10 Upper Bath Road

Occupants

We are grateful to South Gloucestershire Council for letting us see the deeds that they hold for this house.

Richard Greenwood - at the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey the house and garden was referred to as Plot 114 which was owned by John Dorney and occupied by Richard Greenwood.  The only Richard Greenwood we have traced in the 1841 Census was a sawyer aged 25 who was then living in Colwell Street (what we now know of as The Plain).  His wife was Sophia aged 35 and they had one son, Edwin aged 3.  Click here to read more about Richard Greenwood

Henry Sargeant (or Sargent) - the 1859 and 1862 Rate Books and the 1851 and 1861 censuses show the house was occupied by Henry and Mary Sargeant. 

Henry and Mary had married at Thornbury St Mary's on 4th January 1847.  They had both been widowed.  The marriage record shows that Henry was the son of Richard Sargent, a labourer and Mary was the daughter of Thomas Limbrick, labourer.  Mary may have been the person who had earlier lived in 5 Gloucester Road.  Click here to read more

In the 1851 census Henry was a journeyman wheelwright.  Living with them were Mary's daughter, Edith Lanfear a general servant aged 28 born in Tiverton, Charles Lanfear who was baptised in Thornbury in 1840 and a lodger, Richard Gale, a widowed Chelsea pensioner aged 83 from West Littleton.  The 1861 census shows Henry was a master carpenter aged 67 from Yate.  Henry was living with his wife, Mary aged 64 from Thornbury and two lodgers, Charles Williams and John Mitchell who were journeymen cordwainers.

Mary died aged 74 years and was buried on 1st March 1870.  We don't know when Henry died.

William Fry - the 1871 Census appears to show that William Fry was living in the house.  William was a cordwainer (shoemaker) aged 35 from Wellington in Somerset.  He was living with his wife, Mary Ann aged 31 from Hanham and their children: Lucy Ann aged 12, Emily aged 11, Fanny aged 9 and William aged 5, all the children were born in Thornbury.

William married Mary Ann Coole in Bristol in 1858.  They seemed to have moved to Thornbury almost immediately as their first daughter, Lucy Ann was born there in 1858.  In the 1861 census William and Mary Ann were living in Gillingstool Hill with their children Lucy Ann aged 2 and Emily aged 1 and Mary Ann's sister Hannah Coole aged 12 from St Phillips, Bristol.  We have no record of the family after the 1871 census.  

William Underhill
The 1876 Rate Book shows the house was occupied by William Underhill.  In the 1881 Census William Underhill was a labourer aged 37 living there with his wife, Annie aged 38 and their sons: Charles aged 12 and Frederick aged 10.

William was born in 1843 and baptised on 10th September 1843 at Thornbury St Mary's.  He was the son of Joseph Underhill, a servant and his wife, Esther (nee Philpot).  In 1851 the family lived in St John Street where Joseph was a coachman.  By 1861 the family had moved to Soapers Lane where Joseph was employed as a servant and William as an agricultural labourer.

In 1866 William married Annie Thomas in the Bristol area.  They continued to live in Thornbury where they had two sons: William Charles baptised on 5th July 1868 and Frederick Joseph baptised on 5th March 1871.  They also had one other son, Edward John who died on 22nd November 1873 aged 16 months.  In 1871 William and Annie were living in Silver Street where William was employed as a labourer. 

They were still living in 10 Upper Bath Road in the 1885 and 1887 Rate Books.  He was using the stables at the rear of the property that had been the Beaufort Arms (57 High Street).  In 1888 William took over as licensee at the Queens Head in the High Street, but he continued to use the stables at the rear of the Beaufort Arms, presumably because the Queens Head didn't have the required facilities there.  In the 1891 census William is listed as a carrier aged 47 at the Queen's Head Inn in the High Street and trade directories show that in addition to being the publican, William also operated a daily carrier service to Bristol.  The census shows that Charles and Frederick were living there and they seem to be working with their father.

The 1901 census shows William was a carrier and innkeeper at the Queen's Head.  Charles and Frederick have  moved away, but both of them seemed to continue to be involved in the carrier and pub business.  Click here to read more about them  

In 1894 Charles Underhill took over as beer-house keeper of the Horseshoe which was situated in the building now used as a kebab takeaway opposite the Heart Foundation shop in St Mary Street.  Charles left The Horseshoe in 1898 and moved to 'The Porter Stores', which is now known as 'The Barrel'.  It seems that about 1900 Charles gave up The Porters Stores to his brother, Frederick.  On 25th December 1896 Frederick had married Eliza J Mills, the daughter of Thomas Mills.  Unfortunately, Frederick only managed to stick it out for a couple of years at the Porters Stores before he died iaged only 31 and was buried on 23rd January 1902.  William Underhill, the father of both Charles and Frederick, then moved from the Queens Head to The Porters Stores which he continued to run until his death.  He died aged 67 and was buried on 4th January 1910.  Annie died aged 61 and was buried on 4th February 1904.

Charles Prewett - the 1890 Rate Book and the 1891 census shows the house was occupied by Charles Prewett.  The census shows Charles was a labourer and gardener aged 31 living in the house with his wife, Elizabeth Amelia aged 31 from Bristol with their children: Emma aged 6, Mabel A aged 4 and Charles aged 3 and an aunt, Hester Walker, a widow aged 86.  Click here to read more about Charles and Elizabeth

Sam Barge - the 1899 Rate Book shows the house was occupied by Sam Barge (shown in the photo on the right). 

Sam was born in 1857, the son of Thomas Barge and his wife Mary (nee Bendall). In 1874, Sam had married Emma Fowler who had been baptised on 25th May 1851, the daughter of Kesiah from Crossways.  Sam and Emma had three children: Leah Matilda baptised 17th October 1875, John Lawrence baptised on 5th June 1887 but only survived 3 months, and Arthur John  baptised on 1st July 1888.

In 1881 Sam was a coachman living in 31 St Mary Street with Emma who was a laundress, their daughter, Leah and an aunt, Hannah Barge, unmarried aged 60.  In 1891 the family were still living in 31 St Mary Street but Sam was now shown as a groom.  The 1894 Rate Book suggests Sam had moved up the road to live at number 37 St Mary Street, a house owned by Richard Scarlett.  The 1901 census shows Sam living with his family in St Mary Street.  It is not clear exactly which house he was living in - we think the family were sharing a house at 61 St Mary Street with the family of Thomas Smith.  In this census Sam was a general labourer aged 45 living with his wife, Emma aged 52 and their son, John aged 13. 

An interesting report of Thornbury Police Court for November 1903 says "At the police court, on Wednesday Samuel Barge, Henry Smart, William James, Henry Jefferies, Thomas Cornock and William Ball for obstructing the highway at the entrance to Chapel Street Thornbury on the 29th ult. by standing thereon for 10 minutes and preventing persons passing, were each fined 6d and 4s costs."  Luckily standing and chatting in Thornbury High Street these days no longer attracts a fine.

In the 1905 and 1910 Rate Books Sam was listed as living in 47 St Mary Street.  The 1911 census shows Sam and Emma in St Mary Street and their son, John, a chauffeur aged 22 was living with them.  Emma Barge died aged 60 and was buried on 30th December 1912.  The electoral registers from 1918 to 1931 show Sam as still living in St Mary Street so he may have been living in the same house.  Sam died aged 79 in 1933.  The Thornbury Trade Directories from 1914 to 1935 show Sam as a bill-poster living in St Mary Street.

Of Sam's children, we know that Arthur John Barge (or Jack as he was known) became a chauffeur.  Click here to read more about Jack

Thomas Boulton - in 1901 the house was occupied by Thomas Boulton, a retired postman aged 62 and his wife, Mary A aged 68.

Thomas was born in Kington about 1838.  We have had problems linking Thomas to his parents.  The most likely Thomas was living in Kington in the 1851 where he is shown as being an apprentice shoemaker aged 12.  His parents were John Boulton, an agricultural labourer from Kington and his wife Susan who came from Frampton Cotterell. 

Thomas obviously didn't take to shoemaking.  By 1861 he was living in Regent Street, Finsbury, London where he had become a letter carrier.  He was also now married - his wife was Mary Ann aged 27 from Westbury on Trym in Bristol.  There is a record of a Thomas Boulton marrying Mary Ann Smith in Bristol in 1860.  Thomas's mother, Susan was visiting Thomas and Mary Ann at the time of the census.  She was described as a midwife aged 61.  She died in August 1861 aged 62 and was buried in Thornbury St Marys Churchyard.  Her husband, John died on 14th October 1869 and is buried with her.

By 1871 Thomas and Mary had moved to 57 Shepherdess Walk, Shoreditch in London.  Thomas had become a 'Letter Carrier E.C.D.' and he and Mary Ann had four children: Ernest W aged 9, Jane aged 6, Elizabeth aged 3 and Arthur aged 1.  They also had a niece, Eliza Holden aged 14 from Westbury on Trym who was acting as nursemaid and there were two lodgers.  In 1881 they were still living in the same house.  Their children had slightly different names, Ernest B was an unemployed printer's assistant aged 19, Jessie was aged 16, Elizabeth aged 13 and Arthur aged 11.  There was one extra child, Walter aged 9 and two lodgers.  In 1891 they were still at 57 Shepherdess Walk.  Arthur had become a letter carrier like his father.  Walter was an auxiliary carrier and Elizabeth a bookfolder.  The other children had left home.

The 1901 census shows that Thomas and Mary came home to Thornbury when he retired.  We don't know when Mary died, but by 1911 Thomas was a widower.  The 1911 census describes Thomas a 'post office pensioner'.  He is living in the house with just a housekeeper, Blanch Brooks, unmarried and aged 64 from Thornbury.  Thomas died in 1917 aged 78 years.  The 1925 Valuation List shows that Henry Boulton was the occupant of the house. 

The Staffords  - the 1926 rate Book shows that the house was occupied by 'R. Stafford' and the electoral registers show that the family of Robert and Emma Stafford lived there between 1927 and 1935.  Click here to read more about the Staffords

The Wilsons - from about 1938 until the time when the house was demolished about 1960, it was occupied by the family of Harry and Gertrude Annie Wilson.  We understand they had a son, Peter Wilson who went to Thornbury Grammar School.  The 1965 Electoral Registers shows that Harry had moved to 15 Buckingham Parade where he was housed by the Council after the house in Upper Bath Road was demolished.  There was no sign of Gertrude at that time so she must have died.

 This page was last updated: 30/01/2012