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Looks like some good information. Thanks everyone for your replies. Have few more questions coming soon.

Regards

Annie

Sorry. Am not used to forums Ann. Thank you so much for that story. My great grandfather, Charles Thomas Pitcher, Williams great grandson, was also a baker in Bridge Rd, Itchen, Southampton until it was destroyed in the last war. Amazing how far back it goes with the baker side.

Regards Annie

William Pitcher
England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-1910
child: Maria Pitcher


name: John Bligdon
event: Marriage
event date: 06 May 1852
event place: Litton-Cheney, Litton-Cheney, Dorset, England
gender: Male
marital status: Single
father: William Bligdon
spouse: Maria Pitcher
spouse's marital status: Single
spouse's father: William Pitcher
digital folder number: 004508877

William Pitcher
England and Wales Census, 1851
birth: Powerstock,? Dorset
census: 1851 England


name: William Pitcher
age: 61
gender: M
birthplace: Powerstock, Dorset
relationship to head of household: Head
record type: Household

always best to respond on here Annie!! :-D

????

William Pitcher
England and Wales Census, 1881
birth: 1834 Litton Cheney,? Dorset,? England
census: 1881 Litton-?Cheney,? Dorsetshire,? England
spouse: Charlotte Pitcher
children: Henry Pitcher,? George Pitcher


name: William Pitcher
age: 47
gender: Male
birth year: 1834
birthplace: Litton Cheney, Dorset, England
relationship to head of household: Head
marital condition: Married
profession/occupation: Bread Baker & Biscuit Manufacturer
address: Bakers Shop
census place: Litton-Cheney, Dorsetshire, England
record type: Household
family history library film: 1341513
the national archives reference: RG11
piece/folio: 2122 / 122
page number: 15

William Pitcher
England and Wales Census, 1871
birth: 1834 Litton Cheney,? Dorsetshire
residence: 1871 Litton Cheney,? Litton Cheney,? Dorsetshire,? England
spouse: Am Pitcher
children: John Pitcher,? Henry Pitcher


name: William Pitcher
event: Census
event date: 1871
gender: Male
age: 37
relationship to head of household: Self
birthplace: Litton Cheney, Dorsetshire
record type: Household
registration district: Bridport
sub-district: Burton Bradstock
event parish: Litton Cheney
county: Dorsetshire

William Pitcher
England and Wales Census, 1861
birth: 1833 Litton Cheney,? Dorset
census: 1861 Litton Cheney,? Dorsetshire,? England


name: William Pitcher
event: Census
event date: 1861
gender: Male
age: 28
relationship to head of household: Head
birthplace: Litton Cheney, Dorset
record type: Household
registration district: Bridport
sub-district: 1 Burton Bradstock
civil parish: Litton Cheney
county: Dorsetshire

William Pitcher
England and Wales Census, 1901
birth: 1833 Litton Cheney,? Dorsetshire
census: 31 Mar 1901 Litton Cheney,? Dorsetshire,? England


name: William Pitcher
event: Census
event date: 31 Mar 1901
gender: Male
age: 68
relationship to head of household: Head
birthplace: Litton Cheney, Dorsetshire
record type: Household
registration district: Bridport
sub-district: Burton Bradstock
ecclesiastical parish: Litton Cheney St Mary
civil parish: Litton Cheney
county: Dorsetshire

He was born 1833, in Litton, Cheney, Dorset.

Dorset and the sea
Talbot, William: M: Shoemaker: 1819: 21 yrs ... Brown, Edward: M: Stonemason: 1822: 36 yrs ... Pitcher, John: M: Dairyman: 1825: 56 yrs
dorsetsea.swgfl.org.uk/html/teachers/?Database/gaol%20... - Cached

Langton Matravers Brown, Edward M Stonemason 1822 36 yrs Smuggling £100 or 4 days



Netherbury Pitcher, John M Dairyman 1825 56 yrs Smuggling £50 or 3 months Of Netherbury "but lives at Chideock" - left leg shorter than right

Hampreston 1871 Census
; ; Adelaide; LONGMAN; Daughter; ; f; 6m; ; Hampreston Dorset; 70~17 . 83; ; William; BROWN; Head; Married; m; 40; Ag Lab; Christchurch Hampshire; 70~17
www.opcdorset.org/HamprestonFiles/?1871Hampreston.htm - Cached

Dorset Ancestors - Family History Research - Part 4
Dorset played its part in this revival with ... to imagine what could have brought William Pitcher to ... July 1830 (Buried on 10th of May 1836); William Longman Brown ...
dorset-ancestors.com/?paged=4 - Cached



Mrs Bligdon’s Bakery and the Birth of the Dorset Knob
Oct 9th, 2011 by Dorset Ancestors. Comments are off for this post
This is the story of a Dorset woman who owned and ran the bakery where the first Dorset Knobs were baked. Maria Bligdon could not claim to have conceived the recipe for the delicacy but she was certainly instrumental in its birth and growth in popularity, particularly in West Dorset, where it is still produced.

In 1815, Fordington was a densely populated parish on the edge of the county town of Dorchester. Living conditions there were filthy and squalid, so it is difficult to imagine what could have brought William Pitcher to this place from Powerstock, where he would have enjoyed a rural lifestyle with fresh air in abundance. The same could be said of Maria Longman who came from Rimpton Mill near Yeovil, just over the county border in Somerset. It is possible these two young people knew each other previously or may even have travelled there together because on the 22nd of March 1815 they were married at St. Georges Church.

After marrying they didn’t linger in Fordington; they travelled through Dorchester they headed west, settling in the parish of Litton Cheney. Here, they would have been more at home. The stone and thatched cottages, many dating back to the 17th century at ease beside the twisting lanes and busy streams, would have been much more to their liking than the over-crowded tenements of the Dorchester suburb.

William and Maria would have worshipped here at the original church dedicated to St. Mary; what we see today is the result of an extensive restoration completed in 1878. It is at St. Mary’s their children were all baptised: Jesse on 11th of August 1816; Mary Brown on 31st of May 1818; John on 5th of March 1820; Nimshi on 13th of October 1822; Levi on 26th of March 1824; Daniel on 9th of September 1826; Maria Brown on 11th of August 1828; Elizabeth Martha Longman on 25th of July 1830 (Buried on 10th of May 1836); William Longman Brown on 19th of May 1833; and Jane on 18th of December 1834 (Buried on 4th of January 1835.) Brown is a reference to grandmother Pitcher’s maiden name.

William Pitcher was born at Powerstock, where he was baptised on Christmas Day 1789. William was the first son of Samuel and Mary Pitcher and he was a miller. Maria Longman, his wife, was born in 1795 at Rimpton Mill, which is near Yeovil and not so very far away from the Dorset town of Sherborne.

William handed down his knowledge of milling and baking to his children. In 1851 we find his eldest son, Jesse, working as a journeyman miller at Malassie Mill, St. Savior, Jersey; Levi was working as a miller at Notton Mills, Maiden Newton and William was a Journeyman Baker still living with his parents. One son, William, was a tailor by trade and lived at Portesham.

But it is their daughter Maria who is of particular interest to us. By all accounts she was a formidable woman with striking looks and great strength; reputedly she could handle a sack of flour as well as any man and was known for having her own way.

Early in 1852 Maria married John Bligdon, a man born and brought-up in Litton Cheney, where he was a boot and shoe maker. Soon after their marriage, Maria, who until then had been working as a servant, was able to persuade her husband to let her start a bakery business in the village, which became known as White Cross Bakers and later as White Cross Grocer and Baker Shop.

The business started in a small way with one assistant but quickly grew. Bakery products were delivered by horse and cart to villages with in a radius of about ten miles. In 1881 many villages in Dorset were cut off for days because of deep snow. To meet the pressing need of some of the villages her horses were shod with special nails that prevented slipping, the bread was packed into panniers slung on each side of the horses and a convoy set off on its difficult journey to reach some of the more distant customers.

In 1881 Maria Bligdon employed three bakers and two servants, all living on the premises. Her husband continued his business as a cordwainer. One of these bakers, a Mr Moores, brought with him a recipe for Dorset Knobs, a round savoury biscuit that quickly became a favourite with the customers. It is named after the Dorset knob button. The recipe consists of bread dough to which extra sugar and butter are added. The dough is then shaped by hand and baked three times; the result is very crumbly and similar to a rusk.

Nellie Titterington, Thomas Hardy’s, parlour maid, revealed that the author “would most enjoy a cup of soup, followed by two boiled eggs. He finished his meal with Dorset knobs and Stilton cheese, both favourites of Mr Hardy, Dorset knobs especially.”

With fat bacon the Dorset Knob formed the main diet of the men employed by Maria Bligdon at her Litton Cheney bake house and the biscuits were despatched to Dorset soldiers fighting in Africa during the Boer Wars.

Pound Cake was another speciality of the bakery and sold for sixpence a pound; her gooseberry tart was also very popular. A custom from the old days was the making of dough cake; the dough was supplied by the bakery to the villagers who made it into cakes which were baked at the bake house.

Those less fortunate, living off parish relief and seeking employment, were given penny bread tickets, which the bakery accepted towards the cost of a loaf of bread, at that time about four pence. The bakery would accept about £5 worth of tickets every month. Given that in those days there were two hundred and forty pence to the pound we can see Mrs Bligdon’s bakery was very busy.

Maria Bligdon was buried at Litton Cheney on 8th of January 1891 aged 63. Her husband, John, died in 1896. It is said that one of their sons took over the business and closed it in 1916. We have found no record of any children and believe it was a nephew who took over the business.

When Mr Moores left the bakery he went to Morcombelake where his sons started a business and produced Dorset Knobs. That business is still in existence today and during January and February the firm continues to bake Dorset Knobs, which are retailed mainly through smaller grocery outlets and exported.
.

1851 ????????????


PITCHER, William Head Married M 61 1790 Baker
Powerstock, Dorset VIEW
PITCHER, Maria Wife Married F 56 1795
Rimpton, Somerset VIEW
PITCHER, Maria Daughter Unmarried F 22 1829 Servant
Litton, Dorset VIEW
PITCHER, William Son Unmarried M 17 1834 Journeyman Baker
Litton, Dorset VIEW
CHURCHILL, James Servant M 14 1837
Litton, Dorset VIEW

Piece: 1861

Folio: 55

Page: 8

Registration District: Bridport

Civil Parish: Litton Cheney

Municipal Borough:

Address: Paddock, Litton Cheney

County: Dorsetshire
redefine current search back to search results

????

William Pitcher
England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-1910
marriage: 22 Mar 1815 St. George's,? Fordington,? Dorset,? England
spouse: Maria Longman


name: William Pitcher
event: Marriage
event date: 22 Mar 1815
event place: St. George's, Fordington, Dorset, England
gender: Male
spouse: Maria Longman
digital folder number: 004508590

1841 England Census

Name: William Pitcher
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1833
Gender: Male
Where born: Dorset, England

Civil parish: Litton Cheney
Hundred: Uggscombe
County/Island: Dorset

Registration district: Bridport
Sub-registration district: Burton Bradstock

William Pitcher 50
Maria Pitcher 45
Nimshi Pitcher 15
Maria Pitcher 13
William Pitcher 8

??

Ann Brown Pitcher
England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
birth: 22 Feb 1791
christening: 27 Mar 1791 Netherbury,? Dorset,? England
residence: 1791 Netherbury,? Dorset,? England
parents: Samuel Pitcher,? Mary


name: Ann Brown Pitcher
gender: Female
baptism/christening date: 27 Mar 1791
baptism/christening place: Netherbury, Dorset, England
birth date: 22 Feb 1791
father's name: Samuel Pitcher
mother's name: Mary
indexing project (batch) number: C03916-1
system origin: England-EASy
source film number: 1239215

What info do you already have such as census or marriage cert etc ?

What do you mean by 'I think this is the correct one '?

I guess this is his death?

Deaths Jun 1911 (>99%)
Pitcher William L B 78 Bridport 5a 215

Jan

ranscription page details

Day:22

Month:Mar

Year:1815

Groom Forenames:William

Groom Surname:PITCHER

Groom notes:

Grooms parish:

Bride Forenames:Maria

Bride Surname:LONGMAN

Bride notes:

Brides parish:

By licence:Banns

Place:Fordington

Dedication:

County:Dorset

Country:England

Witnesses:samuel LEGG, Mary LONGMAN

Record source:Dorset Marriages
Find out more

Data provider:Dorset FHS

Transcriptions © Dorset Family History Society

connected?

Octavius Longman William Pitcher
England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-1910
child: Reginald Charles Pitcher


name: Reginald Charles Pitcher
event: Marriage
event date: 17 Feb 1920
event place: Portisham, Portisham, Dorset, England
gender: Male
age: 25
marital status: Single
estimated birth year: 1895
father: Octavius Longman William Pitcher
spouse: Edith Hilda Stickland
spouse's age: 27
spouse's marital status: Single
spouse's estimated birth year: 1893
spouse's father: James Stickland
digital folder number: 004508743

for ref


Day:19

Month:May

Year:1833

Forenames:William Longman Brown

Surname:PITCHER

Parents names:son of William & Maria

Place:Litton Cheney

Description:

County:Dorset

Country:England

Born or Notes:Miller

Record source:Dorset Baptisms
Find out more

Data provider:Dorset FHS