In the 1871 census, Joseph, aged only 5, was living with his parents in Hunton:
James Dumville, Head, married, 46, Agricultural Labourer, born in Hunton
Margaret, Wife, married, 35, born in Kirby M
Elizabeth, Daughter, unmarried, 11, Scholar, born in Hunton
George, Son, 10, Scholar, born in Hunton
Joseph, Son, 5, born in Hunton
John, Son, 4, born in Hunton
Lucy J, Daughter, 2, born in East Lockport, America
Margaret, Daughter, 4 months, born in Hunton
|
| Mary and Joseph Dumville |
Twenty years later the 1891 census showed him living in Hunton, just down the road from the New Inn, with his younger brother James, (1880-1903; baptized Robert James). The year before, in 1890, he had married Mary Frances Gilyead, from Doncaster, south Yorkshire. Their children were born in north Yorkshire: mostly in Arrathorne, the next village to Hunton. Later some moved away, to Kirk Merrington, Durham, further north, or south, to Mary's home area of Doncaster.
Mary died in 1920, and in his later years we know that Joseph used to divide his time between his three daughters: four months with Blanche (Mrs Airey) in Hunton, four months with Lily in Kirk Merrington, and four months with Annie (we don't know where Annie lived).
Joseph was the last bearer of the Dumville surname to live in Hunton. In 2002 two ladies still living in the area recalled Joe in letters to Jill Holroyd. The first:
I remember Joe Dumville living in the village when I was at school and a teenager. He was the last here to carry the name. He would die in the late 1930s but his daughter was here till a few years ago... Joe worked on the roads - brush shovel and wheelbarrow - sweeping them before mechanical sweepers came. And on Saturday mornings he swept the pavements in the village and tidied it up.
and the second:
I remember a Joe Dumville at Hunton. His Grandson went to school with my late husband and he would be about 80 years old. I think but I am not sure my Mother telling me that Joe came from County Durham.
In 1945, while staying in Kirk Merrington, Durham, with his daughter Lily, Joseph had a heart attack and died. He and his wife are buried in unmarked graves in Kirk Merrington. He has descendants alive today, still living in different parts of England.
Peter Dumville writes about Joseph's son Henry:
My Grandfather Henry was born in Hunton in 1891 and moved to Kirk Merrington in the early 1900s. In 1922 he moved to Stainforth near Doncaster to work at the newly opened Hatfield Main Colliery. His family had lived in Hunton for a good many years. (Peter Dumville, Thursday 3rd October 2002)
Frank Dumville writes about Joseph's son James (Jim), and others in the family:
I was born at Kirk Merrington in 1938. My father James (1902-1969), was Henry's brother (Peter's grandfather). There were four brothers and three sisters in the family. Their father was Joseph (born 1865), also a molecatcher, who once lived at Hunton and Kirk Merrington. His father was James (1824-1887), who had thirteen children and was also a molecatcher like his father Robert (1762-1857) the famous molecatcher...
I visited Hunton many times with my parents as a schoolboy visiting my aunt Blanche, my father's sister. My memory of Hunton was going out rabbiting with uncle Willie Airey (Blanche's husband). He would get his ferret out of the hutch, pick up the nets and off we would go. He would only catch two rabbits, one for us to take home and one for the ferrets. He also had pigs at the bottom of the garden so with the rabbit we usually took home a large ham. Happy memories. (Frank Dumville, Thursday 13th February 2003)