It is the reader’s 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 – Maria’s second cousin and uncle by marriage; a barrister in Taunton
Martha Tuckett – Maria’s aunt, her mother’s sister
Frederick, Glenn, Fenton, Gertrude, Lucretia and Anna Eliza Tuckett – Maria’s 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 – Maria’s widowed mother, resident in St Vincent
William Glenn – Maria’s paternal grandfather, owner of two plantations on St Vincent
Rachael French – Maria’s maternal grandmother
Maria Burrows – George Lowman Tuckett’s 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 Bowditch’s eldest son, an innkeeper resident in Taunton
James Bowditch – Joan Bowditch’s second son, a farmer living at Holway Green
Betsey Bowditch (later Gibbens); Susan Bowditch (later Gibbens); Sarah Bowditch – Joan Bowditch’s daughters resident at Holway Green
Ann Bowditch – Joan Bowditch’s daughter, working in Ireland
Mary Scarlett – Joan Bowditch’s daughter, married to James Scarlett
James Scarlett – A journalist and printer at the Taunton Courier
Juliana Paul – Joan Bowditch’s eldest daughter, married to Thomas Paul
Thomas Paul – Juliana’s 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
Henry James Leigh – Tuckett’s solicitor, of Taunton
Thomas Fooks – A solicitor in Sherborne, Dorset
Serjeant Albert Pell – A barrister, head of Tuckett’s team
Stephen Gaselee – A barrister (Tuckett’s team)
Abraham Moore – A barrister (Tuckett’s team)
Charles Frederick Williams – A barrister (Tuckett’s 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 Kinglake’s employee, a solicitor
James Alan Park – Judge at the Dorchester trial