17 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.    

William Rugman -  we know from the rating books and censuses that William and his family occupied the house for more than 30 years.

William Rugman was baptised on 9th February 1836, the son of James Rugman, a labourer of Morton and his wife, Elizabeth.  on 13th October 1855 William married Jane Greenman, the daughter of David Greenman.  By 1861 William and Jane were living in the house which later became 17 Rock street.  William was an agricultural labourer aged 25 and Jane was a milliner aged 24.  They had two children: Mathilda and Samuel John.

In 1871 William and Jane were living there with their children: Mathilda a general domestic servant aged 14, Samuel John aged 12, Harriet Sarah aged 10, Mark aged 6, Mary Ann aged 3 and Albert aged 9 months.

William and Jane's daughter, Matilda, died aged 14 years and was buried on 26th April 1871.  William and Jane had another daughter in 1874 and they gave her the name of Matilda.  She was baptised on 3rd February 1874.

Jane died aged 42 and was buried on 8th October 1879.  In the 1881 census William was a widower aged 45 living with his children: Harriet aged 19, Mark aged 17, Albert aged 11, Matilda aged 7, Alice aged 4 and Minnie aged 2.

In the 1891 census shows that William was still living in the house with his children: Mark a sawyer aged 26, Alice aged 15 and Mary aged 13.  In 1901 William was living with his daughter, Harriet and her husband, William Charles Bryant, a gas fitter and manager at the Gas House.  William died in 1919 aged 84.

The house is vacant in the 1894 Rate Book.  In the 1899 Rate Book the house is shown as 'Void' but the name of William Hicks is crossed through indicating that he had been living in the  house previously.  The 1894 Rate Book shows the number 15 Rock Street was occupied by William Hicks.  We are puzzled because William Hicks is also listed against the Severn Stars which he was running a lodging house in the 1891 census.

William Bendall Jnr - in the 1901 census the house appears occupied by William Bendall, a general labourer aged 29 from Gloucester, his wife, Emily from Olveston and children: Annie Elizabeth born on 8th October 1894 and Elsie Gladys born on 13th January 1897, and William's father William Bendall, a widow aged 50 from Thornbury.

William was baptised in Thornbury on 5th November 1871, the son of William Bendall haulier and his wife, Angelina (nee Hillier).  William's parents had been living in Gloucester at the time of the 1871 census, but they seemed to have moved to Thornbury shortly after.  In 1881 they were living in the Pullins Green area.  By 1891 William had left home and he was a general labourer boarding in Chapel Street.

On 15th May 1893 William had married Emily Millard, the daughter of Thomas Millard, labourer and in the 1896 Voters List William is living in Crossways.  The family were still living in 'Upper Bath Road' when the girls started at the Council Upper School in 1902 and 1904 respectively.  William's father died aged 73 and was buried on 5th June 1903. 

We know that William continued living in the house until at least 1905 when he was listed in the Rate Book.  We are not exactly sure what happened to William and Emily after that time.  We know that William was working as a haulier when his children were baptised.   There is another Bendall, Henry William Bendall, living in the area who was also a haulier, but we can find no close connection between them.  Henry and his wife, Sarah Ann lived at the house which became known as 6 Upper Bath Road until the early 1930's.  Both Henry and William are listed as living in Raglan Castle Road (which is another name for Upper Bath Road) in the 1910 and 1913 Voters Lists, and Henry, Sarah Ann and William are both listed as living in Upper Bath Road in the 1918 electoral register.  We don't know where William was living.

The house appears vacant in the 1910 Rate Book.

During most of the 1900's the house was occupied by the Caise family:

Theophilus and Sarah Elizabeth Caise
Theophilus Gem Talbot Caise was born in Olveston in 1863, the son of George Caise, a stone mason and his wife, Susanna.  In 1881 they were living with his parents in a cottage in Old Down and Theophilus was working as a lime burner.  By 1901 George had died and Theophilus was living in Alveston with his mother, Elizabeth May, a cook aged 26 from Amberley and her child Winifred May aged 2 months. 

On 3rd September 1906 Theophilus married Sarah Elizabeth May.  The Council School records show that Theophilus and 'Elizabeth', as she became known, had several children before they were married.  Amelia was born on 16th February 1900, Winifred born on 21st January 1901 and Albert Edward born on 5th April 1904.

The Voters List of 1907 through to 1913 show Theophilus was living in Horseshoe Lane and this is confirmed by the school records which add that the children left school in 1913 when the family left town.

After their marriage, Theophilus and Elizabeth had several more children:  William Wintle Caise baptised on 6th February 1907 at the same time as Albert Ernest who was born in 1904, Edward Jack baptised on 1st September 1909,  Bessie Matilda born on 29th September 1912 and Stanley Mervyn who was baptised on 7th August 1915 and who died and was buried on 10th May 1918 when the family were shown to be living at 'Bath Road'.

When Bessie started school in 1919, the family were shown as living in 'Bath Road'.  From 1921 they are listed in the electoral registers as living in Outer Back Street, we assume in the house later known as 17 Rock Street which is where we were told that Elizabeth was living in the 40's and 50's.

The marriage records of his children show Theophilus to be a quarryman.  It appears that he died in the late 1920's as by 1931 Sarah Elizabeth is listed in the electoral registers as living with William Wintle and Albert Ernest.  She carried on living in that house until at least 1954, after which her daughter, Winifred continues to live there until the house is demolished at which time she moves to Stafford Crescent.

Of their children:

Albert Ernest Caise - was a labourer.  On 2nd February 1932 he married a widow, Sarah Jane Messenger, who lived next door at number 19 Rock Street.  Click here to read more about Sarah Jane and Albert Ernest

William Wintle Caise - became a general road worker.  He married Vera Grace Ginn on 28th September 1946. Vera was aged 26, the daughter of John Ginn, deceased labourer.  William and Vera settled in 21 North road where they had Colin Stanley born in 1947,  Judith Anne born in 1949 and Lawrence John in 1951. 

Bessie Matilda Caise - became a post office assistant.  On 18th June 1936 she married Raymond Thomas Baker, a police constable of Gloucester.

 This page was last updated: 20/10/2008