John Moles, The Exmoor Caveman, 1927 and Thomas Moles at Bramshott Training Camp, 1915-1916
Title
John Moles, The Exmoor Caveman, 1927 and Thomas Moles at Bramshott Training Camp, 1915-1916
Subject
Description
The upper photograph, taken by Alfred Vowles of John Moles, was published on the 21st of December 1927 in the Western Morning News, captioned "IN A CAVE ON EXMOOR-John Moles, an old-age pensioner and professional mole catcher, whose home is in a cave near Dunkery Beacon-Photo: Vowles, Minehead". A preceding article on the 4th of January 1927 in the Western Morning News had been headlined "AN EXMOOR CAVEMAN" and sub-headlined "JOYS OF PRIMITIVE LIFE" and "QUARRY HOME OF OLD AGE PENSIONER".
The articles state that Mr. Moles was born "under the shadow of Dunkery Beacon". Relatively true, as he was born around 1853 at Exton, a village just northeast of Bridgetown, about halfway between Wheddon Cross and Dulverton. Moles was apparently the fourth child of John and Elizabeth (nee Tedbould) Moles, both of whom were originally from Winsford (1). The newspaper further detailed that as an 8 year old, the younger John Moles had worked as a "human scarecrow". He was never schooled and in 1870 Moles joined the army, serving in Ireland, India and Egypt. Moles claimed he fought under Lord Kitchener in Sudan (2). Kitchener was in Sudan by 1883 or 1884 (3) so that could be possible. After his service, Moles said that he had signed on as a sailor and worked for a time on a rubber plantation in South America. Returning to the southwest of England, John Moles joined forces with one of his brothers and appropriately with their surname, became a mole trappers.
Neither article in the Western Morning News mentions that on the 16th of April 1885, John Moles had married Sarah Louisa Redwood at Brompton Ralph, Somerset (4). She had been born in 1865 at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales (5). John and Sarah Moles' first son, John Redwood, was born in 1886, a daughter, Rhoda Elizabeth Chappell was born in 1888 and their second son, Thomas Lionel was born in 1889. The latter is the young man pictured in the lower photograph. In 1891 all three children, aged 5, 3 and 1, were living in Brompton Ralph with Sarah's parents, Thomas, a carpenter, and Elizabeth (nee Chappell) Redwood. Sarah was living and working next door, as a housemaid at The Rectory for a Mrs. Parsons and her son, Henry (6). By 1901, Sarah Mole's father, Mr. Redwood, had died and Mrs. Redwood had moved to Stogumber. Her three grandchildren were still living with her, now joined by a fourth grandchild, 6 year old Ruth Helen Moles (7). Their mother, Sarah, was continuing work as a servant, now in Crewkerne (8). According to some records there was a 5th child of John and Sarah Moles, a girl named Sarah Ellen Moles, born in Maesteg, Glamorgan, Wales on the 8th of March 1895 (9), near where her mother was born. This little girl is not listed with her siblings and grandmother at Stogumber in 1901 but being so young, could still possibly be with her mother.
It is certainly not clear where John Moles was or what he was doing during this time. Ruth Helen Moles would have been born around 1894 and her birthplace is recorded at Williton, Somerset (10). Sarah Ellen Moles was born shortly afterwards in Wales. On the 1901 Census, their mother, Sarah Moles listed herself as a widow. According to her family, Sarah advertised in newspapers for information on her husband and in 1917, she and her oldest daughter, Rhoda, will write that John Moles was "killed in Wales coal mines 1890" (11). Besides a natural wish to know what happened to her husband and father of her children, Sarah would not wish to be charged with bigamy. According to the Offences against the Person Act, 1861, a person was allowed a second marriage if their first husband or wife had been absent for seven years and "shall not have been known by such person to have been living within that time" (12). Sarah had met Hubert Mudford, a widower who worked as a carpenter and wheelwright (13). They married on 3 November 1908 (14).
In 1927, John Moles told the newspaper that he had come to a place in his life in reduced circumstances and with no surviving relations, seemingly ignoring a wife, his children and two brothers, Henry and Charles, who both lived until 1941 (15). Mr. Mole, not wishing to live in a workhouse and knowing Exmoor well, made residence in a cave on the face of a limestone cliff, described in several newspaper articles as at an abandoned quarry near Timberscombe (16). He spoke of the cave as his "mansion". It was reported to be as "dry as a bone" and Mr. Mole was quoted "I am happy as the day is long and I never worry about anything". Projecting bits of rocks served as shelving, he had his wooden box to sit upon, a calendar, a candle, a river in the "valley below" for water and bathing and "plenty to eat, drink and smoke" (17).
When discovered, photographed and written about, Mr. Moles was reported to be 77 years old, "upright, tanned and has perfect eyesight and hearing". Nevertheless it seems authorities were alerted and "on the advice of local police"and the coming of winter, when he was 78 Mr. Moles was moved to the workhouse at Williton, where he died in 1930 (18).
Thomas Lionel Moles is a sad corollary to the story of the Moles family. In August 1907, the year before his mother's second marriage, he had been the best man at his older brother's wedding. Thomas emigrated to Canada in 1911, where he became a rancher. After the outbreak of World War I, in 1915 he enlisted with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. Assigned to the 54th Battalion, by November he was sent to England for training at the Bramshott Camp at eastern Hampshire (19), where the lower photograph was taken, labeled "Bates & Co. Bramshott", with Thomas framed under the Canadian Maple Leaf and above a swirling banner reading "For King and Country", as well a beaver, a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada (20). This photograph was kept by his family. Perhaps during his training, Thomas had a chance to visit and give it to them. Thomas also drew up his military will on 21 February 1916, leaving all of his property to his mother in the event of his death.
On the 14th of August 1916, Thomas Moles arrived in France at Le Havre. The 54th Battalion fought at the Somme throughout October and November 1916 and bore heavy casualties at Vimy Ridge during March and April 1917, with the soldiers enduring conditions now remembered as some of the worst of an already brutal war. Since the beginning of the battle, Thomas was charged for being AWOL four times and had several convictions for drunkenness. In October 1917 he deserted. Three weeks later he was captured, tried at court martial and sentenced to death. Aged 28, Thomas Moles was executed by firing squad on 22 October 1917.
When a letter went out to his family, it was not addressed correctly and was returned to the Canadian forces. The first mail that Sarah Louisa Mudford received was an Estates form that did not specify the fate of her son. Writing for her mother, Thomas' sister Rhoda had to compose several letters just to be clear he was dead and where and how it happened. Even upon having his death confirmed, Sarah and Rhoda had to write again, asking if the reason of his execution was cowardice. If so, Rhoda wrote her mother would not look upon it as such because he "had head weakness from birth". It was during the exchange of these difficult letters in 1917 that the women wrote how the father of Thomas, John Moles, had died at Welsh coal mines in 1890 (21). It is hard to imagine their reaction 10 years later when John Moles appeared alive and content at his cave in the newspapers of 1927.
The 1930 death of John Moles was widely reported, He was written about on the 12th of March 1931 in Australia's Adelaide Chronicle, as being famous as the "Exmoor Caveman" and whose cave had been visited by hundreds of tourists. However it is not clear which cave or which abandoned quarry near Timberscombe is where these tourists went. Mr. Moles' abode was not likely at the Timberscombe Quarry which had ceased operations about 1904 (22) but became known as the Delbridge Quarry when Leslie Delbridge opened his agricultural machinery business there after World War II (23). There are other pits to the east and northeast of Delbridge Quarry (24) and a quarry near Cowbridge that was abandoned after 1919 (25). There is also a disused quarry at Grabbist Hill (26), certainly closer to Dunster but in the direction of Timberscombe. If anyone should have further information, it would be greatly appreciated.
The Alfred Vowles newspaper photograph of John Moles was donated in 2019 by Phil Nichols to Tom Sperling . Mr. Nichols also first told Sperling about Sarah Moles' belief that her missing husband was dead. Mr. Nichols had learned of John Mole while working on his book, "Secure the shadow Somerset Photographers 1839-1939", published by The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society in 2018 and co-authored with Robin Ansell and Allan Collier. The photograph of Thomas Moles appears in Mr. Nichols' 2015 "Pte. Thomas Moles, Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock," also published by The Somerset and Dorset Family History Society.
The articles state that Mr. Moles was born "under the shadow of Dunkery Beacon". Relatively true, as he was born around 1853 at Exton, a village just northeast of Bridgetown, about halfway between Wheddon Cross and Dulverton. Moles was apparently the fourth child of John and Elizabeth (nee Tedbould) Moles, both of whom were originally from Winsford (1). The newspaper further detailed that as an 8 year old, the younger John Moles had worked as a "human scarecrow". He was never schooled and in 1870 Moles joined the army, serving in Ireland, India and Egypt. Moles claimed he fought under Lord Kitchener in Sudan (2). Kitchener was in Sudan by 1883 or 1884 (3) so that could be possible. After his service, Moles said that he had signed on as a sailor and worked for a time on a rubber plantation in South America. Returning to the southwest of England, John Moles joined forces with one of his brothers and appropriately with their surname, became a mole trappers.
Neither article in the Western Morning News mentions that on the 16th of April 1885, John Moles had married Sarah Louisa Redwood at Brompton Ralph, Somerset (4). She had been born in 1865 at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales (5). John and Sarah Moles' first son, John Redwood, was born in 1886, a daughter, Rhoda Elizabeth Chappell was born in 1888 and their second son, Thomas Lionel was born in 1889. The latter is the young man pictured in the lower photograph. In 1891 all three children, aged 5, 3 and 1, were living in Brompton Ralph with Sarah's parents, Thomas, a carpenter, and Elizabeth (nee Chappell) Redwood. Sarah was living and working next door, as a housemaid at The Rectory for a Mrs. Parsons and her son, Henry (6). By 1901, Sarah Mole's father, Mr. Redwood, had died and Mrs. Redwood had moved to Stogumber. Her three grandchildren were still living with her, now joined by a fourth grandchild, 6 year old Ruth Helen Moles (7). Their mother, Sarah, was continuing work as a servant, now in Crewkerne (8). According to some records there was a 5th child of John and Sarah Moles, a girl named Sarah Ellen Moles, born in Maesteg, Glamorgan, Wales on the 8th of March 1895 (9), near where her mother was born. This little girl is not listed with her siblings and grandmother at Stogumber in 1901 but being so young, could still possibly be with her mother.
It is certainly not clear where John Moles was or what he was doing during this time. Ruth Helen Moles would have been born around 1894 and her birthplace is recorded at Williton, Somerset (10). Sarah Ellen Moles was born shortly afterwards in Wales. On the 1901 Census, their mother, Sarah Moles listed herself as a widow. According to her family, Sarah advertised in newspapers for information on her husband and in 1917, she and her oldest daughter, Rhoda, will write that John Moles was "killed in Wales coal mines 1890" (11). Besides a natural wish to know what happened to her husband and father of her children, Sarah would not wish to be charged with bigamy. According to the Offences against the Person Act, 1861, a person was allowed a second marriage if their first husband or wife had been absent for seven years and "shall not have been known by such person to have been living within that time" (12). Sarah had met Hubert Mudford, a widower who worked as a carpenter and wheelwright (13). They married on 3 November 1908 (14).
In 1927, John Moles told the newspaper that he had come to a place in his life in reduced circumstances and with no surviving relations, seemingly ignoring a wife, his children and two brothers, Henry and Charles, who both lived until 1941 (15). Mr. Mole, not wishing to live in a workhouse and knowing Exmoor well, made residence in a cave on the face of a limestone cliff, described in several newspaper articles as at an abandoned quarry near Timberscombe (16). He spoke of the cave as his "mansion". It was reported to be as "dry as a bone" and Mr. Mole was quoted "I am happy as the day is long and I never worry about anything". Projecting bits of rocks served as shelving, he had his wooden box to sit upon, a calendar, a candle, a river in the "valley below" for water and bathing and "plenty to eat, drink and smoke" (17).
When discovered, photographed and written about, Mr. Moles was reported to be 77 years old, "upright, tanned and has perfect eyesight and hearing". Nevertheless it seems authorities were alerted and "on the advice of local police"and the coming of winter, when he was 78 Mr. Moles was moved to the workhouse at Williton, where he died in 1930 (18).
Thomas Lionel Moles is a sad corollary to the story of the Moles family. In August 1907, the year before his mother's second marriage, he had been the best man at his older brother's wedding. Thomas emigrated to Canada in 1911, where he became a rancher. After the outbreak of World War I, in 1915 he enlisted with the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. Assigned to the 54th Battalion, by November he was sent to England for training at the Bramshott Camp at eastern Hampshire (19), where the lower photograph was taken, labeled "Bates & Co. Bramshott", with Thomas framed under the Canadian Maple Leaf and above a swirling banner reading "For King and Country", as well a beaver, a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada (20). This photograph was kept by his family. Perhaps during his training, Thomas had a chance to visit and give it to them. Thomas also drew up his military will on 21 February 1916, leaving all of his property to his mother in the event of his death.
On the 14th of August 1916, Thomas Moles arrived in France at Le Havre. The 54th Battalion fought at the Somme throughout October and November 1916 and bore heavy casualties at Vimy Ridge during March and April 1917, with the soldiers enduring conditions now remembered as some of the worst of an already brutal war. Since the beginning of the battle, Thomas was charged for being AWOL four times and had several convictions for drunkenness. In October 1917 he deserted. Three weeks later he was captured, tried at court martial and sentenced to death. Aged 28, Thomas Moles was executed by firing squad on 22 October 1917.
When a letter went out to his family, it was not addressed correctly and was returned to the Canadian forces. The first mail that Sarah Louisa Mudford received was an Estates form that did not specify the fate of her son. Writing for her mother, Thomas' sister Rhoda had to compose several letters just to be clear he was dead and where and how it happened. Even upon having his death confirmed, Sarah and Rhoda had to write again, asking if the reason of his execution was cowardice. If so, Rhoda wrote her mother would not look upon it as such because he "had head weakness from birth". It was during the exchange of these difficult letters in 1917 that the women wrote how the father of Thomas, John Moles, had died at Welsh coal mines in 1890 (21). It is hard to imagine their reaction 10 years later when John Moles appeared alive and content at his cave in the newspapers of 1927.
The 1930 death of John Moles was widely reported, He was written about on the 12th of March 1931 in Australia's Adelaide Chronicle, as being famous as the "Exmoor Caveman" and whose cave had been visited by hundreds of tourists. However it is not clear which cave or which abandoned quarry near Timberscombe is where these tourists went. Mr. Moles' abode was not likely at the Timberscombe Quarry which had ceased operations about 1904 (22) but became known as the Delbridge Quarry when Leslie Delbridge opened his agricultural machinery business there after World War II (23). There are other pits to the east and northeast of Delbridge Quarry (24) and a quarry near Cowbridge that was abandoned after 1919 (25). There is also a disused quarry at Grabbist Hill (26), certainly closer to Dunster but in the direction of Timberscombe. If anyone should have further information, it would be greatly appreciated.
The Alfred Vowles newspaper photograph of John Moles was donated in 2019 by Phil Nichols to Tom Sperling . Mr. Nichols also first told Sperling about Sarah Moles' belief that her missing husband was dead. Mr. Nichols had learned of John Mole while working on his book, "Secure the shadow Somerset Photographers 1839-1939", published by The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society in 2018 and co-authored with Robin Ansell and Allan Collier. The photograph of Thomas Moles appears in Mr. Nichols' 2015 "Pte. Thomas Moles, Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock," also published by The Somerset and Dorset Family History Society.
Creator
Alfred Vowles /
Bates & Co., Bramshott
Bates & Co., Bramshott
Publisher
Western Morning News
The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, Sherborne, Dorset
The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, Sherborne, Dorset
Date
21 December 1927
1915 to 1916
1915 to 1916
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
Alfred Vowles photograph of John Moles for the Western Morning News, 1927 / near Timberscombe / Bates and Co., Bramshott Camp military portrait of Thomas Moles, 1915 or 1916 / eastern Hampshire
Acquisition Date
2019
2020
2020
Acquisition Method
Gift
Research
Research
Category
PEOPLE: Named /Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2020
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
13.5 X 12 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
14.5 X 8.5 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
13.5 x 12 (VILLAGE HISTORIES)
14.5 X 8.5 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
13.5 x 12 (VILLAGE HISTORIES)
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) 1851 England Census, 1861 England Census and Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (2) The Adelaide Chronicle, "WHEN KITCHENER SOLD DATES", 12 March 1931 (3) en. wikipedia.org/ wiki/Herbert_Kitchener/ _ 1st_Earl_ Kitchener (4) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (5) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 (6) 1891 England Census (7) 1901 England Census (8) 1901 England Census and The 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1915-1919, Pte. Thomas Moles , "Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock" by Phil Nichols, published by The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, Sherborne, Dorset , Printed in Great Britain by Short Run Press, Exeter, Devon, 2015 (9) a 5th child, Sarah Moles, is cited by the Moles Family Tree, Tree Search. Ancestry.com and could possibly be Sarah E. Moules, born 8 March 1895, working Unpaid Domestric Duties in Salford, Lancashire (1939 England and Wales Register) and Sarah Ellen Moules, born 8 March 1895 and died at Salford in 1979 (England & Wales, National Probate Calendar Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1995) (10) 1901 England Census and England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 (11) The 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1915-1919, Pte. Thomas Moles, "Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West And Middle Chinnock" (12) Offenses against the Person Act, 1861, Section 57, legislation.gov.uk (13) 1911 England Census (14) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (15) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Indexes, 1916-2007 (16) The 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1915-1919, Pte. Thomas Moles, "Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock" (17) Western Morning News, "AN EXMOOR CAVEMAN", 4 January 1927 (18) Family History Resources /Find My Past.com, Deaths (19) The 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1915-1919, Pte. Thomas Moles, "Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock" (20) Government of Canada, canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/ services/official_symbols_canada (21) The 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion, 1915-1919, Pte. Thomas Moles, "Remembering a Generation The World War One servicemen of West and Middle Chinnock" (22) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, MMO2590 (23) VictoriaCountyHistory.ac.uk and as recalled in 2019 by Reg Holcombe, the nephew of Leslie Delbridge (24) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, MSO11634 (25) HER, MMO2590 (26) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, MSO9408
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2020
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
St. Petrock's History Group VILLAGE HISTORIES
St. Petrock's History Group VILLAGE HISTORIES
Item Reference
SP-181
Technique
Copies
Citation
Alfred Vowles /
Bates & Co., Bramshott , “John Moles, The Exmoor Caveman, 1927 and Thomas Moles at Bramshott Training Camp, 1915-1916,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed April 26, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3279.
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