2 Horseshoe Lane

The Riddiford family

Alfred and Charles Riddiford - during the 1900's the house was mainly recognised as being the home of the Riddiford family.

Alfred was baptised at Thornbury on 5th February 1871.  He was the son of Alfred Riddiford, an agricultural labourer from Morton and his wife, Ann.   Alfred was brought up in the family home in the area of Lower Morton and Duckhole with his siblings, Rosina, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary and Lucy.  By 1891 Alfred had become an assurance agent.   He was still living at home with his parents in the 1901 census.  This describes him as being a school attendance officer aged 30.

In 1905 Alfred married Emily Minnie Wiltshire in Thornbury.  Emily was born about 1880, the daughter of another insurance agent, Charles Wiltshire and his wife, Rebecca who had moved to Pullins Green in 1895.  Click here to read more about the Wiltshire family

Alfred and Emily had three children:  Winifred Blanche born in Thornbury on 26th February 1906.  Alfred Charles was born on 27th January 1908 and Harold born on 11th June 1910.  The birth registration records suggest that Alfred and Emily moved around the area in this period.  Winifred was registered in Thornbury, Alfred Charles in Keynsham and Harold in Dursley.

We don't exactly know when Alfred and Emily settled in Horseshoe Lane.  In 1912 when Winifred started at the Council Upper School, they were living in St Mary Street.  The school record shows that Winifred had transferred from a school in Two Mile Hill, Bristol which might suggest that the family had lived in Bristol for a short time.  In 1914 when Charles started at the Council Upper School the family were living in Horseshoe Lane and all the trade directories, electoral registers and school records after that time show their address as Horseshoe Lane.

The photograph above shows the family outside  Myrtle Cottage.  From the ages of the children is appears as if it was taken not long after they moved there.  The sign outside the door shows 'Pearl Insurance'.

It is interesting to note that Winifred's school record shows her father as 'Fred Riddiford', the trade directory entry of 1914 lists Frederick Riddiford as an insurance agent living at Horseshoe Lane, and an entry in 1923 lists Frederick Riddiford of Horseshoe Lane as a bootmaker.  This seems to suggest that Alfred was known as 'Frederick' during this period.  After these entries, all other records refer to him as 'Alfred'.  Alfred also had a rather cruel nickname, 'Humpy', referring to the fact he suffered from a curvature of the spine.

Alfred's main trade was a bootmaker and repairer, although he was extremely active in other ways.   He was a very active supporter of the Liberal Party and worked as sub-agent for the Thornbury and District  Liberal Party at several general elections.  He became Clerk to the Parish Council (1927 - 1942), Burial Board and Cossham Hall, Treasurer of the Ancient Order of Foresters (Court Pride of Thornbury), a Justice of the Peace and for nine years he was a Trustee for Stephens Charity. 

Alfred became the owner of several houses in the immediate area as well as Myrtle Cottage.  These were the houses which later became numbers 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 Horseshoe Lane.  For a few years, his son, Harold lived in number 1 before moving to Bristol.

Alfred also had another interesting sideline.   Many Thornburians have told us that they used to collect blackberries and rose-hips for Mr Riddiford.  Win Jenkins told us that at the end of the summer, she like so many other local children used to collect the blackberries.  Mr Riddiford  was an agent for Robertsons who had a jam factory in Bristol.  There was sign up in season "blackberries wanted 4d a pound." Win says that in a good summer when there were more you only got 3d.

Mr Riddiford had a garage at the side of the house and when someone knocked at his door he came out and went into the garage.  He weighed the fruit and gave you the money.  The blackberries went into barrels lined up in the garage.   Apparently the smell was wonderful. 

Win told us that one day she and her friend took two pounds of blackberries to the house and had just arrived when two boys came along. One said, "Isn't he here?" and went to look inside the garage.  When he came out he told his friend to wait a minute before knocking on the door.  The boy then filled a bucket with blackberries and when  Mr Riddiford came out, he sold the berries back to him.  One of the boys had a reputation as a bit of a bully which is probably why Win never "told on him".

The earliest record we have showing the house as 'Myrtle Cottage' is the 1928 school record when Violet Margaret Wiltshire started school whilst she was living with Mrs Riddiford.  The 1926/27 shows the Riddifords' address as The Myrtle Boot Supply, Horseshoe Lane.  We understand that the name may have derived from the fact that there was a myrtle tree in the garden.

Of their children, Alfred Charles, better known as Charles or Charley married Peggy Matilda King on 11th September 1937.  Peggy was the daughter of John and Ann King who lived in Filton.  During the War, Peggy's parents and siblings also moved to Thornbury when the family home near the airfield at Filton was bombed.

Charles and Peggy continued to live in Myrtle Cottage with Alfred and Emily.   Alfred died on 15th November 1948 aged 77 years.  Emily died on 4th June 1959 aged 79 years.  Both are buried in Thornbury Cemetery.

Charles worked in the office at Tytherington Quarry for most of his life, then worked as a rent collector for Thornbury Rural District.  He and Peggy lived in Myrtle Cottage until its demolition in the early 1970's.  Charles died on 21st January 1973 aged 64 years.  Peggy still lives in Thornbury.

This page was last updated: 10/07/2008