9 Horseshoe Lane

Occupants

The two houses, 9 and 11 Horseshoe Lane were built before 1840 and are shown on the Tithe Survey map as Plot 132 - owned by Mary Wilkes and occupied by Sarah Hughes and Mary Lidiard.

Mary Lidiard - we cannot identify which Mary Lidiard (or Liddiatt as it most likely to be) occupied the house in the Tithe Survey.

Anne Riddiford - in the 1841 census the house appears to be occupied by Anne Riddiford, the wife of a police constable.  We are puzzled by her age written clearly as '25'.  The children living with her were Aaron aged 14, Thomas aged 12, Sarah aged 10, James aged 8, Edwin aged 6, Emma aged 3 and Harriet aged 1.  Anne's husband was Edwin Riddiford who is listed as living in the Police Station, so he may have been on 'night duty' on census night.  The 1851 census, when the family had moved to Barton St Michael in Gloucester, shows Ann's age as 44.  At this time Edwin, now 46, was a Superintendent of Police and they had four more children: Susannah aged 9, Ann aged 6, Nigel aged 5, and John Raymond aged 4.

Edwin was born in Alderley about 1805.  We don't know where Ann was born or where and when they married.  Their son John was born in Thornbury and baptised there on 7th November 1847.  Ann died shortly after the 1851 census as Edwin re-married in 1853.  His new wife was Harriett Compton.  The 1861 census shows Edwin and Harriett moved to Cirencester where they had a daughter, Elizabeth Jane. The 1871 census shows that Edwin retired at the rank of Superintendent of police. At that time Edwin and Harriett were living in Barton St Michael in Gloucestershire.

James Trayhurn - in 1851 the house was occupied by James Trayhurn, a journeyman tailor aged 28, his wife, Ann aged 25, and their children: Emma aged 7, Enoch aged 5, Elizabeth aged 3, William aged 1 and Harriett aged 1 month.

James was born in Thornbury about 1823.  We have been unable to trace his birth or his marriage to Ann.  We know that they gave one of their children the middle name of 'Greenman' and we suspect therefore that Ann was Ann Greenman baptised on 26th March 1826, the daughter of David Greenman, a labourer and his wife, Mary.  Their first child, Emma was born in December qtr 1843, Enoch was baptised on 31st August 1845, Elizabeth baptised on 26th September 1847, William baptised on 15th July 1849 and Harriett Greenman born in June qtr 1851.

We know that Enoch died and was buried on 16th September 1857 aged 13 years and that Harriet died and was buried on 3rd April 1859 aged 8 years.  In the 1861 census James and Ann were still in Horseshoe Lane with their son, William, and new children: Edwin aged 8, George aged 5, Albert aged 4 and Bryant aged 2.  Their daughter, Elizabeth had become a nurse maid for Fanny Brown in the High Street.

A further 3 children were born in the 1860's.  This makes at least 12 children in total!  The latest additions were Harriett born in 1861, Ellen born in 1864 and Enoch Charles born in 1866, all three children were  not baptised until 8th July 1877. 

The year of 1867 seemed to be a particularly bad year in this family.  James's wife, Ann, died and was buried on 28th March 1867 aged 42 years.  Their daughter Elizabeth was buried on 5th May aged 19 years and Bryant was buried on 11th June aged 7 years.

The 1871 census shows James was a widower still living in Horseshoe Lane with his son, William also a tailor aged 20, Edwin a mason's labourer aged 17, and and Albert an errand boy aged 14, and their youngest children: Harriett, Ellen and Enoch.  By 1881 he was living there with just Harriett a dressmaker aged 19, and  Enoch a gardener aged 14.  In 1891 James was living there with Harriett an unmarried dressmaker aged 30 and granddaughter Elizabeth, aged 9 born in Cardiff.

James died and was buried on 28th April 1893 aged 68 years.

John Isaac Phillips - the 1894 Rate Book shows that the house was occupied by John Isaac Phillips - click here to read more about his family

James Beard - the 1899 and 1905 Rate Books list 'William Beard' as the occupant of the house, but the 1901 census clearly shows it is occupied by James Beard.  In the census James was a tailor aged 30 from Newnham and his wife, Fanny aged 27 from Blakeney and their sons: Richard J born in Blakeney on 4th July 1896, Reginald Thomas born in Thornbury on 12th August 1898, and Percival William aged 2 months.

The family were still living in Horseshoe Lane when sons, Richard and Reginald started at the Council Upper School in 1903 and 1905 respectively.  The school records show that the family left Thornbury in 1907.

We do not know who lived in the house from 1907 until 1924 when two houses were put up for sale and they were described as being occupied by Mrs Hughes and Mrs Harris.  They were both bought by Mr J. Tuck for £300.

Alice Hughes - we know from Miss Higgins that Alice Hughes lived in one of these houses and have been told by a member of the Harris family who lived next door that Alice lived in number 9.  The school records show that she was living here from about 1922 and she continued to live there until the late 1920's - click here to read more about Alice

Arthur & Emily Harris - lived in the house from the time they got married in 1935 until just after the War.  They were listed as living there in 1946, but in 1950 they were at 4 North Road.

Arthur Francis Harris was baptised in Thornbury on 7th July 1907.  He was the son of William George Harris and his wife, Ellen (nee Derrick).   On 30th May 1935, Arthur married Emily Mary Josephine Pearce, the daughter of John Thomas Pearce, a machinist.  Emily was born in Bristol on 29th October 1910.

Arthur and Emily had three children: Rodney Henry Charles born on 8th June 1936, Barbara on 16th April 1939 and Rosemary on 10th April 1947.  Emily died on 3rd April 1972 aged 60 and Arthur on 18th August 1999 aged 92.  The photo on the right shows Arthur as a young man in St Mary Street.  We would love to have a better photo of Arthur who was known locally as 'Scomp' or any other members of the Harris family.

Henry John and Constance Emily Trevelyan were shown as living in the house in the 1950, 1954 and 1958 electoral registers.

Percy and Sheila M Neal - the 1965 electoral register shows that Percy and Sheila moved from number 7 Horseshoe Lane across the road to number 9.  Click here to read about the Neal family

At the time of the town re-development in 1969 the two houses number 9 & 11 were owned by C.P. Pimm of Kingsbridge in Devon.  The houses were vacant or demolished by the time of the 1970 electoral register.

This page was last updated: 26/10/2008