlett A barrister (head of the Bowditches team after 1818)

Charles Abbott Lord Chief Justice of England

William Kinglake A solicitor in Taunton

John Oxenham William Kinglakes employee, a solicitor

James Alan Park Judge at the Dorchester trial

Family Trees

Map of Taunton

Slavery

Like many people looking into their family history, Maria Glenns descendants have found aspects of their ancestors lives both surprising and distressing. The discovery that the Glenn and Tuckett families had owned slaves on the island of St Vincent gave them a good deal of personal pain.

It would be difficult to find many middle-class British families in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries whose lives did not in some way brush the edges of slavery or, as here, sit right in it. Unfortunately, however regrettable our ancestors behaviour, there is, of course, nothing we can do to change it.

Preface

In 2010 I was browsing through the British Librarys online newspaper archive when I came across an extraordinary tale from 1830. A man had been sent anonymous letters by a woman who wanted him to rescue her from her uncles house on the Clapham Road, which happened to be a couple of hundred metres from my own home in south London.

To effect the escape he should bring a rope ladder, some cash and a gun, she wrote, adding that for his gallantry he would be rewarded with her hand in marriage, and her fortune for everything a woman owned, if it was not tied up in trusts, would automatically belong to her husband. He was keen as mustard and showed up, suitably equipped, with a friend. They were both promptly arrested.