Background to William and Agnes Dashper
William and Agnes Dashper:
We scoured the Parish records and could not find any other entries for the Dashpers. We looked at all the surrounding parishes and could not find them. We really wanted to find William and Agnes' marriage but it was not in Tavistock. The only clue we could come up with is the Hawkin Shop Gate which is another interesting story. Gloria found the picture of this location in a book and photocopied it. Then we decided to find it. The building is located about a mile north of Tavistock at the bottom of a steep hill. We almost gave up looking for it. Now it is a small stucco cottage with a small room added to the north side of it and a solarium added to the south side. This building was the address given by William and Agnes at the times of the childrens' births. We took pictures of the building and then decided to knock at the door.
An elderly couple answered but knew very little about the history of the building other than the following: The Duke of Bedford owned the roads leading to Tavistock and charged a toll for their use. Hawkin Shop Gate was the north entrance gate to Tavistock. The wagons were charged by the width of the wheels-the wider the width the less the toll (the narrow wheels tore up the road more). At that time lumber was cut in the moors and transferred to Tavistock where it was made into charcoal. The wagoneers got smart and brought the wood to the gate then transferred the wood to another wagon on the other side of the gate so did not have to pay. William gave his occupation as wheelwright and apparently there was a lumber mill behind Hawkin Shop Gate where he may have worked as well. The woman said this location was called Taviton. I think we may have to see if there were parish records for Taviton as a possible birth place for William and marriage of William and Agnes since we have not found them anywhere nearby-Mary Tavy, Peter Tavy, Lamerton, Lifton etc.
[Linda Etty and Gloria Beek 17/4/2000]