19 St John Street

Occupiers

William Holloway - the 1840 Tithe survey shows the property occupied by William Holloway.   We don't know anything definite about William, although we suspect he is the same person living in the house in the 1841 and 1851 censuses whose name was recorded as William Allaway.   This William was a gardener born about 1796 in Shiplake, Oxfordshire.  His wife was Mary; she was born about 1790 in Bath and she was buried on 27th November 1859 aged 68 years. 

There is a record in the Quarter Sessions records at Gloucester Records Office showing that on 13th May 1829 William Holloway was violently assaulted and beaten by John Phillips. The Justices of the Peace for Thornbury fined John Phillips two shillings and sixpence to be paid to the Overseers of the Poor and a further 5 shillings and six pence for costs to be paid to William Holloway.  By 1861 we think William had moved into Saw Mill Lane where he was a widower boarding with Charles Limbrick.  We are not sure what happened to William after that.

In the 1861 census the house was unoccupied so we do not know who lived there after William Holloway

James Underhill - the 1871 census shows the house was occupied by James Underhill, a carpenter aged 30.  James was born in Kington, the eldest son of John Underhill, a labourer and his wife, Louisa (nee Hopkins).  He was baptised at Thornbury St Mary's on 2nd August 1840.  Living with James in 1871 was his wife, Emma aged 40, and their children, Edward James and Edith.  James had married Emma Norris on 25th March 1863 at Thornbury St Mary's.  Emma was the daughter of George Norris, a gardener.  She was aged 32 at the time of the marriage, having been born in Newton St Loe in Somerset.  The witnesses at the wedding were Thomas Underhill and Elizabeth Norris.

Further censuses show that James and Emma carried on living at 19 St John Street for a long time.  In 1881 living with the family were a nephew, John Bartlett, a butcher aged 17 and William Smith, an unmarried boarder aged 23 who was a baker born in Frome.  By 1891 John and Emma were living there alone.  It is interesting to note that the family of James's brother, Thomas, was living nearby at 10 Pullins Green from about 1870 to shortly after 1921.  Click here to read more about Thomas's family

We know that in 1908 when the house was put up for auction and sold, James Underhill was still being listed as a tenant paying a yearly rent of £8 10 shillings.  We also know that James was the tenant of the house in 1910 according to the Rate Book.  We don't know if James continued to live there after this date, or moved.  James died in 1913 aged 72.  Emma died in 1917 aged 83.

Of their children:
Edward James was baptised 6th September 1868.  He became a solicitor's clerk although he had a great number of other interests including:  Secretary to the Castle Cricket Club, the Floral and Horticultural Society, the Ancient Order of Foresters, and Branch Manager of the Ministry of Labour Employment Exchange, Insurance Agent,  Clerk to the Thornbury Consolidated Charities and Correspondent for Bristol Times and Mirror.  In 1890, Edward James married Alice Beatrice Chambers who was born in Waington in Somerset.  Whilst Edward was busy with all his activities, Alice was a draper and dressmaker running a depot in Thornbury for baby linen and fancy goods.  They also found time to have children: by 1901 there was Winifred Alice born in 1890, Frank Arthur in 1896, and Lucy Annie in 1900.

Edith Louisa was baptised on 2nd October 1870.  In 1894, she married George Albert Poole, who was a coachman.  The 1901 census shows them living in Alveston.  George is a groom and gardener aged 79 from Bristol, and rather surprisingly bearing in mind George's age, they have two children:  Edith Emma baptised on 11th April 1895 and Dorothy Louisa born in 1899.

The next occupant we know of is:

William Stinchcombe - William is shown in the electoral registers of 1918 to 1925 as living in St John Street.  We don't know much about William.  We suspect that he was gardener living at Castle Lodge in the 1901 census.  He was aged 62 at that time living with his wife, Anna, who was a domestic aged 66 and daughter Selina aged 31.  Selina married in 1901 and Anna died in 1907 aged 73, so William would have been a widower, possibly living on his own in St John Street in 1918.

William was born in Hillesley around 1838.  He married Anna Morgan in Bristol in December quarter 1859.  Anna was born about 1834 in Aust.  William was an agricultural labourer and he and Anna lived in several addresses around Thornbury.  In 1861 and 1871 they were living in Mutton Lane (now called Crispin Lane), in one of the houses long since disappeared.  By 1876 they had moved to Bulls Lane (the house which later became known as 9 Bath Road) and by 1885, they might have been in 1 Rock Street where the Rate Book shows that a William Stinchcombe was the occupant.  By 1891 they had moved again to Castle Lodge.  They had at least four children: Emily born in Aust in 1860, the rest were born in Thornbury, Selina born about 1861, Harriet in 1863, Rosey in 1870, and James in 1873.

The next family to move in that we know of was that of:

Richard Henry and Edith Ellen Dagger - Richard Henry and Edith are shown in the electoral registers from 1927 onwards.  Richard Henry, known by the name of Henry, had been a gardener at Thornbury Castle and Edith had been a cook there. 

Before moving to St John Street, they had been living in Castle Lodge.  We don't know whether there was a link between the Castle and number 19 St John Street, but William Stinchcombe, the previous occupant of St John Street had also been a gardener living in Castle Lodge before moving to 19 St John Street.

Henry married Edith Ellen Phillips in Bath in June quarter 1912.  They are shown as living in Castle Lodge in 1915 when they were guardians to a boy who started at St Mary's School.  They had one son, Philip Henry born on 16th July 1924 when the family was living at Castle East Lodge.  Philip started at St Mary's School in 1927 before moving to the Grammar School in 1934.

Henry and Edith continued to live at number 19 St John Street for a long time, at least until the 1970's.  For some time they shared the house with son, Philip.  His wife, Hilda Mary and their son, Alan John who were living there in 1951 when Alan was born.  Shortly after this Philip and Hilda moved to 50 Gloucester Road and later spent some time living in the Court House at 2 St John Street. 

After the Daggers, we know only that the house was occupied by the Gilletts in 1988 and bought by Brian and Janette Cason who later bought number 21 and combined the two houses.

This page was last updated: 13/11/2008