Crispin House - 2 Crispin Lane

The Laundry

The next family we know to have occupied the property is that of Arthur Thomas and Ethel Higgins.  We were surprised to learn that there is no known connection between the family of Arthur Thomas Higgins and that of Oliver Higgins, the blacksmith who lived opposite.

Arthur was born in Bristol in 1895, the son of Henry and Sarah Ann Higgins.  We are told that he came to Thornbury from Fishponds.  The 1901 census shows him living in Eastville with his parents.  Henry was an undertaker's labourer from Pensford.  He had married Sarah Ann Barnes in Bristol in 1890.

Arthur joined the Regular Army in the First World War and served with the Old Contemptibles.  In 1916 he married Ethel Young in Thornbury. 

Ethel Leary Young was born in 1889, the daughter of Rosina Young.  Rosina married Henry Edward Summers, a labourer from Thornbury in 1891.  In 1891 they were living in Crossways.  By 1901, Ethel had left home and she is listed as a 14 year old servant employed by Charles Virgo in Almondsbury.

Ethel had attended the Council School, where we understand she was in a class using the Quaker Meeting Hall.  After leaving school, Ethel went into service at Shen where she learnt cooking skills from Edmunds's wife.

Arthur and Ethel were employed as porter and porteress at the Thornbury Union Workhouse and they were living  in the Porter's Lodge when their daughter, Amie was born in 1925.  Amie tells us that her mother had to take 2 weeks holiday to give birth to Amie.  She also has great pleasure in telling people that she was born in the Workhouse.  One of Ethel's duties was supervising the inmates in the workhouse laundry.   She seems to have been very ambitious and she had the idea of starting her own laundry.

Ethel bought Crispin House in 1926 for £490.  She quickly made a planning application to build an ironing room and ran the premises as a laundry.  The laundry was a success and provided services for the various large houses around the Thornbury area.  The laundry was run by Ethel and she was the driving force in the family.  She employed about three assistants to help her with the work.  Arthur was a fitter employed by by BAC at Filton.

Arthur and Ethel lived in the house for about 30 years.   Ethel died in 1947 aged 59 years.  Arthur arranged to split the property, selling the laundry to Snowline Laundry who continued operating it.  He remained in the house with Amie and her family until he died in 1974 aged 79 years.

Ethel had a daughter, Norah, before she met Arthur.  Norah Emily Young lived with Arthur and Ethel in Crispin House for many years.  She died in 1983 aged 77 years.  Arthur and Ethel had one daughter, Amie Ethel Wools Higgins, born in 1925.  The unusual middle name of 'Wools' comes from the surname of Amie's great grandmother, Flora Wooles.  

Click here to read what happened next to the property.

This page was last updated: 03/08/2007