Laburnum Terrace

Henry & Louisa Knight of 14 Gloucester Road, Thornbury

By 1871 the house was occupied by the Knight family.  The census shows:

They were still there in the 1881 census:

Henry was born in Olveston about 1845, the son of Henry Knight, a shoemaker from Langford, Somerset and his wife, Sarah (nee Pike).  In 1851 the family had been living at the Hackett.  Next door were the family of John Knight, formerly a tanner from Broad Henbury in Devon and his wife, Elizabeth.  These appear to Henry's grandparents.  By 1861 the family had moved to Alderley in Gloucestershire.  Henry's father had died of apoplexy in 1855 and his mother, Sarah and sister, Jane, were running a day school, whilst Henry had taken up the family trade of shoemaker.

We have seen a voter's list for 1865 and another for 1874 and they both show that Henry Knight was entitled to vote because he owned the freehold of a cottage and garden in Hackett Lane. This would imply that Henry inherited the property, although he may not have lived in it.

In the June quarter of 1867 Henry married Louisa Twining in Bristol.  Louisa was born on 11th May 1843 and was the daughter of Isaac and Ann Twining.  The 1851 census shows that the family lived for a time at the Hackett near Thornbury.  This is presumably how she first knew her future husband, as the Knight family lived only a few houses away.  Louisa was baptised at the United Reformed Church in Thornbury in July 1859.  Although she appears to have been born and baptised in Thornbury, the 1861 census shows that before her marriage Louisa was living with her family in St George in Bristol, where she was a dressmaker.

In 1870 Henry bought a house in Castle Street for £124.  It appears that this was another investment property as Henry continued to rent the house in Gloucester Road and he let out his new house which was occupied by Richard Salmon, a painter at the time of the purchase.

Of their children, Austin Gilbert was born on 26 March 1868 and Howard Elwell was born in 1880.  Both these children were baptised at the Congregational Independent Chapel.

The Special Drainage District rate books of 1880 and 1885 confirm that Henry Knight was a tenant of John Williams but had left the house by 1885.

By 1891 the family had moved from Gloucester Road to The Plain where Henry had his shop in the house to the right of the Solicitor's Office.  They were still there in the 1901 census by which time, their son, Howard had become a carpenter.

At some stage, Henry and Louisa moved from the Congregational Church to become very active members of the Thornbury Baptist Church.  Henry died aged 70 on April 25th 1911 and was buried in the Baptist churchyard, where Louisa was also buried in February 1926.

This page was last updated: 03/10/2008