The above photograph was taken in 2009 showing the row of houses opposite the old Grammar School (later the Castle School 6th Form Centre) in Thornbury. The house numbered 19 Gloucester Road is the house next to the parked car. It was one of the four houses built by Frank and George Tucker who operated under the name of Tucker Brothers. We think that the house was built about 1909. Click here to read about the row of houses
The house was given the name of ‘Nesdale‘ which is inscribed in concrete over the window on the front of the house. The electoral register of 1909 and 1910 show the house occupied by Stanley James Bennett.
The Bennetts
The census for 1911 shows that the house was occupied by Stanley James Bennett aged 33 and his wife Janet Maud Bennett. The couple had been married for three years and had one child James Cameron Bennett who was born in Thornbury in June 1910. Janet’s unmarried sister Margaret Louise Henderson aged 28 was living with the couple at the time of the census. Stanley Bennett was a surveyor of highways.
Janet was born on 17th September 1882, the daughter of James Henderson a highway surveyor and sanitary inspector and his wife Annie. Stanley was born on 8th November 1877, the son of George and Mary Bennett who lived in Mangotsfield in Gloucestershire. George had been a unemployed builder’s contractor at the time of the 1881 census and a baker in the 1891 census. The 1901 census shows that at the age of 23 Stanley was lodging in London where he was working as a surveyor.
Janet and Stanley were married in the Chipping Sodbury District in 1907. In addition to their son James Cameron we know of at least one more child, Robert Stanley Bennett who was born in Thornbury on 11th July 1917.
In 1916 Stanley applied for exemption from service in the First World War. At that time he was aged 38 described as a main road surveyor with responsibility for 78 miles of main roads within the county. His employers at the County Surveyors Office supported his application as they had already lost several of their surveyors to conscription.
The 1921 census shows the family living in the same house with a general domestic servant, Lena Morgan who was aged 15 and had been born in Hill.
The Bennetts continued to live at Nesdale for the next 35 years although we have found no references to their lives apart from in the electoral register. We would be interested to hear from anyone who has more information or photographs of this family. We do know that during the Second World War Stanley was the Organiser of Highway Repair Units for Thornbury.
Janet Bennett died in 1951 aged 71 and her death was registered in the Thornbury district.
The Electoral Roll for 1955 shows that Stanley and his son Robert continued to live in Nesdale. Robert Stanley Bennett was also shown as living at Nesdale when he received an adult baptism at St Mary’s Church in 1956.
The probate record for Stanley James Bennett shows that he was living at Day House in Frampton Cotterell at the time of his death on 21st October 1956 and that probate was granted to Robert Stanley Bennett who had become a surveyor, like his father and maternal grandfather. Robert had married Ivy Warburton in 1955.
James Cameron Bennett died in West Somerset in 1999. Robert Stanley Bennett died the following year.
Donald and Doreen Trayhurn. By 1957 Donald and Doreen Trayhurn lived in this property. They appeared in Electoral Rolls until 1969. Donald Trayhurn was the son of the butcher Harry Maishment Trayhurn and his wife Kathleen. Don Trayhurn was involved in many areas of Thornbury life. Just after the War he was a chairman for the T.B. Aftercare Committee. He was a local councillor for many years and a governor of Thornbury Grammar School. He also did a lot of work for the National Children’s Homes and Cancer Research charities. Doreen died in December 1979 aged 61 and Don in 1996 aged 75. Click here to read more about Donald Trayhurn
Gordon and Caroline Wallace. The Electoral Rolls for 1970 show Gordon and Caroline Wallace lived at Nesdale.
Diana and Edmund Goodwin lived here by 1975.