6 Upper Bath Road
Occupants
We are grateful to South Gloucestershire Council for allowing us access to the deeds and documents that relate to this house and its neighbours. From these documents we have learned the details of some of the early owners and occupier of this property.
It is clear from the documents in the folder that numbers 2 to 8 Bath Road were built on what had once been a large close of ground called the Paddock. Part at least of the Paddock was planted with fruit trees and became known as the Orchard. Click here to see a plan of the original paddock and who bought the land.
By lease and release 6th and 7th May 1833 William Ann of Cheltenham sold to Robert Ann an area of land on which this house and its neighbour (later numbers 6 and 8 Upper Bath Road) were built. Click here to read about the owners of the land and the houses.
William Walker - at the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey the house was occupied by William Walker. The 1841 census shows William living there. He was a thatcher aged 45 living with Sarah aged 40, William aged 15, Frederick aged 11, Orlando aged 8, Fanny aged 5 and Edwin aged 2. Of the children: Frances Matilda was baptised in Thornbury on 6th September 1836 and Edwin Horatio was baptised there on 31st July 1839.
The 1851 Census suggests that there might have been some marital problems between William and Sarah. William is lodging in the beerhouse in St Mary street run by William Cullimore and known as The Rose and Crown (see 43 St Mary Street). Sarah is living nearby in the High Street in the vicinity of Silver Street. Her daughter, Frances, was living with her.
The 1861 Census shows that William and Sarah were back together again and living in 14 St Mary Street. Click here to read more
William Howard - the 1859 Rate Book and the 1861 Census show that the house was occupied by William Howard, an agricultural labourer aged 74 and his wife, Hannah aged 66 and son, George an agricultural labourer aged 22.
We suspect that William was born on 18th September 1789 and baptised in Oldbury on 16th October. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth Howard. We don't know when or where William and Hannah married, but we do know that they had several children including: Harriet baptised on 11th April 1844, John baptised on 4th August 1827, Robert baptised on 13th June 1830, Stephen baptised on 4th May 1834 and George baptised on 14th April 1839.
William died aged 79 and was buried on 16th January 1869 at Oldbury. In the 1871 Census Hannah was living in one of the Sir John Stafford's Almshouses in St Mary Street. She died aged 83 and was buried at Thornbury on 4th December 1879.
The 1871 Census shows that their son, George, meanwhile had gone off to join the Grenadier guards and he was a Private at St Marylebone, London. The 1891 Census shows he stayed in London and was now married to Emma and working as a dock constable. She was a laundress.
Of William and Hannah's other children, we know that Stephen married Ann Masters in Thornbury on 24th December 1854. Ann was the daughter of Thomas Masters, a labourer.
Joanna Murphy - the 1871 census shows that the house was occupied by Joanna Murphy, a widowed hawker aged 50 from Skibbereen in County Cork in Ireland. We understand that Joanna had been married twice before - we think her maiden name was O'Reilly and she had at some stage been married to a Mr McCarthy. We don't know when or where she married Daniel Murphy - they weren't together in the 1841 Census when Daniel appears to have been living in Newport, Gloucestershire and working as a pedler.
In the 1851 census Joanna was a matmaker aged 36 from Bantry in Ireland, living in a lodging house in Rock Street (then referred to as Back Street) with her husband, Daniel, a matmaker aged 54 from Bandon, Ireland and their children: Catherine a matmaker aged 18 also from Bandon and Timothy aged 1 born in Thornbury. We understand that Daniel had been married before his marriage to Joanna. He had had at least two children in his first marriage (Jeremiah born in Bandon about 1825 and Catherine born about 1832) and two or three with Joanna.
The 1861 Census shows Joanna as a hawker aged 43 from Cork living with Daniel aged 64 and their children: Edwin aged 11 and Joanna aged 8, both born in Thornbury. The census shows they were living in 'Ragland Road' which is another name used for what was later known as Upper Bath Road, but we are unable to identify which house they were living in. We suspect that the Timothy shown in the 1851 Census and the Edwin shown in the 1861 Census are the same person.
Daniel died in 1864 and his death was the subject of an inquest. The reference to this notes that Daniel was a 'traveller'. The notice to the coroner says that Daniel travelled "with fish and oranges" and was found in Filton by the side of the turnpike road leading from Bristol to Thornbury early on the morning of January 1st 1864. He was last seen at the Anchor Inn in Filton at 6pm but did not seem the worst for drink, according to witnesses. He appears to have died of natural causes.
We have discovered an interesting newspaper article
dated 9th March 1867 which gives us a good picture of what Joanna must
have been like. It describes the family as 'an Irish family named Murphy
which formerly consisted of a man, his wife, his son and a deaf and dumb
daughter'. Following the death of Daniel, the report mentions that
Joanna was employed on the premises of Mrs Rodney at Stokefield House (in
Castle Street) and his son, Edwin, was also employed there, formerly as a
page but then as a groom. The article noted that 'recently the son
had become enamoured of his mistress's cook whose age is about thirty,
while that of her lover is said to be seventeen years and two months.
The difference in their age however seemed to be no obstacle to their
union as man and wife - for about a month's since the cook gave up her
situation and went to her home near Bath, intending to be shortly
married'. It goes on to say that Joanna 'did not altogether fall in
with her son's taste, and declared in true Irish style that he should
never have the object of his choice, stating "that the crathur only wanted
my dear Teddy for his money he had in the bank". In spite of this,
the banns for the marriage of Edwin Murphy and Catherine Byfield were
posted in St Marys Church. Joanna attended the second Sunday that
the banns were to be read and at the appropriate time she got up from her
seat near the desk and said "Stop, sir, I forbid, I forbid that sir".
Joanna was invited into the vestry where she explained that Teddy was only
a minor and that she passed over a letter from a Roman Catholic priest as
although Teddy had converted all the rest of the family were still Roman
Catholic. She was promised that the clergy would look into the case
and she was given some hope that there were grounds for stopping the
marriage. History however shows us that Joanna's efforts were
in vain. Edwin and Catherine married on the 13th April 1867 at the Registry office
in Bradford on Avon. Both of them were listed as being full age!
Joanna's daughter, Joanna, died of T.B. on 12th
October 1868. Joanna was still in the house in Upper Bath Road in the 1876 Rate Book.
By the 1880 Rate Book Joanna had moved to a house near the top of St
Mary Street - she is shown in the 1881 Census as being aged 72 from Castle Townsend, Cork,
Ireland. In 1881 she was also up before the Thornbury Petty Sessional Court. She was charged with an assault, presumably on
Hannah Smart who was the complainant. Fortunately for her, the case
was dismissed.
In 1891 she was a pauper inmate in the Thornbury Union
Workhouse aged 78. She died there aged 80 and was buried on 17th
February 1892.
Bethia
Ball - in the 1881 Census the house appears occupied by Bethia Ball a
widowed seamstress aged 60. Note her name is sometimes spelt as 'Bathia'.
Bethia had had a difficult life. Married at
about 18, she had 3 children by the age of 21, her husband deserted her
and died shortly afterwards, she was became dependant on parish relief and had to be
'moved' twice to the parish responsible for her care, two of her
children had to be cared for by her parents, and she went on to marry twice
more, only for both husbands to die within a year or so of the marriage.
Following the death of her third husband she spent almost 50 years as a
widow.
Bethia was baptised on 29th November 1821, the
daughter of George Gough, labourer and his wife,
Jane. Her first husband was Ambrose Williams, the son of Abraham and
Sarah Williams of Frampton Cotterell. They married in Trevethin in
Monmouthshire about 1840. They appear to have had three
children: Frederick and Sarah both baptised in Thornbury on 12th November 1843
and who were brought up by Bethia's parents, and Abraham.
We have traced a document dated 18th March 1843
which shows that Bathia was residing in Trevethin with Abraham and had
become chargeable to the parish for relief. Bathia states that
Abraham was aged one year and nine months at that time and she refers to
the fact that whilst she had been visiting Thornbury in July 1842 her
husband had abandoned her and had died two weeks later. Bathia and
Abraham had been 'removed' to Frampton Cotterell, her husband's parish so
that they be responsible for her care. The Parish of Trevethin took
the same action, 'removing' her and Abraham back to Frampton Cotterell.
It is interesting to note that no mention is made by Bathia of her two
other children, presumably because she didn't want the authorities to know
that they were being cared for by her parents.
Bethia got married again on
26th August 1850. The marriage certificate shows she married Charles
Reeves a labourer and shows that Bethia Williams was a widow and the
daughter of George Gough. It appears that Charles died shortly after the
wedding. His death is recorded in the September quarter 1850 in
Bristol. The 1851 census shows that Frederick Williams aged 10 and
Sarah Williams aged 8 were living with their grandparents, George and Jane
Gough in 3 Upper Bath Road. We haven't traced Bethia in that census
and no knowledge of what happened to Abraham.
Bethia married for a third time - this time her
husband was Samuel Ball whom she married in March quarter 1861 in Bristol.
Samuel also died shortly after the wedding in the June quarter 1862.
In the 1861 Census Samuel and Bethia were living in Crossways where Samuel
was an agricultural labourer aged 42 and 'Bertha' was aged 39.
Alice Reeves aged 8 was visiting the house.
In 1871 Bethia was a seamstress aged 48 living in
Silver Street near junction with St Mary Street. She then moved to 6
Upper Bath Road where she appeared in the 1881 Census. In 1891 she
was living in a 2 roomed dwelling near The Hill, Almondsbury. She
was a machinist aged 72. In 1901 she was still living there, now in
one room in the house of Mark Thomas, a brickyard foreman. She died
in 1910 aged 91 years.
William Bendall - the 1880 Rate Book shows
the house occupied by William Bendall. We are not sure William
Bendall - the one who had been living in 2 Upper Bath Road was living in 8
Rock Street in the 1880 Rate Book and 1881 census.
John
Smith - the 1885 and 1887 Rate Books show the house occupied by John Smith.
The 1891 Census shows John was still there. He was a bill poster aged 51
living with his wife, Jane aged 44 from Tytherington and their children: Alfred H a bill poster aged 15,
Alice a domestic servant aged 13, Elsie aged 11, Thomas aged 7, and Annie
aged 1.
We have struggled to identify John's parents. We know from their marriage record that John was a butcher
at the time and the
son of John Smith, labourer. We suspect that John was the son of
John and Alice Smith who lived at 11 Upper Bath Road, the property known
as 'Raglan Castle'. John and Alice had a son John, but according to
his ages in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 Censuses, this John was born about
1843/1844, not 1840 as suggested by the 1891 Census. We cannot
find this John in any later census after 1871 so we feel it is likely that
he is the same person who married Jane in 1874.
Click here to read more about John and Alice
Jane was the daughter of Thomas Skuse, labourer and
his wife, Caroline (nee Bath) who lived in Tytherington.
John and Jane lived in Thornbury when they married
on 29th December 1874. We also know that John and Jane had several children
baptised in Thornbury: Alfred Harry and Celia Alice both baptised on 9th
June 1878, Catherine Elsie baptised on 10th September 1879,
John Thomas baptised on 1st June 1884, Clara Annie baptised on 6th April
1890,
It appears that John may have died aged 52 and was
buried on 23rd January 1892 and that Jane died aged 45 and was buried on
28th July 1894. The house at 6 Upper Bath Road was vacant in the
1896 Rate Book.
It is strange that all John and Jane's children
appeared to use their middle names - even Alfred Harry appears as Harry in
1901 census when he is living in St Mary Street as a bill poster with his
wife, Alice from Swindon and their children: William aged 3 and Beatrice M
aged 8 months. They had married in Thornbury on 22nd June 1896.
Alice was the daughter of George Collins, a shepherd.
Henry William Bendall - the 1901
Census shows
that the house was occupied by Harry, a news carrier and general labourer
aged 35 from Hotwells in Bristol and his wife, Sarah A aged 61 from Lower
Cam. Living with them was Thuriza Lacey, Sarah's unmarried sister aged 70
also from Lower Cam.
Henry was born in Bristol about 1865. He was
the son of William and Mary Ann Bendall.
Click here to read more about
William and Mary Ann
In 1896 Henry William married Sarah Ann Lacey in
Barton Regis area of Bristol in 1896. Sarah Ann was born in Lower
Cam about 1840. She was the daughter of Henry Lacey, a master
handloom weaver from Wotton Under Edge and his wife, Sarah from Cam.
In 1851 census Sarah Ann is living in Rowley, Cam with her parents, Henry
Lacey aged 54 and Sarah aged 54. The 1861 census shows Sarah has
become a woollen cloth marker and that she is still living with her
parents.
In 1862 Sarah Ann married Richard Lacey. In
1871 Richard and Sarah Ann were living in Mary-Le-Port Street, Berkeley.
Richard was a fly driver aged 37 from Kingsstanley. Richard died in
1873 aged 38. In 1881 Sarah Ann was a widow visiting her brother,
Henry Lacey in Trull, near Taunton. He was a saddler aged 44 from Cam.
Sarah's sister, Thuriza, is also visiting Henry and his family.
The trade directories show that Henry was a haulier.
The 1911 Census describes Henry as a stonebreaker. The 1918 electoral register shows Henry William and Sarah Ann
still living in
Upper Bath Road. Sarah Ann died in 1920 aged 80. Henry William
continued living in the house and he is shown as living there in the
1926 Rate Book and the electoral registers until at least 1931.
In 1891 Charlotte was a general domestic servant
working for Alfred W Anstey at Buckover Farm. On 14th October 1893
Charlotte married Henry James Billett, a carter and labourer and the son of Worthy Billett, a labourer from Milbury Heath. Henry and Charlotte had at
least five children: William Henry baptised on 28th October 1894, Lilian
Annie baptised on 29th March 1896, Herbert Charles baptised on 29th August
1897, Edward Kitchener baptised on 15th April 1900, Elsie May born in 1902
and Gladys in 1904. Edward's baptism record shows Henry had become a
waggoner. In 1901 the Billett family was living in Buckover.
Henry died in 1929 aged 58. Charlotte Billett was known locally as
"Granny Billett." We have been told that she was a regular in the
Picture House in Thornbury. She was said to have liked to sit in the
second row from the front on the left. Local children knew when she
was going to go to a film and would wait to ask her to escort them into
the cinema when the film was an "A" certificate.
Charlotte settled
in Upper Bath Road and lived there until she died aged 84 about 1953.
Elsie married Joseph H. Precious in 1925 and went to
live in Rhodesia where she lived all her life.
Gladys became a nurse in Thornbury Hospital and she
took over 6 Upper Bath Road after her mother's death and she was listed as
living there in the 1958 electoral register. When the house was
demolished in the early 60's she moved to 6 Buckingham Parade.
This page was last updated:
06/12/2011
Charlotte Elizabeth Billett - the house was
occupied from about 1935 for many years by Charlotte Elizabeth Billett. Charlotte was baptised on 19th July 1871, the daughter of Thomas Godwin, a
labourer and his wife, Charlotte (nee Howse) who lived at Crossways.
Charlotte's mother died aged 38 within a few days of her baptism and her
father married again on 30th September 1876 - his second wife was
also a widow, Elizabeth Long (nee Derrick). 
Of
their children: Edward died in 1901. Lilian Annie married Albert Collins
Austin Rogers in the September quarter of 1925.
Click here to read more about Albert and Lilian Rogers. Herbert joined the 5th Gloucestershire Regiment and died in
France on 29th September 1915 aged 19 years. In 1919 William Henry
(pictured in the photo on the left) married Sarah Primrose Clutterbuck,
the daughter of James and Florence Clutterbuck and they had several
children including: Donald, Joan who died young, Royston Herbert, Antony,
Josephine Hand and Valerie Elizabeth. William Henry used for work
for Daniels at Whitfield and even in her old age, his mother, Charlotte used
to walk all the way there from Thornbury to see him. Sarah Primrose
died in January 1982 aged 82.