Lovell of Broomfield & Nettlecombe in West Somerset

The earliest known Lovely ancestors of West Somerset were in the parish registers of St Decuman, which is situated in the small port of Watchet. A Nicholas and Mary Lovell had nine children baptised there between 1682 and 1700. Unfortunately it has not been possible to find Nicholas' parents but there were families in Wiveliscombe and Stogursey all within a reasonable distance. 

Broomfield Parish c1975 - Shows locations mentioned in the text

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William the second son of Nicholas and Mary married in 1711 in Luccombe, near Minehead, but settled in Nettlecombe, which is the next parish to St. Decuman. William and his wife, also Mary, had six sons and he lived there for the rest of his life. He appears in various parish documents until his death in 1748.

Charles the fifth son of William and Mary born 1724, did not appear in any of the parish documents so was not apprenticed in the village, but at sometime moved to Broomfield, a village on the Quantocks about 12 miles from Nettlecombe, when in 1748 he married his cousin Mary there. Were they both apprenticed to the local landowner? No documents have been found but it seems a possibility. Charles and Mary had a large family and there is some information of his life to be found in various parish documents, including several visits to the Bristol Royal Infirmary. This was 40 miles away and so must have been quite a journey in 1769. His treatment at the hospital was sponsored by the local J.P. and landowner Sir Charles Kemys-Tynte. 

The Lovell family remained in Broomfield all as Agricultural Labourers, until the 1900's and can be found in various Census Returns. Eliza Lovell born in 1869 moved to Bristol sometime before the 1891 Census to go into service, working as a general domestic servant in a house in Kingsdown, Bristol. She married Fred Green in 1892 and lived for the rest of her life in the Ashton district of Bristol.

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