15 Pullins Green

Henry 'Clocky' Liddiatt

Henry was born about 24th April 1865, the son of William Liddiatt, a sawyer and his wife, Margaret (nee Mitchie).  After a few years living in Clifton, the family had moved to Castle Street and then by 1871 were living in Pullins Green.

The 1881 census shows Henry was an apprentice watch and clock maker.  He was living in 15 Hampton Lane, Westbury on Trym, the home of his cousin, Henry Cornish.  

In 1888 Henry married Mary Ann Morgan in Bristol.  Mary was born in Thornbury in 1864, the daughter of Thomas Morgan, a plumber and his wife, Anna Maria.  In 1871 the Morgan family had been living in the High Street with Mary's siblings, John Trevor aged 4 and Arthur Henry aged 2.   In 1881 they were living in Chapel Street.  Thomas was now shown as a plumber and glazier.  He and Anna Maria had two extra children - Ada aged 2 and Charles aged 11 months.  Mary Ann was employed as a teacher in the British School.

The 1891 census shows Henry and Mary Ann Liddiatt living in number 15 Pullins Green, very close to the premises occupied by his brother, Edward Liddiatt, the fishmonger.  Henry was shown as a watchmaker and jeweller.  It would appear that Henry had a shop in the High Street at the same time as he lived in Pullins Green.  He is listed in Trade Directories as being there from 1889 to 1910 after which he is listed as being in Gillingstool up to 1936.  Henry Liddiatt became so identified with his trade that he was widely known as "Clocky" Liddiatt.

Mary Ann died in Thornbury in 1893 aged 30.  In 1895 Henry married Bernice Mary Liddiatt in Clifton.  Bernice Mary was the daughter of William Liddiatt who at that time was a staff sergeant in the army and his wife Mary.  This William Liddiatt had an interesting and varied career in the 32nd Regiment Light Infantry which was formerly 32nd Regiment of Foot.  We know of three children of this family. As well as Mary Bernice who was born in Mauritius, there were Bridgit Margaret Cecilia Liddiatt (known as Cecilia) and William Henry Augustus Liddiatt who were both born in the Cape of Good Hope.  Thornbury Museum have papers relating to this William's time in the army, especially in Africa in the Zulu wars.  

We have been unable to find out if there was any family connection between Henry and his second wife.  We share the view of researchers at Thornbury Museum and a member of the family that some connection is likely.   There must be a reason why Bernice Mary came to settle in Thornbury and family ties seem the obvious possibility.  Anyone who is interested in researching the Liddiatt family in depth should contact Thornbury Museum as Meg Wise there has accumulated an extensive file of papers and letters relating to the Liddiatt family.

Mary Bernice (known to her family as "Bird") was living at Crossways at the time of her marriage.  Amongst the family papers is a connection to Ireland which is where Bird's sister Cecilia trained.  There is also an envelope addressed to Mrs W Liddiatt at Woodbine Cottage, Crossways.  We don't know which Mrs W Liddiatt this relates to as both Bird, her mother and her mother-in-law had that married name.  By 1901 the couple had moved to 15 Pullins Green.  Henry and Bird had only one child, Maureen Cecilia who was  born on 13 November 1901. The thumbnail on the right shows Maureen with Bird about 1910.  Click on it to enlarge it.

The 1914 Kelly's trade directory shows that by this time the family had moved to Gillingstool.  This may have been because Frederick, Henry's brother, died in 1913.  At the time of his death he had been living in Gillingstool in what we assume to be the family home.  Henry and Bird may have moved to live with Frederick's widow Eliza Jane.  This seems to be confirmed by the 1927 electoral register which shows that Eliza Jane Liddiatt was also living in Gillingstool with Henry and Mary Bernice.  The family home in Gillingstool was called Killiney Cottage but later became known as Endrick Cottage. 

There was no record of Henry's burial although his death is registered in Thornbury in December quarter 1929 - he was aged 64 years.  Although Henry's brother Frederick was buried at the burial ground at Thornbury Baptist Church, we have not yet found a record that Henry was buried there also.

Mary died on 7th June 1941 aged 73 years.  The burial record for the Thornbury Cemetery shows that she was still living in Gillingstool at the time of her death. 

This page was last updated: 13/07/2008