John Harris of South Milton and the Harris family association with Salcombe

 

John Harris of South Milton was recorded in the 1841 census as being a carpenter, and at other times as a ships carpenter, living at Trutes House South Milton.

 

I have often wondered why a ships carpenter would be living in such a peaceful country setting but on closer examination South Milton is in fact only some three miles from the sea.

 

One of the main shipping ports in the area in the 1700s and early 1800s was Salcombe  and at the head of the estuary on which is  also located  Kingsbridge, which also had ship yards and associated industries, three miles from South Milton,.

 

 

Until the mid 1800s Salcombe was confined to the water front where shipbuilding and fishing were the main industries of the town. Besides the food shops the workshops and houses of craftsmen who catered for local needs, there were seamen’s and fishermen’s cottages, and the houses of sea captains.  Transport of people and goods was mostly by sea with regular services up the Salcombe estuary to Kingsbridge, some three miles from South Milton.

 

Many South Milton residents had connections with Salcombe and the name of Trutes also is prominent in that area – a family of that name were business people in the ship building and allied industries.

 

It is quite possible that John Harris, living at Trutes House in South Milton, was employed by the Trutes family in Salcombe in his capacity as a ships carpenter, and spent some time living at Salcombe. William Harris, the youngest son of John was born there in 1806 and other children of John Harris moved and had family there in the 1840s.

 

Over the years however the importance of Salcombe as a port lessened, and in the early 1840s with the introduction of steam boats the demand for locally built sailing vessels declined rapidly and this led to the need for the descendants of John Harris to go elsewhere for employment.

 

At that time a regular steamship service to the nearby Channel Islands was brought into operation making travel much easier than by sail. Also extensive development of housing was taking place in the islands and a major port on Alderney was being developed. Opportunities for employment for the descendants of John Harris on the island were therefore available and led to their migration to Alderney and Guernsey.

 

In regard to Salcombe I should add that the Harris family had a much earlier association with this town for in the early 1600s Arthur Harris of Hayne, a member of a related branch of the family, inherited the manor of Batson in Salcombe through marriage with a member of the Daville family. The family of William Harris of Hayne also bought considerable property in the early 1600s in the Malborough area, adjacent to South Milton.

 

 

(Batson – Salcombe)

 

There was an even earlier relationship between the Harris family and Batson, as the property of (Badeston/Bayston) was a possession of the Bayston family in the 1400s and Elizabeth de Bayston' alias Elizota de Bayston', the heiress of the family, was married to Walter Leveger whose descendants sold the manor of Heathfield at Aveton Gifford to the Harris family in the early 1500s.

 

The manor of Batson existed in Domesday times and over the years remained a small settlement at the head of Batson Creek.

 

References:

 

 

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Go to the main web page of Bob Harris (Harris from Devon and the Channel Islands)

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