Laburnum Terrace

Occupants of No. 14 Gloucester Road

It is extremely difficult to say accurately who was living in each house in the 1841  and 1851 censuses.  We know that as the houses were being built by John Hodges and his sons during this period, they were mainly occupied by the Hodges family.

In this case, the house appears empty in the 1861 census.  The 1862 Rate Book shows that James Hodges, had moved here from number 16.  After this time, the house was rented out to tenants during the time it was owned by John Hodges and the Williams family.  We have traced some of these families through analysis of census records and electoral registers.

The Knight family - in 1871 and 1881 censuses the house was occupied by Henry and Louisa Knight - click here for more information.

Mrs Godwin - the Special Drainage District Rate Book of 1885 shows that a 'Mrs Godwin' was the tenant for a short while.  It doesn't tell us any more to help identify her but it seems likely that she was Mary Ann Godwin, the widow of George Godwin, the Thornbury vet.  In the 1881 census, Mary Ann was visiting her husband's partner George Paradise Mallett in his house at 18 Gloucester Road.  We suspect George Paradise Mallett took over the house after Mary Ann.    

George Paradise Mallett - by the 1887 and 1890 Rate Books the tenant was George Mallett and the 1891 census tells us more about him - click here for more information

Mary Sanigar - in 1901 census, the house is occupied by Mary Sanigar.  She is on her own there, but described as "the housekeeper".  The trade directories show George as being in Gloucester Road until 1904. It is our guess that George Paradise Mallett was still renting the property and using it for his vet's business in Thornbury whilst he was actually living at Nibley Green, in which case, Mary Sanigar would have been looking after George's house in his absence.

Mary Jane Sanigar was baptised 18 June 1851, the daughter of John Sanigar, a labourer, and his wife, Mary.  In 1881 census, she was shown as Mary J Sanigar, aged 27, the housekeeper to George Stinchcombe in Lower Morton.  At that time her mother, Mary Sanigar, a widow aged 65 years was also living at the same house.  Her mother died in 1885.  Mary continued to be a servant and by 1891 she was working for William Bennett and his family in Alveston. 

She was described in the 1901 census as being aged 47 years, a single woman born in Thornbury.  She died in Thornbury in 1908 after what seems like a life of hard work and poverty at the early age of 56.  She is buried in Thornbury Cemetery with Francis Cook Saniger who died in 1929 aged 76.  Francis would appear to be Mary's sister. 

Kenneth Barker - by the 1905 and 1907 Rate Books they show that the tenant of the house was Kenneth Barker.  Kenneth Barker was a veterinary surgeon in Thornbury.  He had been born in Pitsmoor in Sheffield about 1878.  The FreeBMD website shows that Kenneth Barker married Mary Diana Laver in 1907.  Mary was born in Edington near Bridgewater in Somerset about 1879.

The electoral registers of 1908 and the 1910 Rate Book indicate that he remained in Gloucester Road and they were living in the house at the time of the 1911 census.  By the 1911 census they had a daughter, Elizabeth Mary D born in Thornbury in 1908 (who was away from home on the night of the census staying in Falfield with a Laver relative), a son, John Chesman Barker, born in Thornbury in 1910.  They had another, Donald K Barker in 1917. 

Kenneth Barker appeared in the Roll of Honour in the Gazette of 1915 as a soldier in the First World War. The passenger lists available on the Ancestry website show that Kenneth crossed the Atlantic a few times.  In 1914 he was recorded as crossing to Quebec and it was noted he was travelling for 'Militia purposes' and notes he was a veterinary surgeon, so presumably he was there to care for the horses. In 1915 he sailed from  Avonmouth to Boston in April on SS Englishman and in November he sailed from Liverpool to Boston on SS Bohemian.

Joseph Marshall - the 1925 Valuation book has Joseph Marshall listed as living in the house.  The electoral registers from 1918 to 1925 shows Joseph living in Gloucester Road.   We don't know any more about Joseph - we are guessing that he could be the same person as listed in Thornbury in the 1911 census.  He was then aged 64 born in 1846.   He suspect that this Joseph married Florence Staley (the daughter of a farmer, Robert Etherington Staley) in Thornbury in 1906 and that Florence died in Thornbury in 1912 aged 46.  We would love to hear from anyone who could tell us more about the Marshalls.

The Rutters -  Ethel Francis Howell Rutter and Georgina Louisa Rutter rented the house from about 1927 to 1937 - click here for more information

Ethel Selina Garn - occupied the house from about 1937 to about 1961- click here to see more information

The Cockings - by 1965, the electoral registers show that Ethel Garn had gone and the house was now occupied by Dennis W Cocking and his wife, Yvonne.  We know nothing about the Cockings.

The Abrahams - by 1970, the electoral register shows the house being occupied by Edgar Maurice Abrahams.  He had moved to the terrace from the Anchor public house at Morton where he had been the landlord.  Edgar was a cafe proprietor at Woodford when he married Francis Mary at Woodford on 22 September 1937.  He was then aged 23 and she was aged 19.

When Edgar retired from the pub, his son took it over.  When we took over number 18 in the 1970's, Edgar was living in number 14 on his own, so we believed he was widowed by that time.  We never got to know him as we never saw him out of his house.  He died in June 1983 aged 68.  We later learnt that he had been in poor health.

The Williams - the 1986 electoral register shows that the house was occupied by a young couple, Richard G and Lynda J Williams.  They only stayed a year or so before moving on when they bought their own house.

The Pearce family - Don & Lil Pearce - details not yet prepared

Click here to see information on the OWNERS of number 14

This page was last updated: 04/06/2011