28 & 28A Castle Street 1984
Number 28A Castle Street in Thornbury is the house shown here on the left. The adjoining house on the right is 28 Castle Street. The two houses share an interesting history. Read about the early history of these properties
We have been been able to trace the occupants of the house that is now 28A Castle Street by studying a variety of sources including indentures and land tax records.
William Reeve – two indentures of 1684 and 1685 show William was living in the property. We don’t know any more about William.
Thomas Watkins. An indenture dated 7th April 1759 relating to the property now called 28 Castle Street refers to the neighbouring property (28A Castle Street) as being occupied by Thomas Watkins.
Thomas Lucas – an indenture dated 1766 says that Thomas Lucas had ‘sometime since inhabited’ the house. We don’t know when he lived there. He may have been the same person buried in Thornbury on 22nd October 1759 aged 55. The Society of Thornbury Folk Bulletin of June 1953 says that Andrew Whitfield was appointed Clerk of the Parish on 22nd November 1751 to replace Thomas Lucas who had had the job for only three years before he was removed for “ill behaviour”.
Ann Reed. The land tax records of 1800 shows that the tenant of what we believe to be 28A Castle Street was owned by Abraham Riddiford and tenanted by Ann Reed. Ann was a tenant of 28A Castle Street up to the time of death aged 92 in January 1823. We believe that Ann was the widow of a shoemaker called William Reed and that she was born Ann Rice. Read more about the Reed family
William Philpot. By 1822 the land tax records show that the house was occupied by William Philpot. William Philpot was a basket maker. He married Elizabeth Park at the Church of St Augustines the Less in Bristol on 4th April 1818. By 1826 William Philpot no longer appeared in the Thornbury land tax records. It’s possible that they moved to their house on The Plain at this time as the house would have been located in the Tything of Kington and therefore not in the Thornbury Land Tax area. Read more about William and his family
William Liddiatt (or Lydiatt) By 1826 the land tax records show that the tenant of the house was now William Liddiatt. We cannot be sure that the records were kept up to date but William Liddiatt is referred to as a tenant in Abraham Riddiford’s will of 1827 (see below).
We don’t know anything about William’s early life. He married Hannah (maiden name unknown) and they had several children born and baptised in Thornbury: Elizabeth born on 27th November 1804 and baptised on 27th November 1804, Thomas born on 20th July 1807 and baptised on 23rd August 1807, James born on 1st January 1810 and baptised on 18th March 1810, William (noted as having the surname ‘Lidyat’) baptised on 10th January 1813, Richard baptised on 7th May 1815, Ann baptised on 16th August 1818, Sarah baptised on 30th December 1821 and Charles baptised on 10th April 1825. The baptism records show that William was a sawyer. Although we haven’t found any baptism record we suspect that William had another son, John, born about 1805. In 18541 John was also a master sawyer, but he went on to become a publican at the Wheatsheaf.
The 1841 census shows that William was aged 64 and a sawyer. He was living at this property with his wife Ann Liddiatt aged 62 and Richard, a sawyer, Sarah aged 19, Charles aged 16 and baby Elizabeth and G. Watkins aged 9. ‘Anna’ died later that year on 1st September aged 62 and William died 19th April 1846 aged 70 years. In Gloucester Record office there are documents amongst the papers of John Thurston which refer to receipts for rent and for timbers in 1839 and 1841 respectively from William. We do not know what premises William Liddiatt would have been renting, perhaps this was connected with his business. We believe that William Liddiatt junior, the son of William and Ann Liddiatt married Margaret Mitchie and lived at 13 Castle Street and 4 Sawmill Lane.
The will of Abraham Riddiford shows that he left the properties that became 28 and 28A Castle Street to his daughter Ann. In 1827 the will described them as follows;
“all that my freehold messuage or dwellinghouse in three tenements in the several occupations of William Liddiatt John Longden and Mary Hopkins widow as my tenants thereof with the gardens and appurtenances thereto adjoining and belonging and which said I bought and purchased of Mark Nash and also all that messuage or dwelling house in two tenements in the several occupations of Richard Lansdown and …(left blank)..Carter as my tenants thereof with the garden and appurtenances thereto adjoining and belonging which I bought and purchased of William Taylor all which said messuages tenements or dwellinghouses gardens and premises are lying and adjoining on the East side of the …street of the town and borough of Thornbury aforesaid.“
The second property which appears to be what is now 28A was divided into three and in 1827 the occupants there were William Liddiatt, John Longden and Mary Hopkins. The Tithe Map of 1840 confirms that the property was given the reference number 278 and was at that time occupied by Sarah Webb, William Liddiatt and Joseph Birt.
John Longden may be the man who died in the poorhouse in December 1841 aged 72 years. The registers of St Mary’ Church show that a man called John Longden was married to Hannah nee Edmunds (or Edmonds) on 20th April 1796. Hannah was the daughter of John and Mary Edmonds. John and Hannah Longden had several children, some of whom died very young; William born 15th March 1799, John born 25th December 1801, George 7th May 1804, Emma born 20th December 1806 and died in 1818 aged 11 years and finally James 28th August 1809 and died in 1817 aged 7 years. We have seen a receipt for work done by John Longden for Thomas Rolph dated 1809. The receipt is for building work done which seems to include stones for a wall to be built and two gate posts. The receipt mentions labourers which implies that John had men working for him.
John and Hannah Longden may have lived in one of Stokefield Cottages from about 1812 to about 1821. This property had previously been tenanted by Hannah’s mother Mary Edmonds.
In 1827 on the 12th November there was a newspaper report of the commitment to gaol of two men, one Ephraim Wilson and the other George Longden. They were charged with entering a wood in Thornbury at night with guns “with intent to destroy game.” George Longden would have been the right age to be the son of John Longden, who was baptised in in 1804 and he would be a couple of year younger than Ephraim Wilson who was with him. Poaching seems to have been a common crime in the area.
John’s wife, Hannah, died aged 65 in February 1837.
Mary Hopkins the widow in 1827 married Joseph Birt on 10th July 1836. The 1841 census shows that they were still living in the house and Joseph Birt was a 58 year old agricultural labourer and his wife Mary was 59. Read more about Joseph Birt
Sarah Webb was 48 in the 1841 Census and was living with Charlotte 15, Thomas 11 and Sarah 8 (baptised 23rd Sept 1832). She was living with George Webb who was 27. The 1851 census shows that Sarah was 59 and a milk carrier still living in this house.
An indenture of 1852 says that the houses were then or late occupied by five householders. The households in 28A were Sarah Webb (widow), William Liddiatt and Joseph Birt. The 1851 Census suggests that this is more likely to have been the situation some years earlier although Joseph Birt and Sarah Webb were indeed living here in the 1851 census. By the 1861 census Sarah was an occupant of Sir John Stafford’s Almhouses. Read more about Sarah Webb
James Moxham. In the 1851 Census James Moxham and his family were also living there. Presumably they had moved into the property previously occupied by William Liddiatt. In 1851 James Moxham was aged 34 and an agricultural labourer from Thornbury. His wife Elizabeth was 36 and they had five children George 6 James 4 Elizabeth 3 Jane 1 and baby Mark. Click here to read more about the family
In the 1861 census the tenants were Thomas Hopkins and Joseph James.
Thomas Hopkins. At the time of the 1861 census Thomas was aged 60 and an agricultural labourer from Shirehampton. He had a son Jonathan aged 25 and unmarried who was born in Berkeley.
Thomas Hopkins appears to have been baptised in Westbury on Trym near Bristol on 18th April 1800. His parents were Jonathan Creed Hopkins and his wife Nancy or Naomi. We believe that the family lived mainly in Berkeley. Jonathan Creed Hopkins, Thomas’s father died there and Thomas’s children seem to have been born there.
Thomas Hopkins had been widowed twice. Although we know that Thomas was the tenant of a cottage at Stokefield according to the Tithe Apportionment Survey of 1840, we have been unable to trace him in the 1841 census. His children were living in one of these cottages without a parent at the time of the census. They were; Lucy Hopkins aged 16, Thomas aged 15 and Jane aged 14. We cannot explain why but the rest of the family is shown in this census as a separate household. They were William Hopkins aged 12 and John Hopkins aged 10. The explanation seems to be partly because the head of the household in 1841 was a widower. Thomas Hopkins was a servant, although we do not know in what capacity. It may have been that his work took him away from home. Thomas married Celia Whatkins on 14th October 1846 in Thornbury.
The 1851 census shows that the Hopkins family lived next door to the Gastrell family in the Stokefield Cottages, possibly in part of the original house that had been built there and much later divided into two. Thomas was a general labourer aged 51 and his wife Celia was also aged 51. His son, John aged 19 was a shoemakers apprentice and Jonathan aged 16 was an agricultural labourer. They had an agricultural labourer staying with then who may have been called William Stephens.
On 13th August 1852 George Ponting inspected premises occupied by Thomas Hopkins in Castle Street, which we assume must be in Stokefield Cottages and “found that swine were kept thereon so as to be a nuisance to the occupiers of adjoining properties.” A complaint was made to the magistrate to get it abated.
In 1853 Celia was a recipient of the mayors’ gift. Celia died aged 60 and was buried 29th July 1860. Thomas seems to have left Thornbury after the 1861 census and in 1871 he was lodging with a publican in Berkeley. We believe that he was buried in Berkeley on 26th October 1875.
Of the children of Thomas Hopkins
Lucy Hopkins born about 1825 married George Pullin a gamekeeper of Olveston on 12th June 1851.
William Hopkins in 1851 and then aged 21 and born in Berkeley was a coachman for the Maclaine family in Kington.
John Hopkins died aged 26 years and was buried in Thornbury on 31st May 1857.
Jonathan Hopkins may have died in Berkeley in 1865.
Joseph James. The census of 1861 shows that another tenant of this property was Joseph James an agricultural labourer from Stapleton in Bristol who was living with what seems to be his third wife Priscilla aged 38 from Alveston.
Joseph was the son of Henry James a labourer. He was a widower aged 40 when he married Priscilla Cornock aged 29 on 16th May 1852. We do not know who Joseph’s first wife was. His second wife was Ruth Greenman the daughter of Richard Greenman. He married Ruth on 23rd November 1845, at which time he was already a widower.
The Gloucester Quarter Sessions recorded that on March 21st 1851 Joseph James a labourer aged 41 and from Thornbury was sentenced to six weeks hard labour. He had been charged with “feloniously stealing at Iron Acton half 100 cwt of coal the property of Jonathan Blanch.” He was described as follows; height 5ft 2 1/2 inches with light brown hair, grey eyes, oval face and a pale complexion. He had a cut on his right hand. We note that he did not serve this sentence but was released on 25th March 1851 by order of the court.
His second wife Ruth died on 28th December 1851 aged 32 years. –
In the census of 1871 Joseph and Priscilla were still living in this house. Joseph died on 22nd November 1879. In 1881 Priscilla was a charwoman aged 60 living alone in Silver Street in Thornbury. The house was part of what later became 7 Silver Street. Priscilla died on 17th April 1885.
The rate book of 1867 shows there were three tenants John Foot, Joseph James and Joseph Birt. Read about Joseph Birt. Sadly we have no further information whatsoever about John Foot.
In 1871 the rate book shows there were the same three tenants John Foot Joseph James and Joseph Birt.
In 1880 the rate book still shows that Joseph James was the tenant of the property which by this time was owned by George Crossman. This is despite the fact that Joseph died in November 1879. This might be because the book was slightly out of date or because Priscilla was managing to pay the rent for a while before she moved to Silver Street.
James Telling (the surname appears in some documents at Tilling and once as Tilley). James appears in this property in the Census of 1881. At that time James was a general labourer aged 52. Phoebe, his wife, was aged 59 and she was a cook who was born in Cultram Holme, Cumberland. Phoebe died in 1888, but James continued to live there until his death in 1907. Click here to read more about James and Phoebe Telling