Laburnum Terrace

The Tucker Brothers - George & Frank

The next family to occupy number 12 was that of George and Louise Tucker.  The 1891 census shows:

They must have moved in shortly after their marriage.  George Tucker married Louise Jane King in Thornbury on June 27th 1889 in what is now called the United Reformed Church in Thornbury.  George was born on 10th November 1862.  He was  the son of Thomas Tucker, a master carpenter and his wife, Emily.  Their family had been living in St Mary Street in 1861 census and in St John Street in the 1871 and 1881 censuses, although George's father, Thomas, had died in 1877 aged 46 years.  In 1880, the records of the United Reformed Church show that George was living away from home in Kingswood, near Wotton-under-Edge.

Louise Jane King was the daughter of George King, a baker and his wife, Ann.   In 1881 she was a schoolmistress living at home with her parents in Siblands.

There were three Tucker brothers; Frank who was about four years older than George, and Harry, who was three years younger.  The 1881 census shows that Harry broke away from the family tradition and became a draper.  The youngest child, six years younger than George, was a girl called Emily after her mother.  She was born on 18th November 1868.

George and his brother Frank both followed in their father's footsteps and took up carpentry as their trade.  When George left home following his marriage, Frank stayed in the family house in St John Street which became the base for the building business set up by the two brothers. 

Their building yard was the old Quaker meeting house, next to English's bakery.  The earliest reference to this partnership we have found so far was in the Thornbury Baptist Church records.  This shows that in 1884 an estimate of £326 10s submitted by Messrs F & G Tucker for building the new chapel at Tytherington was accepted.  There are many references to the Tucker Brothers in the records of the Congregation Chapel (now called the United Reformed Church).  George's photograph (on the left) can be found in the Church and it seems that he was a Treasurer there.  The Tucker family apparently had a great deal of involvement in the church but we hope to be able to include more about George when we have had a proper look through the Chapel's records in the near future. 

The Tucker Brothers became one of the biggest building firms in Thornbury, employing a large number of men.  They were involved in many major building projects in the area.  The photo on the right was taken in 1901 and it shows their workforce at the shop owned by John Hodges Williams in the High Street.  We know that Frank Tucker is the man at the top with his hand on the window.  John Hodges Williams is standing next to him.  Seated between them is Samuel Fudge the architect who drew up the plans for the building.  The only other person identified is the man standing on the pavement, the second from the right.  He is Charley Davis who went on to build the row of houses opposite the Grammar School in Gloucester Road.

We have found that George and Louise had at least one child, Reginald George baptised in the Congregational Independent Chapel on 18 June 1890.  We suspect he must have died young because in the 1901 census, about eleven years after their marriage, show only the couple themselves and George's mother living in the house.  Louise died 21st July 1927 aged 68 years.  The Electoral roll for 1928 shows that George's nephew, Norman Frank Tucker moved into number 12, presumably to help look after his uncle.  George died in 1931 aged 68 years and was buried in the Non-Conformist section of Thornbury Cemetery.

We know that Norman continued to live in number 12 after George's death.  Norman had been born in 1891, the son of Frank and Alice Tucker, and he seems to have lived with his parents in St John Street, certainly up to 1916.  We have found the application for exemption from the First World War that Norman completed in 1916.  This form says he was then aged 25 and had twice been rejected as unfit by the army.  He was a carpenter for Tucker Brothers.

The 1928-30 electoral registers show a Susan Tucker living in the house with Norman there.  From 1931 onwards a Sarah Elizabeth Tucker is living there with Norman.  We are not sure whether Susan was his first wife or a relative.  We do that that Sarah Elizabeth was married to Norman and she was buried in the same grave as Norman's parents and the inscription shows she was born in 1895 and died in 1976.

Norman died on 7th July 1954.  Sarah continued to live in the house until 1962 when she moved to a house in Church Road which had been built by the Tucker family.  She died in 1976.

This page was last updated: 25/06/2008