John Bedford Jesty (1920-2003)

Dates

Birth: 23 March 1920 Bere Regis, Dorset, UK
Father: Frederick Thomas Jesty 1889-1934
Mother: Emily Rebecca Bedford 1888-1982

Marriage: 17 October 1942 St. Mary, Winterbourne Whitchurch, Dorset, UK
Wife: Pauline Dod 1919-a1980
Divorced: 1980

Marriage: July-September 1983 North Dorset, UK
Wife: Heather Sophia Angell [Croad] 1927-a1983

Death: February 2003 North Dorset, UK

Children

Notes

Birth of John B Jesty, mother's maiden name Bedford, in FreeBMD in April-June 1920 in Wareham (5a 681).

In the 1921 census as John Bedford Jesty aged 1 year 3 months, born in Bere Regis, Dorset, both parents alive, and living with his parents (Frederick Thomas and Rebecca), a visitor (William Bedford aged 63 years 5 months, born in Northchurch, Hertfordshire, widowed, a market gardener and farmer in Bere Regis - grandfather?), and a servant (Victoria Beatrice Stevens aged 23 years 11 months, born in Wool Dorset, single and a nurse help) in ten rooms at Doddings, Bere Regis, Bere Regis, Wareham, Dorset

His two brothers were registered in Wareham in 1924 and 1927.

His father died on 22 July 1934 at Doddings, Bere Regis, Wareham and his mother married Charles Herbert Deakin in Blandford in 1937.

Entry in Genes Reunited and in Find myPast:

Western Gazette Somerset, England 13 Sep 1940
Births, Marriages, & Deaths The Engagement is announced between John Bedford Jesty, eldest son of the late Mr. Fred Jesty and Mrs. Deakin, Doddings, Bere Regis, and Benita Frances, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Andrews, La Lee, Whitechurch, Blandford.

Marriage of John B Jesty and Pauline Dod in FreeBMD in October-December 1942 in Blandford (5A 681).

Two entries in Ancestry England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1976 for the marriage of John Bedford Jesty and Pauline Dod on 17 October 1942 in Dorset in one and Whitchurch, Shropshire (sic) on the other . "Jesty:Dod.- On Oct. 17, 1942 at St. Mary's, Winterbourne, Whitchurch. John Bedford Jesty of "Doddings," Bere Regis, Dorset, to Pauline Dod, late of Jersey, C.I." with 20.10.1942 handwritten on it.

Entry in Find myPast Western Gazette, Yeovil, Somerset 23 October 1942. "Jesty-Dod On October 17th at Winterbourne Whitechurch Parish Church, John Bedford Jesty, Bere Regis, to Pauline Dod, of Jersey."

Entry in The Eagle A Magazine supported by Members of St John's College Volume LII & 228 MCMXLIII "John Bedford Jesty (B.A. 1941), of Doddings, Bere Regis, Dorset, to Pauline Dod, late of Jersey, Channel Islands - on 17 October 1942, at St Mary's, Winterbourne, Whitchurch."

Entry in British Pathe Bedford and Jesty, Silvasprings Watercress Farm, Bere Regis, Dorset. 14 August 1961

C/U of a small water fountain surrounded by watercress; L/S of the watercress beds; a man is seen pushing a wheelbarrow along a narrow path between the beds. An elderly man is seen scattering watercress seeds over wet ground as commentator tells us at this watercress farm they produce probably more watercress than anywhere in the world, and this farm has an endless supply of pure spring water rising from below ground. Various shots of watercress; a line of men bending double to pick bunches of it; huge piles of watercress in boxes. The boxes are put on a small train which travels between the beds and the packing sheds. On reaching the sheds, the boxes of watercress are put under showers, then some women tie the cress into small bundles. The ends are cut off and the cress is put into small wooden crates that run down a gravity conveyor. M/Ss as a young man puts some flaked ice into the base of the crates. M/Ss of a table with a large bowl of watercress in the centre; two men eat some with their fingers and put some on their bread and butter. Note: print used for telecine transfer is quite badly scratched; neg is incomplete. On file are news cuttings about the watercress industry; one is about Bedford and Jesty who ran the Silvasprings Watercress Farm seen here. There are also notes with the names of all the workers seen, too numerous to mention here"

Two entries in Ancestry All British Phone Books, 1880-1984 for J B Jesty address Doddings, Wareham phone Bere Regis 250 in 1970 and 1971.

Entry in Google Patents US4119242A Apparatus for dispensing discrete objects from a liquid. This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing discrete objects individually and more particularly to apparatus for dispensing seeds individually from a suspension of seeds in water or an aqueous solution. Inventor: John Bedford Jesty. 16 March 1976

Marriage of John B Jesty and Heather S Croad in FreeBMD in July-September 1983 in N Dorset (23 453).

Entry in 192.com for John B Jesty in the Electoral Roll 2002 living in Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11, other occupant Heather S Jesty (wife?).

Entry in People Trace UK for John Bedford Jesty aged 97 - Afterthoughts, Spetisbury, Blandford Forum DT11 9DF.

Entry in the Register of Deaths for John Bedford Jesty, born on 23 March 1920, in February 2003 in North Dorset (70 430/1 58).

There are eleven entries in Ancestry Family Trees for John Bedford Jesty.

The following information is about his father.

My grandfather Frederick Thomas's marriage to Emily Rebecca (Reca) Bedford in 1916 essentially cemented the founding of the firm Bedford & Jesty in Bere Regis, which joined the watercress business of William Bedford with the farming business of Henry Robert Jesty. Bill (T.W.) Jesty, F.T. Jesty's youngest son, has made a considerable effort to discover the World War I record of his father. The following is taken from Bill's records: Lieut. (and later Capt.) F.T. Jesty served in the Royal Engineers in Mesopotamia and then East Africa during WWI. In East Africa he was a key person in establishing a water supply for General Harrington's Division in the area of Mozambique. In a handwritten letter of 1921 a Major A.L. Cooper, Royal Engineers, writes, "It was while Gen Harrington's Division was in pursuit of the Germans in the [River] Rovuma district, that the lack of water greatly hampered our movements. It was then that Lieut Jesty was conspicuous for his untiring energy and capability, in solving what was one of the most difficult problems of this campaign. This often incurred a great element of personal danger. It was on the disbandment of the Division that I had great pleasure in recommending Lieut. Jesty for the award that he thoroughly deserved." The award in this letter was the Military Cross. Capt. Jesty was invested with the award at Bovington Camp on 29th October 1921. As Bill notes, his father knew a lot about water, and how to drill for it, since he trained as an engineer and was apprenticed with Lott &Walne of Dorchester at the time of great expansion of the watercress beds at Doddings and elsewhere, with their numerous artesian bores.

Relationship

John Bedford Jesty was the father of Nicholas Jesty, husband of Lynn M Baker, my half fourth cousin.

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