11 Horseshoe Lane

Occupants

The two houses, 9 and 11 Horseshoe Lane were built before 1840 and are shown on the Tithe Survey map as Plot 132 - owned by Mary Wilkes and occupied by Sarah Hughes and Mary Lidiard.

The Hughes family - the 1840 Tithe Survey shows the house occupied by Sarah Hughes.  We are not sure if there is any connection between Sarah and the Samuel and Sarah Hughes who were occupying the house in the 1841 census.  Indeed it is possible that it was Samuel who had been the occupant of the house in the Tithe Survey, and that his name had been misread on the transcriptions as we have come across several other errors of this sort. 

Samuel was a blacksmith born in Earthcott at some time between 1800 and 1806 (depending on the various ages given in census records and at his death).  Sarah was born in Almondsbury between 1802 and 1806.

We have not yet found any record of their marriage.  They were living in the borough area of Thornbury (around Horseshoe Lane) as early as 1827 when their daughter, Louisa, was baptised on 15th July.  They had several other children including: Priscilla baptised on 9th November 1828, Clarissa baptised 8th May 1831, George born about 1837 but not baptised until 26th May 1858 when he was 21 and about to get married, Harriet born about 1834 but not baptised until 16 June 1852 and Alice born about 1843.

The 1841 census shows the house occupied by Samuel Hughes, a blacksmith aged 30, and his wife, Sarah aged 30, and children: Louisa aged 14, Harriet aged 7 and George aged 4.  Also living in the house was John Thurston, an agricultural labourer aged 16.

The 1851 shows Samuel and Sarah still living in the house.  Both were aged 46 years.  Also living there were their children, George aged 14 and Alice aged 8 and Mary Knight aged 2, a visitor from Rockhampton.  In 1861 census, Samuel and Sarah were still in the house, Samuel was a blacksmith, Sarah was a milliner and their daughter,  Alice Cooper Hughes aged 17 was a dress and mantle maker.

By 1871, Samuel and Sarah had moved to St Mary Street where they were living next door to the The Plough.  Living with them were Henry Hall, a grandson aged 4 from Chepstow and Edward Trayhurn a widowed tailor aged 62.

Sarah died in 1879 aged 77.  By 1881 Samuel was living in the Plough with his son, George Hughes, the beerhouse keeper.  Click here to read about George

Samuel died in 1884 aged 84 years.

Frederick & Ellen Sainsbury - the house was occupied by Frederick Sainsbury and his wife, Ellen from about 1871 to 1891. Click here to read about the Sainsbury family

John Isaac Phillips - the 1894 Rate Book shows the house was occupied by John Isaac Phillips.  The 1891 census shows John was an innkeeper and painter in the Wheatsheaf in Chapel Street.  John had been born in Crossways about 1863.  In 1883 John married Sarah Stephens from Alveston.  They had 3 children in Thornbury.  Stanley was baptised on 6th December 1885, Maud baptised on 5th December 1886, and Daisy baptised on 3rd March 1895.

The 1901 census shows the family had moved again, this time they are listed under Pullins Green but we think their house was located in what is now known as Crispin Lane.  John was listed as Issac J, a painter born in Stinchcombe. Stanley was also a painter.. The Trade Directories around that time list John as a tiler and plaster and Stanley as a mason.

William Cornock - in the 1899 Rate Book and the 1901 census the house was occupied by William Cornock, a sawyer of wood aged 42 and his wife, Harriett  and their children: Thomas, a mason's labourer aged 18, Madeline aged 11, and Rose aged 7, all from Thornbury.

William was born in Cambridge, Gloucestershire about 1859, the son of Thomas Cornock, who was a shoemaker in 1861 and an agricultural labourer in 1871, and his wife, Hannah.  In 1879 William married Harriet Malpas who was born in Cam.  The marriage was registered in Dursley.  Harriet's age varies a lot in different censuses - she was 29 in 1881, 34 in 1891 and 45 in 1901!

The 1881 census shows William, now a sawyer, and Harriet sharing a house in Cambridge with his brother, James, also a sawyer and his family.  Also living in the house were Victor R. Stanley, a boarder aged 40 (or at least it looks like 40, but an earlier entry has been overwritten) with no occupation and no place of birth recorded and Cornock Malpas noted as a nephew of James Cornock aged 1 born in Frampton.  We are puzzled by these entries.  The 1891 census for William and Harriet shows they had a son called Victor Richard aged 11, but can't understand the differences in age and why they call him a 'boarder' in 1881.  It looks likely that Cornock Malpas was also the child of William and Harriet, but we can't find his birth or any further sign of him later.

It appears that when the family moved to the Thornbury area around 1882 they settled in Gillingstool.  The 1890 Voters List shows William moving from Gillingstool to Bulls Eyes Lane.  In the 1890 Rate Book and the 1891 census William and Harriet were living in Bulls Eyes Lane (in the house which later became known as 9 Bath Road).  William was a pit sawyer aged 31.  They now had five children: Victor Richard Stanley born in Frampton about 1879, Thomas Francis Henry born in Morton in 1882, and Ernest Samuel Maurice born in 1884, Eveline Annie born in 1886 and Madeline Asenath born in 1890, all born in Thornbury.  Note 'Asenath' seems to be the maiden name of William's mother as William's brother gave his daughter, Ethel, that middle name.  William and Harriet had one more daughter, Rose Hannah, born in Thornbury in 1893.

Shortly after 1891 the family seemed to be on the move again; this time to St Mary Street, to one of two cottages backing onto Mr Ellis's chemist shop in the High Street.  William and Luke Higgs are shown as tenants of these cottages when put up for sale in 1892. 

The 1896 Voters List shows William moving from a house in St Mary Street to Horseshoe Lane.   It is interesting to note that when William's children, Evelyn, Madeline and Rosa, started at the National School in 1899 their address was shown as 'Rock Cottage'.  It would be nice to think that that was the name of the house which later became just '11 Horseshoe Lane', but as yet we have found no other reference to this name, either in Horseshoe Lane or elsewhere.

Of their children: Richard Victor died aged 13 in 1901.  In 1904 Evelyn Annie married Frank Rugman a decorator from Olveston. 

William died in 1914 aged 57.

We do not know who lived in the house from 1901 until 1924 when two houses were put up for sale and they were described as being occupied by Mrs Hughes and Mrs Harris.  They were both bought by Mr J. Tuck for £300.

Frederick & Lily Harris - the Harris's lived in the house from about 1924 until 1968.

Frederick Charles was baptised in Thornbury on 2nd June 1895.  He was the son of William George Harris and his wife, Ellen (nee Derrick).   Fred came back from the fighting in France during the First World War having been gassed in the trenches.  He never fully got over this and suffered with a bad chest throughout the rest of his life.  He married Lily Maud (nee Skillern), a widow who had lost her first husband, a Mr Bone, during the War.  Fred and Lily had one son, George Frederick, born on 6th May 1923.

Fred always had an interest in football and was groundsman at the Mundy Playing Fields for many years and always supported Thornbury Town Football Club.

Fred died on 26th April 1960 aged 64 years.  Lily died on 3rd August 1968 aged 80. 

At the time of the town re-development in 1969 the two houses number 9 & 11 were owned by C.P. Pimm of Kingbridge in Devon.  The houses were vacant or demolished by the time of the 1970 electoral register.

This page was last updated: 05/11/2008