13 Rock Street

Occupants

We have had great difficulty in identifying the occupants of each house in the 19th century census records so we have not attempted to do so unless we have some other supporting sources.  The history of occupants is therefore based on what people have been able to tell us, backed up by church records, electoral registers, rating books, school records etc.    

In this case, we know from local knowledge and from the rating books and censuses that the house was occupied by:

Oliver and Lucy Screen - the 1876 Rate Book shows us that the house was occupied then by Oliver Screen.  The 1881 census shows us that they were living there with three children and in the 1891 census they were still there.  Click here for more detail  

Mark Curthoys - the 1894, 1899 and 1905 Rate Books show that Mark was occupying this house.  Click here to read more about Mark

The electoral registers of the mid 1900's indicate that the house was occupied for many years by George and Emma Smart and their family.  However we have also been told that George lived further up the road at number 4 Upper Bath Road before he moved to 13 Rock Street.  The electoral register of 1946 shows George and Emma at 'Raglan Castle' which we assume refers to the time when he was living at 4 Upper Bath Road.  We would love someone to contact us with more information which might clarify the family's movements.

George and Emma Smart
George Thomas Smart was born on the 8th August 1898, the son of Henry Smart, a labourer and his wife, Mary Ann (nee Wakefield).  They lived at Crossways when George was born and they were still there in the 1901 census.  When George started at the Council Upper School in 1905 the family had moved to Chapel Street.

By 1918 Mary Ann was listed as living in Outer Back Street (one of the many old names for Rock Street).  It appears that Henry Smart had died as when their son George started at the Council Upper School in 1905 his guardian was 'Mrs Henry Smart' of Chapel Street.  There is a record of Henry George Smart who is listed as dying in Thornbury in 1902, although his age has been transcribed as being 33 which is too young for our Henry. 

We suspect that Henry died in 1902 and Mary Ann moved into a house at 15 Rock Street which is where 'Mrs Smart' was living in the 1905 Rate Book.  We believe that the reference to 'Chapel Street' is another case of the houses in this own, including the Severn Stars being listed as Chapel Street instead of Rock Street or one of the many alternatives.  The 1910 Rate Book shows her as living in 13 Rock Street.

We have not yet found the marriage of George and Emma Amelia.  They had at least three children: Alan Richard born on 18th March 1926, Alec George born on 11th May 1930 and Mary Constance Elizabeth born on 1st December 1935.

George was a quarryman.  He was a large man known locally as 'Porker'.  We also know that Emma cleaned at the MEB shop in the High Street.  The 1921 electoral register shows that George was living in Upper Bath Road, probably with his mother who was listed as living in Outer Back Street.  The 1927 register shows the same information, although we believe that by then George was married by then and living in St John Street as that was their address when their son, Alan, was baptised in 1926.  It is possible that they were living with George's sister, Jane, who had married George Wakefield in 1917 and they were living at 11 St John Street. 

We know from locals living in the area that the Smarts lived in least two houses there although we are not sure when the family moved from one to the other.  The first of these houses was at 4 Upper Bath Road, which was also known as Raglan Castle Road during this period.  The second house was at 13 Rock Street.

By 1930 when their second son, Alec, was baptised their address was 'Raglan Castle', the same address as shown in school records in 1932 and 1937 when their two sons started at Council Upper School.   The electoral registers for this period in 1931,1935 and 1938 all show their address as Upper Bath Road, which could be either of the two addresses mentioned above, but it is likely that this refers to 4 Upper Bath Road.

In 1940 when Mary started at the Council Upper School their address in the school records was 'Bath Road' but the electoral registers were still showing Raglan Castle or Upper Bath Road.  When Mary married Bernard Leslie Pritchard on 21st July 1956 her address was 13 Rock Street.  Bernard was a farm labourer living at 1 North Road.  Mary was working as a machine operator at the aeroplane works.

George and Emma continued living at 13 Rock Street until the house was earmarked for demolition at which time they moved to a council house at 2 Streamleaze which is where they were listed in the 1965 electoral register.

 This page was last updated: 20/10/2008