Pippins

The property at 62 Gloucester Road, Thornbury has had several names over the last 100 years or more including Trewern, Elmhust and Pippins.

We don’t know when the property was built but it was recorded on the 1840 Tithe Map as plot 856 and the accompanying Tithe apportionment shows it was then owned and occupied by Ann Allen

Ann Allen

It is fairly unusual for a woman to be the owner and occupier of property and this normally signifies that she is a widow.  This was the case for Ann Allen as her husband John was hanged on April 13th 1816 aged only 28 years. 

Ann Dorney had married John Allen in Kingswood near Wotton Under Edge on 12th January 1809.  We understand that Ann was seven years older than John and she was from a wealthy family.  We believe that she was the daughter of Thomas and Katherine Dorney of Kingswood and was baptised 27th September 1782.  At the time of her marriage it seems likely that Ann’s father had died.  Her brother William Dorney may have been the witness at her wedding and the man who signed her marriage bond for £250 with John Allen.  We have found no confirmation that Ann Allen inherited anything from her family, indeed a newspaper report of 19th December 1822 indicates that Thomas Dorney’s estate was divided between William and Thomas Dorney, his two sons and his son in law William Vizard Foxwell.

Ann’s husband John Allen was a respectable yeoman who had a farm in what is now Lower Morton.  He was born on 20th February 1787 and he was the second son of James Allen and his wife Mary.  John and Ann had four children; Amelia (born June 1809), James (born December 1810), Mark (born April 1812) and John (baptised January 1815).  Ann was expecting a fifth child who was baptised Ann on 2nd October 1816, after John had been hanged.

John Allen was a ring leader of the famous poaching affray of 1816.  Click here to read more

Although Ann is listed as living in the Gloucester Road property at the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey, the 1841 Census shows her living in an unidentified house in St John Street.  By that time her daughter Ann had married Edwin Pitcher Knapp in 1839.   She was living there with her daughter, Amelia Allen aged 27 and two children Eliza Reeves aged 9 and William Allen aged 3.  In 1843 Ann’s daughter Amelia Allen married Daniel Pitcher Knapp.

Later censuses in 1851, 1861 and 1871 show Ann had returned to live in Gloucester Road.  The 1851 census suggests that Ann was sharing her household with an agricultural labourer Edward Ricketts and his wife Matilda.  This is also true of the 1861 Census which describes Edward Ricketts as a former policeman, and of the 1871 Census in which Edward was said to be blind.  Edward was born 30th April 1805 in Hill and was the son of John and Celia Ricketts.  Edward lived to be 100 years old and was buried with his wife Emma Matilda on 26th January 1905 in the Baptist burial ground.  We do not know why Matilda and Edward Ricketts had such a close relationship with Ann Allen.

Ann Allen managed to make a respectable and presumably comfortable life for herself.  The 1861 census calls her a proprietor of house and land and in 1871 the notes say that she was employing 7 men.  She died aged 93 years on 1st April 1874.

Following her death the property was put up for sale on 19th September 1874.  It was described as ‘a freehold messuage or dwelling house with brewhouse, stable, piggery, garden and close of excellent arable land adjoining 1 acre, 1 rood and 7 perches, numbered 856 and 857 on the Tithe Map, late in the occupation of Mrs Ann Allen deceased or her undertenants’

 

We aren’t sure who owned and lived in the property during the next 30 years.  Our next confirmed knowledge of the property was when it was put up for sale by the representatives of Charles Olds deceased in March 1916.  This showed that Charles had owned the property and named Roger Phillips as the tenant

Charles Olds

We don’t know when Charles acquired the property and can’t be sure if he ever lived in it.  The 1916 sales notice indicates that it was then called ‘Trewern’ and it was occupied at that time by Roger Phillips.  Roger was living there in the 1911 Census.

Charles Olds was a boot and shoemaker who traded at 15 High Street in Thornbury.  Click here to read more

We know that by 1863 (when his son Arthur Charles was born) Charles and his family had moved to live in Morton whilst still continuing his business on the High Street.  The 1881 Census shows that Charles had begun to farm in addition to running  the bootmaker business.  He was living at ‘Severn View’ at that time which we assume to a reference to Severn View Farm in the lane now called Severn View Road which joined Easton Hill Lane to Gloucester Road.  The 1899 Kellys Directory shows Charles’s address as Morton Villa, the house on the hill on the left of Gloucester Road, just past the Anchor.   The 1902 Kellys Directory lists Charles as living in Gloucester Road and the 1904 Wrights Directory shows Mrs Olds as living in Morton Villa.  We assume therefore that they continued to live in the same house in spite of the burial register showing Charles as resident in Morton House when he died.

Charles died aged 73 on 16th August 1904.  The 1911 census shows Charlotte moved to live in Bath with her daughter, Mary now married to Frederick Bladwell, a builders merchant.  She died aged 84 on 23rd November 1915.

On 16 June 1916 the representatives of Charles Olds (his sons Edward James Olds of 68 Laurel Road, Leicester boot manufacturer and Arthur Charles Olds of Upper Oldfield Park, Bath chemist together with George Whitfield of Morton Mill miller conveyed the property to William Harris Ponting of Rockhampton for £600.  It was described as ‘All that land 1 rood 12 perches formerly formed part of The Paddock together with the messuage or dwelling house and outbuildings then erected and built thereon and known as Trewern now in occupation of Roger Phillips’.

 

Roger Phillips

Trewern then in the occupation of Roger Phillips was put for sale in March 1916.  The Gloucestershire Chronicle of 24th March 1916 says that the property was ‘bought in,’ which means it failed to reach the asking price.  The deeds show that it was actually conveyed to William Harris Ponting later that year on 16^th June.  It was still occupied by Roger Phillips.

Roger was born in 1839 in the Narberth area of Pembrokeshire.  He was the son of a bootmaker, John Phillips and his wife Margaret.  The 1871 Census shows that Roger had moved to London where he was an assistant in a very large silk warehouse owned by Lewis & Allenby in Conduit Street, Mayfair.  Roger married Mary Wright Richards on 15th June 1872.  At that time he described his father, John, as an innkeeper.  Roger and Margaret lived in Sittingbourne in Kent where they had seven children, Roger Lewis, Edith Mary (died the following year), Margaret Mary, Edgar, Walter Charles, Gertrude Ellen and Philip Colston.

The 1881 Census shows that the drapery business was going well.  The Phillips family had a cook, a housemaid and a nurse as live in servants.  By the 1891 Census they were living in Haberfield Hall in Easton in Gordano near Bristol.  By 1901 Roger was a silk mercer and at least two of the couple’s sons, Edgar and Charles, were working with him.

By the 1911 Census Roger and Margaret had moved to live in Morton.  Roger had retired.   We do not know why he came to Morton.  We assume he had moved away by December 1917 when William Harris Ponting was k own to be living there.

In 1920 Roger died aged 81 at his home The Lodge in Warmley, Gloucestershire.

Of his children Philip Colston Phillips fought with the New Zealand Army in the Wellington Infantry Regiment B company.  He married Isabel Sutherland in 1920.  He died in Kaori in New Zealand on 30th June1941.  At his death he was described as a retired draper.

William Harris Ponting

On 16 June 1916 William purchased a property then called Trewern from the representatives of Charles Olds for £600.  It was occupied by Roger Phillips at the time of the purchase but William had moved to live in this property by December 1917 when his son Richard Sully Ponting died.  William changed the name of the property to ‘Elmhurst‘.

The 1921 census confirms that the house is now called Elmhurst and that it was occupied by William Harris, described as a retired draper and his wife Jemima.

William started working as a solicitor’s clerk but went on to have many different jobs in Thornbury.  The application for marriage licence and baptism records of his four children show he was an accountant.  He purchased the Exchange Hotel at the age of 27 but didn’t appear to run it himself.  His other jobs included running a draper’s shop at 43 High Street, deputy superintendent registrar, coal merchant, agent for Norwich Union and Gresham Building Society and secretary of the Church Institute.  He also went into business as a coal merchant with Frederick William Nalder.  They used the premises in the rear of The Exchange fronting St Mary Street as a coal depot.

We have written more about William and his family on a separate page.  Click here to read more

On 25th March 1927 William extended the size of Elmhurst by buying an adjoining piece of land from Elizabeth Trayhurn widow, Harry Maishment Trayhurn, Albert Edward Trayhurn and Austin Roy Trayhurn, all butchers of Thornbury.  The purchase cost £60 for land fronting 154ft of Gloucester Road and it had been part of plot 859 on the Tithe Map and 637 on OS Map.

Following William’s death in 1936 the property was put up for sale at auction on 10th March 1937.  The sales notice suggests that the land William Ponting bought in 1927 could be used as a tennis court.    Click on the thumbnail on the right to see the sales notice.

Captain Gerald Sylvester Harvey

On 25th March 1937 Elmhurst was bought by Captain Harvey for £1000.  At the time of the purchase he was living in Rudgeway.

Gerald was born in Hadleigh, Essex on 30th May 1889.  He was the son of James Pratt Harvey, farmer and his wife, Marion (Cissie) (nee Waugh).  The 1901 Census shows Gerald was a boarder at Harrow School.  He appears to have gone to Ireland to study medicine.  In 1906 he matriculated at the Royal University of Ireland starting at Queens College, Cork.  He was still in Cork in the 1911 Census when he was living in Buxton Hill.

Gerald was gazetted as a Surgeon in the Royal Navy on 14th April 1914.   We know from a letter sent by Gerald to his aunts in Ireland dated 30th April 1915 that he was serving as a Surgeon Lieutenant on the battleship HMS London which was involved in the landings at Gallipoli.  The letter describes his participation in the evacuation of the wounded in the first days after the landing and their treatment by medical officers including himself on hospital and other ships, including the “London”.

“Dear Aunts Just a line to let you know I am still fit & well though very busy.  We are present lying off the Gallipoli peninsular & banging six inch guns at the Turks who are trying to dislodge our troops.  Last Saturday night, six days ago, we left our base accompanied by a huge fleet of transports to start in on our great stunt.  We warships carried 500 troops apiece.  They were to be landed first to secure a foothold for the others.  Topping fine fellows they were & ready to do anything.  Well, in the early hours of Sunday morning we anchored a mile or so from shore & just at dawn the boats made for the beach loaded with troops.  They were discovered by the Turks who were heavily entrenched about 100 yds off & a murderous fire opened on them from rifles & machine guns.  However, they carried on & jumping on the beach with fixed bayonets, charged right up the cliff, which at this point was practically perpendicular, & wiped out all the Turks they met.  Needless to say they were cut up a bit but are now firmly established & dug in.  The Turks have tried to dislodge them several times but have retired with heavy casualties each time, so now they content themselves with worrying them with shrapnel & long distance rifle fire.  We had two of our men & a middy wounded in the boats landing them, but they are doing alright.  We lie off shore about a mile & shell any guns that open on the troops.  This ship has been given the job of transporting the wounded from the beach to the hospital transports & our boats ply to & fro all day & night.”

On 27th April 1921 Gerald married Phyllis Adele Harris.  They were living in Shanghai at the time.  Gerald was then described as a Surgeon Lieutenant Commander on HMS Scarab aged 31.  Phyllis Adele was born in Shanghai on 30th June 1901, the daughter of Thomas Henry Harris, a wharf manager.

We don’t know anything about their life until 1937, although they don’t appear to have had any children.

In 1939 they were living at Elmhurst.  Gerald was described as a Medical Instructor at the Home Office School.  In 1943 he was awarded with an OBE.  He was then described as the ‘Senior Instructor (Medical) and Deputy Commandant at the Ministry of Home Security School, Falfield’.

The Home Office School where Gerald was an instructor was a training centre at Eastwood park in Falfield.  This was an extremely interesting project. It was set up as early as 1936 in the anticipation of war and training was being given about gas attacks.  The Western Daily Press of May 1936 describes a visit to the school by a group of journalists.  An article by one of these explains.

“The school was taking in its first students by April 1936.  They attended two-week residential courses to become instructors or assistant instructors who would return to their home towns and cities to teach people back what to do in the event of a gas attack.  Workers in essential services – gas, water, electricity and telephones – were among the first to train at Eastwood House.

One of the instructional staff, Surgeon-Captain G. S. Harvey, obligingly rolled some gas down a miniature stairway to show how heavy it was and gave me the privilege of smelling – very gently – various types of gas which experts anticipate would be used in war.

Tear gas was easy to identify – you cried and sniffed to the pleasant smell of pear drops and pineapple. Mustard gas was not easy, but seemed to have a definite association with stale garlic or horseradish. Lewisite – another terrible blistering gas – reminded one of crushed geraniums.”

Later the school dealt with training in air raids and a “bombed out street” was constructed for air raid wardens etc to practice rescues and management of the horrifying events that the government was already anticipating.  By 1949 the school was practising in readiness for nuclear attacks which so far have not occurred.

We were told by a friend who knew Captain Harvey that he grew tobacco in his garden.

Gerald died on 30th June 1954.  He and Phyllis were still living at Elmhurst at this time.  We note that Phyllis may have moved to live overseas following Gerald’s death.  In 1960 she sailed from Durban to London on MV Durban Castle.  The passenger lists indicates that she had been resident in South Africa for month than 12 months.

Phyllis died in the Leigh on Sea near Southend area on 9th December 1972 aged 71.

The Ranges

On 18th October 1954 the property was bought for £3050 by Mrs Joan Marion Range of 38 Belvoir Road, St Andrews, Bristol.

Joan was born in the Paddington area of London on 13th February 1924.  She was the daughter of Walter Sidney Politzer and his wife, Rena M. (nee Oppenheimer) and the grand-daughter of Sigmund Politzer, a fur trader who had come to England in 1870s from Hungary.  We were excited to find that Joan is listed in the National Archives records at Kew as being an agent for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) which functioned during the Second World War to promote sabotage and assist resistance groups in enemy occupied territory.  We would love to find out more about her experiences then.

In 1945 Joan’s engagement was announced in The Times to Flight Lieutenant Olaf Lambert, a son of Count Lubienski and his wife, Jeanne Lambert.  Olaf had been a prisoner of war in Germany for two and a half years after flying 40 missions as an air-gunner with the Pathfinders.  The marriage never took place and Olaf went on to run many of the top hotels in New Orleans and Miami.

In 1946 Joan married Dudley Lawrence Range in the Kensington area of London.  We know very little about Dudley.  A passenger list in 1929 shows he sailed to India with no obvious family members listed as travelling with him.  It indicates he was born about 1924 and he was going to India to live there.

Joan and her husband Dudley lived around London until at least 1953.  They were living in Bristol in 1954 when Joan bought Elmhurst and they moved to live there.  They had four children, two born in the London area and two more, John T. and David M. whilst living in Thornbury.

On 13th December 1955 Joan sold off part of her land, a plot to the south of the house stretching 65ft along the Gloucester Road.  This was sold for £322 to Henry Coffin of Airport Road, Knowle.  He was a builder and he used the land to build a bungalow called Thornfield.

On 2nd January 1958 Joan sold the rest of the property for £3600 and the Ranges moved away.  Joan and Dudley must have separated.  She married again in Harrow in 1962 and Dudley married again in Sutton in 1967.  He died in Tadworth, Surrey in 2019.

The Boughtons

On 2nd January 1958 Elmhurst was bought for £3600 by Philip Walter Boughton and Frances Betty Boughton of Two Wells Cottage, Hackett.  Philip was a horticulturalist.

Philip was born on 21st March 1918 and his birth was registered in Hambledon in Surrey.  He was the son of Charles Vernon Boughton and his wife Ethel Maud (nee Harmsworth).

Philip was a student at Reading University in 1939 and after the war came to live in Crossways where he boarded with Mrs Boyt.  The 1950 electoral register shows Philip and his mother Ethel living at Two Wells, Hackett just outside Thornbury.

In 1953 Philip married Frances Betty Carrick in Thornbury.  Frances was born in Derby on 5th June 1921, the daughter of Douglas Henry Carrick and his wife Frances (nee Moore).  In 1947 she was living with her parents at Hooks Farm, Hallen and in 1950 at Home Farm, Over near Almondsbury.  We understand Frances was trained as a Norland Nanny.

After the marriage Philip and Betty lived at Two Wells until they bought Elmhurst in 1958.  They only stayed in the property for about seven years but during that time changed its name to Pippins, presumably arising from their interest in horticulture.  In 1965 they sold the property for £6850 and moved away.  In 1973 they were living in Barters Farm Nurseries, Chapmanslade in Wiltshire.  They then moved to Shepton Mallet where they ran a garden centre called West Shepton Nursery Garden.  Finally in 1985 they moved to Orleton near Ludlow in Shropshire.

 

The Gibbs

On 13th September 1965 Pippins was bought for £6850 by Kenneth Frank Gibbs and his wife, Norah Annie Christine.  Kenneth was a bank manager.

Kenneth was born in Weston Supper Mare, on 9th September 1909.  He was the son of Frank Albert Gibbs, an accountant working for the County Council and his wife Hilda Annie.  In the 1939 Census he was a bank clerk living in Chard with his wife, Norah Annie and her mother Clara Glide who was incapacitated.  The Gibbs were living in the Chipping Sodbury area in the 1950’s and then were living at Brown Mill, Ham Green, Berkeley when they bought Pippins.

The Gibbs didn’t keep the house for long.  On 29th July 1968 the Gibbs sold off the land between their house and Thornfield to Maurice Charles John Hayoe of 1 Oakleaze Road, Thornbury.  Maurice was an estate manager and surveyor and he paid £1500 for the plot which was used to build another house, Cam-Rozel.

On 21st July 1969 they sold the rest of the property for £8,500.  Kenneth died in 1976 and Norah in 1992.

Mrs A. Skirrow

The accounts book of the builders, Pitchers, shows that they did various jobs on 62 Gloucester Road in 1980 for Mrs A. Skirrow.

Since that time another part of the garden was separated off and another new house built on the land.  This new house was called Oakwell House.