Horseshoe Lane

Numbers 5 & 7

The two cottages on the right of the photograph above are numbers 5 and 7 Horseshoe Lane as they appeared in 1969.  Number 5 is the one on the left.

Both cottages were very old.  An abstract of title suggests that number 5 was built before 1700 and that early owners of the property included George Rolph and Thomas Smith the elder and his wife, Jane, and Thomas Smith the younger who was a carrier and his wife, Sarah.  We are not sure when number 7 was built but it seems to have been converted from a stable by the mid 1700's.  They were left to Thomas and Sarah's only child, Ann Smith who married Timothy Child, the school teacher in 1758.  In Ann's Will written in 1794, she appears to have left number 5 to her son, Thomas Smith Child and number 7 was given to her daughter, Ann (the wife of Jesse Cossham) for her use during her lifetime and after her death, the property was to be given to her grand-daughter, Ann Child Cossham.  In 1816, Ann Child Cossham married Thomas Wise.  They appear to have agreed in an Act of Settlement signed on the day before the wedding that Ann would continue to own the property.  Indeed at some stage she also acquired ownership of number 5. We don't know how or when this happened, although we have a copy of an indenture dated 1824 which shows Thomas Wise was the owner.  Thomas Smith Child died on 21st July 1799, but in his will he left his property to his wife, Rebecca, for her use during her lifetime and after her death to his son, Thomas.  

At the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey, the properties were both owned by Thomas Wise, and he was listed as occupying one of them and Sarah Hopton, the other.  We suspect Thomas Wise occupied the larger of the two houses as he was also the owner of other properties nearby.  He is also shown in various rate books as owning several properties in the High Street.

Following Thomas's death on 8th May 1871, the Rate Book of 1885 shows the property was taken over by his son, Edward Wise and son-in-law, Lewis Wallington.  Lewis died in 1885, the 1890 Rate Book shows that Edward became the sole owner of both properties.  However the 1894 Rate shows that  Ann Wallington was the owner occupier of number 7.  When Ann died in 1896, Edward became owner of both properties again, although he carried on living in Blackburn.  In 1910 Rate Book 'Mrs Wisse' is shown as being the owner - this would have been Charlotte and Ann Wise, the two unmarried daughters of Edward Wise who died on 16th January 1905.  They carried on owning the properties until their deaths, Charlotte on 6th June 1916 and Ann on 15th December 1937.

Alfred and Emily Minnie Riddiford - on 13th March 1938 the two properties (together with an adjoining property, 1 Horseshoe Lane) were bought by Alfred and Emily from Sarah Eleanor Pemberton and Frank Parry (the trustees of Ann Wise).  The total price of the three properties was £400.  Alfred and Emily lived at Myrtle Cottage, 2 Horseshoe Lane.  Click here to read more about the Riddifords

Frederick George Bond - on 9th May 1950 Frederick bought the two properties from Emily Riddiford for £600.  At the time of the purchase he was living at 34 Branksome Drive, Filton and his parents moved into number 5 Horseshoe Lane.  By 1954 Frederick and his wife had moved into 5 Horseshoe Lane and they remained there until 5th April 1967 when Frederick sold the two properties to Thornbury Rural District Council for £5250.  Click here to read more about the Bonds

Click here to read about the occupants of number 5

Click here to read about the occupants of number 7 

This page was last updated: 22/11/2011