The Cottages opposite Laburnum Terrace

Number 3 Gloucester Road, Thornbury

In the 1840 Tithe Survey, the house thought to be number 3 was occupied by Isaac Roberts who owned the whole row of cottages.  We have been unable to identify which of the various Isaac Roberts lived here.  In the 1841 census there is an Isaac Roberts, a porter at the workhouse and another living in Falfield.  Both these seem unlikely.

In the 1841 census, the house was unoccupied.

In 1851, the house appears to have been occupied by John Rumbold, a 46 year old coachman from Eastwood Hay in Hampshire.  John was married to Mary, who was 29 and came from Warleigh in Somerset.  They had 3 children, all born in Batheaston: Katherine aged 5, Henry James aged 4 and William aged 3.  It is interesting to note that by 1861 they had moved to live in Castle Street.  However, by 1871 a widowed Mary, now a seamstress, had returned to Gloucester Road and seemed to live next door at number 5.

In 1861, the house was occupied by Anselm Thurston and his wife, Elizabeth.  Anselm was an agricultural labourer aged 30 and born in Thornbury.   He was baptised on 17 November 1827 in St Mary's.  His father was Anselm Thurston, an agricultural labourer, and his mother was Martha Borough.  Elizabeth was aged 28, born in Thornbury, the daughter of William Savery, a labourer.  They had married on 11th April 1858 at St Mary's Church.  He was a labourer.  The witnesses were John Nelmes and Emma Savery.

Anselm and Elizabeth continued to live in the house for many years.  They appeared never to have had children, but in 1871 they had 2 cousins living with them, Sarah Anne Andrews, aged 5 from Rudgeway and John Savery aged 21, a labourer from Morton.  They also had 2 lodgers:  Ernest Biddle, a widowed labourer aged 76 from Oldbury and William Powell, an unmarried labourer aged 43.

By 1881, it was just Anselm, Elizabeth and one lodger, Frances Andrews, a dressmaker aged 14 from Alveston. Anselm died on 10th August 1887 aged 62 years.

Elizabeth's name appears on the Voters Lists 1890 and 1896 as a person entitled to vote in county elections, but not at Parliamentary Elections.

The 1891 census shows that the house had just 4 rooms.  Elizabeth aged 62 was still living in the house and working as a charwoman.  She had two lodgers:  Catherine Morgan, a single woman aged 63 living on her own means, and Mark Thorne a widowed 72 year old labourer.  Both were born in Thornbury. 

In 1901, Elizabeth was still there, now aged 69 and still working as a charwoman.  She had one lodger, a James Gale, a widower aged 79 from Olveston.  He appears to be working as a farm labourer.  Elizabeth died in Thornbury in 1911 aged 79 years.

Unfortunately we have been unable to determine who lived in the house for many years after after Elizabeth Thurston. 

From 1921 onwards it was occupied by Henry Jones and Mary Ford Jones.  A local man, Roger Howell told us that his mother used to point to the terrace and say that 'Poppy Jones' had lived there.  Poppy had been the midwife who had delivered his mother who was born in 1911.  His mother visited Poppy later in life when she was living on her own in the cottages – she was extremely poor and lived on next to nothing.  The name of 'Nurse Mrs Jones' is listed in a 1925 Thornbury Street Directory as living in Gloucester Road.

We are not totally satisfied that this reflects the true picture.  From 1932 until 1938, only Henry Jones appears in the electoral registers, then both Henry and Mary are there in 1938, but neither of them in 1939.  Only Mary is listed as living in Gloucester Road from 1946 until 1951. 

However we know from 1933 onwards that other families lived in the house (see below).  It may be that Henry and Mary Jones shared their house or moved to live in another house in the terrace.  We would love to hear from anyone who might give us more information.

We know from John Poulton who lived at number 5 as a small child in the late 1930's that he can remember a lady he knew as 'Granny Thorne' living next door.  The electoral registers do show a Charlotte Thorne was living somewhere in the street and we have been unable to link her with any other house, so we have pencilled her in for number 3 until we have more information.  Charlotte shown in the registers from 1931 to 1939.  It is possible that she is the Charlotte Thorne buried in Thornbury Cemetery in 1947.  This Charlotte was the widow of James Thorne who had died in 1929 aged 72 years.  Charlotte was 90 years old when she died.

Following the War, the cottages in the terrace were given consecutive numbers 1 - 6, and this house was now referred to as '2 Gloucester Road'.  The next electoral register in 1946 shows that the Duffy family were living there.  Henry Smith who as a young lad lived opposite and his grandmother lived next door in number 5 remembers the Duffys.  He believes they may have moved there in 1943.  The parents were called Ronald J and Primrose M. I. Duffy and Henry Smith thinks they had about 4 kids.  The Duffys appear in the register up to 1949.  They later moved to the council houses in North East Road.

However the electoral registers from 1948 to 1951 show that a Charles Graham was also giving his address as '2 Gloucester Road'.  We are not sure whether Charles was living in the same house as the Duffys or elsewhere.  In 1953 Winifred I Hallett appears in the registers as living in '2 Gloucester Road'.

Things get clearer in 1954 when an unambiguous street numbering street was adopted and the house was re-numbered as '3 Gloucester Road'.  The electoral register shows that Cyril A Rosser and Winifred I Rosser were living at number 3.   We understand that the Rossers owned the residential caravan park which was in Severnview Road.

From 1957 until 1962, the house was occupied by Matilda Underdown, better known locally by the name of 'Tilly Underdown'.  Tilly had been landlady of the Black Horse public house in Gillingstool, taking over the licence following the death of her husband, Herbert J Underdown who operated the pub before the War.    As Matilda Alice Sansum, she had been born in Littleton near Thornbury in 1889.  In 1891 she was living with her parents, James, a bricklayer's labourer, and Alice S Sansum at Littleton.   In 1901 she was only age 13 and working as a general domestic servant at the Post Office shop in Littleton where she was 'living in' with Daniel & Eliza Simmonds.   She married Herbert in Thornbury in 1915.

We have no knowledge of any further occupants before the house was demolished in the late 1960's.

Click here to go to: No1, No5, No7, No9, or No11

This page was last updated: 03/12/2007