Isaac HODGES and Elizabeth STRODE

I've known for a while that Sarah HODGES lived in Norton Sub Hamdon, where there were a few GREENHAM families and that she married William GREENHAM who was a tailor. Her mother was Elizabeth and her father was Isaac HODGES.

The news today is that I found the 1851 Census record for her mother Elizabeth, who is a widow as Isaac died before Sarah's wedding in 1850. What is interesting though is that Elizabeth's mother Lucy STRODE is living with her. So this tells us Elizabeth's maiden name.

Elizabeth seems to have been a rich widow, and the indications are that Isaac was a farmer. In the 1871 census we find that her son John Isaac HODGES is a farmer of 290 acres in Somerton, Somerset employing 9 men and 4 boys. Maybe this was the family farm - although someone else must have been managing it between 1841 and 1871.

In the 1871 census we still have Elizabeth living in Higher Street, Norton Sub Hamdon and the Greenham grandchildren are staying with her. On this occasion her occupation is listed as "Former Farmer's Wife" which supports the view that Isaac was a farmer. The challenge now is to try to figure out when he died and whether there is a will.