5 St John Street

Occupants

Through the 19th century, our main source of the occupants is the census which was taken every 10 years from 1841 onwards.  The 1841 census is perhaps the most confusing of all as it seems that the census enumerator may have dodged around the area in an unsystematic way which is very difficult to follow.  Until we get more information, possibly from the deeds of the various houses in the street, one possibility is that the house is occupied by Daniel Hopton, a gardener aged 70 and Thomas Bezer, a blacksmith aged 22. 

The Maishments
In 1851 the house was occupied by the family of John Maishment.  This is confirmed by the deeds of the house.  Click here to read more about the Maishments.

The Pontings - in 1861 the house was occupied by George Ponting, a relieving officer and his wife, Marianne.   A conveyance between John and George Hodges dated 1857 found in the deeds of 19 Pullins Green refers to the fact that George Ponting was a tenant of John Hodges at that time.  Click here to read more about the Pontings

The Smiths
In 1871 the house was split into two households:  one occupied by the family of John Smith, carpenter and the other by the family of his son, also John Smith, a tailor.  The 1876 Rate book shows that John Smith was still the tenant of the house.  The deeds of the house that we have seen simply refer to the fact that the house was occupied by "John Smith". Click here to read more about these Smiths.

The Walkers - George and Elizabeth Walker were occupying the house in 1881.  There were two generations of the Walker family associated with at least three houses in St John Street, both of them were called George and both were butchers. Confused?  We'll start at the beginning!

George Walker (senior) was born in Thornbury on 9 April 1801, the son of Benjamin and Frances Walker.  He married Sarah (maiden name unknown) who was born in Leatherhead, Surrey about 1800.  George (junior) was baptised in Thornbury on 27 December 1829. 

In 1841 George and Sarah were living in 9 St John Street, with George (junior) and Elizabeth aged 4.  In 1851 the family had moved to St Mary Street.  George (senior) was described as a master butcher and young George as a journeyman butcher aged 21.  George married Elizabeth from Alveston (maiden name unknown) at some time before the 1861 census.  This shows that the two Walker families had both moved to the High Street, where they are listed as separate households.  We are not sure whether they were living in the same house or next door to each other. 

The 1871 census shows George (senior) and Sarah were still on the High Street, but the younger George and Elizabeth had been on the move again, back to 21 St John Street.  The elder George Walker died in September 1872 aged 71 years and it seems Sarah moved in with George (junior). 

The 1881 census shows George had moved again, this time to 5 St John Street.  George junior is now a retired butcher aged 51.  Elizabeth is shown as being blind.  His widowed mother, Sarah Walker now aged 81 was also living with them.

Elizabeth died in 1888 aged 54 years.  We can't find either George or his mother in the 1891 census.  Sarah died in 1893 aged 93 years and George carried on until after 1900 when he is listed in the census as a retired butcher living in the High Street.  He died in 1905 aged 75.

The Balls
In 1890 the Rate Book shows that the tenant of the house was Daniel Ball.  The 1901 census shows the family of Daniel Ball, an assurance agent aged 35 from Crossways, Thornbury.  Daniel and his wife, Esther aged 35 from Oldbury, had nine children at that time: Mary Louisa, a nursemaid aged 13, William Enos aged 12, John Daniel aged 11, Eleanor Maria aged 9, Martha aged 7, Amos Walter aged 5, Esther aged 3, George Henry aged 1, and Alice Ada aged 3 months.  

Daniel's marriage to Esther Bennett had been registered in Bristol in 1876.  Daniel had been a postman in Crossways when Mary and William were baptised in 1877/78.  In the 1881 he was a postman living in Naite Road Cottages, Oldbury.  When Amos was baptised in 1888, Daniel was an insurance agent living at Thornbury Baths.

By the 1901 census, Daniel and Esther had moved to Bryant Hill, Two Mile Hill, Bristol.  He was working as a Prudential Insurance agent.  Despite the fact that four of their children had left home, they now had 10 children living with them, as five more children had been born since the last census: Kathleen, Emma, Eva Marian, Ruby and Hilda Alice.   This means that Daniel and Esther had at least 14 children!

Thomas Young - The rate book of 1894 shows that Thomas Young rented the house from George Hodges.

Robert Clark - The Rate Book of 1899 shows that Robert Clark rented the house from George Hodges.  Robert Clark was the police sergeant in Thornbury.  Click here to read more about the family.

The Reeves
In 1901 the house was occupied by Charles Reeves, a sawyer and his wife, Mary and their children.  Charles Edwin Reeves was baptised on 7th June 1863 at Oldbury.  His parents were William Reeves, a labourer from Oldbury and his wife, Martha.  In 1881 Charles was an agricultural labourer living with his parents at Naite Road cottages.  In June quarter 1885 Charles married Mary Savery.  The 1890 Rate Book and the 1891 census shows them living at 1 Saw Mill Lane.  Charles was a sawyer aged 27 from Oldbury living with his wife, Mary aged 26 from Morton and their daughter, Annie Victoria aged 3 and Lily Louisa aged 10 months.

The 1894 and 1899 Rate Books show Charles Reeves had moved to 4 Saw Mill Lane, renting it from Edmund Cullimore.  By the 1901 census they had moved again from Saw Mill Lane to 5 St John Street.  The house was occupied by Charles Reeves, a sawyer from Thornbury aged 37.  His wife, Mary A aged 35, Annie aged 13, Lily L. aged 10, Frederick Charles aged 7 and a boarder, George T. Bell, a wood box maker aged 33.   Young Frederick died shortly after the census in August. 

The 1905 Rate Book shows that the family moved again,  this time next door to number 3 St John Street.   Charles died in 1909 aged 48.  Mary Ann died in 1946 aged 81 years.  All are buried in Thornbury Cemetery.

William Luker - the Rate Books of 1905 and 1910 show that William Luker rented the house from the trustees of the Late George Hodges

The Greens - the house was occupied by the Green family from about 1935 to the late 1950's  click here to read more

The Eardley-Wilmotts
In 1959 the house was bought by Charles Vincent Burgoyne and Sheila Muriel Eardley-Wilmott.  They bought it from the Hodges Estate for for £450.  Charles was an executive with Bristol Siddeley aero-engines.  They had two daughters, Jane Clark born in 1962 and Sarah Elizabeth in 1963.  Charles was very active in the local community, serving as a town councillor for the Conservative Party for many years, and he became mayor.  Since then he has been continued his interest in the development of Thornbury by setting up and chairing the pressure group, Concern for Thornbury.

Charles and Sheila lived in the house for about 15 years, selling it in 1974 to Derek Allbon, a German teacher at Marlwood School.  Derek stayed until 1980 when he moved to Clifton.  He sold the house to two other teachers at Marlwood, Nigel and Barbara Davies.  Barbara, better known locally as Barbie is a drama teacher and she was responsible for the presentation of the Community Play project in 2000.

This page was last updated: 29/10/2008