Laburnum Terrace

Occupants of No. 6 Gloucester Road

Although we haven't seen the deeds of the house, we have extracted from the electoral registers the details of some of the people known to have lived in the house since the Hodges family.  This information has been supplemented by the memories of local people.  Without seeing the deeds, we do not know whether these people occupied the house as owners or tenants.

John Allen - the 1911 census shows John Allen was living in the house with his family.  John was a hay dealer aged 48 born in Hallen.  He was living with his wife, Emma who was aged 52 and came from Pilning.  They had had three children, but only one, Anne aged 17 born in Pilning was still living with them. 

The Pitmans - George and Minnie Pitman appear to have lived in the house between 1923 and 1925.  Click here to read about them

Francis Edgar Russett - the 1926 Valuation List shows that 'Russett' occupied the house.  We know from trade directories that Francis Edgar ran 'Thornbury Garage' which appears to be situated in the warehouse next door.  He is mentioned in various documents in connection with this business from 1923 to 1936, although it is possible that the business was relocated elsewhere in the road when Chard Brothers started using the warehouse as a mill.  We believe Francis was born in the Bristol area in 1902 and that he married Mary E. Brown-Cavill in Bristol in 1922.  In the 1927 electoral Francis is listed under 'Thornbury Garage' as is Arthur Ernest Russett who we believe to be Francis's brother.  Arthur was born in 1898, the son of Charles Frederick Russett, a haulier and Rose May.

Chard Brothers - the 1926 Rate Book shows the house was occupied by the Chard Brothers, corn, cake and English grain merchants, who were using the warehouse next door for storage.  We do not know what use they made of Laburnum House.

The Hands - the electoral registers of 1935 and 1937 show that Percy William and Minnie Jane Hand were living in Gloucester Road.  They probably moved here from Highbridge in Somerset in 1934 as the registers of the Council School show that at that time, they admitted Vera Evelyn Hand, the daughter of Percy William Hand of Gloucester Road.  Although his name was William Percy, he was always known as Percy Hand.

It seems likely that Percy Hand was born in 1897.  If this is the case, he appeared in the 1901 census as the son of Gilbert and Alice Hand, living in Stapleton.  Gilbert Hand was a brick setter in a brick works.  Percy served in France in the First world War with the Somerset Light Infantry from July 1915 to May 1919.  The photo on the right shows Percy at this time.

We have been told by their daughter, Margaret that Percy was a tile maker in the brickworks.  Originally he had worked in a brick works in Highbridge but when he lost his job there he had to travel further afield for work.  They moved to Thornbury and Percy cycled to Littleton brickworks every day.  Eventually, he got a more convenient job in Thornbury Brickworks on Gillingstool Hill.

The stories we heard about Percy Hand never quite tied up and it eventually became clear that there were two Percy Hands living next door to each other.  We have been told that they were second cousins but we do not know how they came to be living so close to each other.  It must have caused some confusion, not least for the postman!

The Percy Hand who lived at number 6 was well known throughout the District as a football referee. 

Percy and Minnie had one son, Leslie Maxwell, and three daughters, Vera who as Mrs Wilf Rugman lived in number 8 Pullins Green and the Brickyard Cottages, Phyllis married Leslie Trott, and Margaret who married Roy Hill.  The photo on the left above shows Percy and Minnie with baby Margaret, the one on the right shows Vera and Phyllis outside of the house.  By 1939 Percy and Minnie had moved the family down to number 19 Eastland Road.  Percy died in November 1978 aged 81. 

The Kings - the next family to occupy number 6 was that of Walter Alfred and Eliza King.  They first appear in the electoral registers of 1939 in Gloucester Road.  However, the records of the Council School show them living in the Court House in St John St in 1936 when they enrolled their children, Douglas and Harold.  The school records show that they had moved from Fishponds in Bristol, where the children had attended Dr Bell's School.

They later enrolled two more children, Eileen Frances and Anthony Dennis, in the same school in 1938, by which time they were living in the Gloucester Road.

We understand from Arthur Neale that Walter King  worked as an aircraft worker in the BAC.  This appears to be confirmed by the fact that when Mervyn King married in 1946 his father, Walter, was described as an aircraft worker. Walter was also a scoutmaster in the scout hut located 'in the field where Trayhurn had his pigs, just down from Dick Shipp's garage' (in the area where Stafford Crescent and Buckingham Parade were built).

Walter and Eliza had four sons, Mervyn, Harold, Douglas and Anthony, and the daughter named Eileen.  During the war years they may have taken in evacuees, like many of the other houses in the area.  The parish records show the the baptism in October 1940 of Diana Joy, the daughter of Reginald Edward, a corporation official, and Iris Doreen May Williams of Laburnum House.  The godparents were William Nicholas Williams, Margaret Emma West and Eliza King.

Two of the sons, Douglas and Harold married Dorothy and Margaret Mary, two daughters of Percy Reeves from Coombe Cottage, further down Gloucester Road.  Walter was described as a 'handyman' on the two marriage certificates in 1948 and 1950.

A gravestone in Thornbury Cemetery shows Eliza died in 1952 and Walter in 1955.  Walter may have moved away from the house before he died as there is no entry in the electoral register of 1954 for him.

The Miles - the family of Edward William and Beatrice H. Miles lived in Laburnum House in the late 50's.  Edward was a lorry driver working for Tills Transport whose deport was next door.  Edward may have been the foreman there.  Edward's son, Rodney moved into the house in 1959 following his marriage to Beatrice Ann Poole.  Rodney was also a lorry driver, presumably for Tills.  We understand from Joan Hall that Ray Till may have owned Laburnum House as well as the Transport Depot, so he may have used the house for his employees.

We are told that Rodney and Beatrice had three or four sons.  We understand that there was a son called John Miles and at least one daughter, Julia Ann Miles was baptised on 28th March 1961 whilst the family were living at Gloucester Road.

The family moved elsewhere at some time between 1962 and 1965.

The Davies - the electoral register of 1965 shows that a Terence Davies was occupying 6 Gloucester Road, Thornbury, together with a Wendy M Davies who was shown as being under the then voting age of 21.  There is an indication that Terence may have worked for the police, occupying the house as a 'police house'.  We think there is a good chance that they were living in a different '6 Gloucester Road'.

The Freemans - from 1965 until 1968 the house was occupied by John Freeman, his wife, Janet Forrest Freeman and their five children: Doreen Agnes, Robert Arthur, William Donald, Edward Stuart and Jeanette Yvonne.  John was the manager of the Humber Warehousing Depot which was next door.  The family had moved from Grimsby when Humber Warehousing took over Thornbury Transport.  In 1969 the family moved to Ribblesdale.

We understand that the house was left vacant for several years in the 70's and it was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair.

The Denneys - in the late 70's the house was occupied by Alan H. Denney & Patricia M. Denney.  They were listed in 1978 electoral register, but had left by 1980.

The Guests - the electoral register 1980 shows Louise Ann Guest living there with Helena M Cummings.  The electoral register of 1981/2 shows Isobel A Guest and Louise Ann Guest living there.  Ann Guest continued living there until the early 90's.  She was there in September 1992 when the fire in the tyre warehouse next door caused the evacuation of many of the houses in the area, and the flood water from the fire hoses caused severe damage to Laburnum House.  For more about the fire, please click here.  Mrs Guest was forced to vacate the property for several months whilst remedial work was done on the house.  She returned on its completion and moved away a few years later.

Rod Denyer - Roderick Denyer QC, bought the house in 2004.  He was a Judge at Cardiff Crown Court.  He sold the house in 2005 after living there only one year.

This page was last updated: 06/11/2011