A Dulverton homeowner living in one of the town’s former mills found an old document under his floorboards. It was covered in hardened black tar with no glimpse of what was inside. He wanted our help to open it up without damaging it, to see what treasures were inside. Challenge accepted.
We painstakingly separated the edges of the tar-covered papers and found that it is a folded document with a number of pages. We uncovered a seal and the name ‘Goss’ on what appeared to be an old legal document.
The smell of tar was strong, but it did not seem to have soaked into the centre of the pages. We hoped that we could see a date and enough of the writing to explain the history and connection to Dulverton.
As we thought, it is a legal document and dates from 1899. It is a set of indenture papers related to William Goss the younger, who at the age of 15, was made apprentice mason to George Bowbeer Fisher.
Fisher was an important builder and entrepreneur in Dulverton, responsible for building the grand Edwardian Police Station and the hydroelectric dam on the Barle for the Dulverton Electric Light Company.
These papers set out the terms of the apprenticeship, particularly that Goss
- should not waste or embezzle the goods or money of the said George Bowbeer Fisher
- shall no more play at any unlawful games nor frequent taverns or playhouses
- will not do any damage to the goods or property of the said George Bowbeer Fisher”.
Thomas Goss was paid a weekly salary of 4 shillings, rising each year to 12 shillings a week by the fifth year of his indenture.
We have kept a copy of the photographs and transcript of this fascinating document in our archive and returned the original to the owner.
