Laburnum Terrace, Thornbury

George Hodges

George was born in Tockington about 1820.  We have not been able to trace any record of his birth or baptism.

He chose to follow in his father's footsteps and take up carpentry as his trade.  The 1841 census shows he is a carpenter journeyman living with his parents in Laburnum Terrace.

George married Mary Fairbrother in Thornbury in 1850.  Mary had been born in Abingdon, Berkshire, the daughter of James Fairbrother, an ironmonger.  She was to die within a year of the marriage, perhaps caused by the birth of their daughter, Mary Fairbrother Hodges who was born about the same time.

In the 1851 census, George was a carpenter employing 2 men.  In 1853 he married again, this time to Tracey Staley, who was 10 years younger than George aged 23.  She was the daughter of Joseph Staley, a farmer from Kington.

By the time of the 1861 census, George and Tracey had had four children of their own, but one these, Joseph Staley Hodges died within a few months of his birth in 1856.  George was now employing 5 men and two boys.  It is likely that he had he had now taken over the building of the last few houses in the house.

By the 1871 census, George and Tracey had five more children.  They were now all living in Laburnum House (now 6 Gloucester Road) which was to be their home for the remainder of George's life.  The size of his carpentry firm had grown in line with his family.  He was now employing 10 men and 1 boy.

By 1881, he was calling himself 'a builder' and employing two of his sons, John and James as carpenters.  George was still working as a builder in 1891 when he was aged 71, and his third son, Austin was following in the family tradition by becoming a carpenter.

By 1901 George had retired. Tracey had died in 1898 aged 68 years. George died in 1905 aged 85 years. Both are buried in Thornbury Cemetery.

George had become a celebrated member of Thornbury Society.  He was a mace bearer for the Town Corporation for 40 years.  He had the honour of leading the Town processions on days of national importance.   He first carried the Union Jack at the Coronation of Her Majesty the Queen Victoria in 1838 when only 18 years old.  He carried it on 5 more occasions of national importance including the marriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in 1863, Victoria's Jubilee in 1887; the marriage of the Duke of York in 1893 and Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.  The final occasion was in 1902 at the coronation of the new King when George was aged 82.  He was also involved in loyalist celebrations such as those following the announcement of the Relief of Ladysmith in 1900 - here George led the 'feu de joie', a gathering and firing of guns in salute.  Apart from his ceremonial duties as Sergeant of the Mace, George was responsible for letting the property belonging to the Town Trust and collecting rents from the tenants.

George was involved in many areas of Thornbury life.  St Mary’s School records show that in 1894 George Hodges "donated peas for the soup at the National School" and various newspaper articles in Gloucester Records Office show that he was a Committee Member for the Thornbury Flower Show in 1884, 1885 and 1888.  In the obituary printed in the Gloucester Journal dated 19th August 1905 it mentioned that George was “a retired builder and an expert connoisseur of old coins, paintings and antique furniture”.  Another obituary in The Dursley Gazette of July 1st 1905 has more about the coins; "A somewhat singular coincidence of the funeral was the fact that his valuable collection of old coins, which he for a number of years had made it one of his greatest hobbies to collect at considerable expense, was sold by auction at Messrs Sotherby’s in London on the same day that his remains were laid to rest.  Sometime previous to his short illness, which terminated in his death, he had consigned his collection of coins to the above firm, and the arrangement for the sale was so far advanced that it was found unpracticable to postpone the sale."

Click here for the will of George Hodges

Click here for the obituary of George Hodges

Click here to see more information on the Trustees who managed George Hodges' estate after his death.
 

This page was last updated: 03/09/2007