28 High St trading as Sew N Sew (on left)
We haven’t seen the deeds of the property but fortunately some of the occupiers are mentioned in other documents.
William Davis – the 1769 and 1770 Poor Assessment lists show William as the tenant of the property and he was still there in the 1775 land tax record. The 1780 Land Tax record shows that Jane Davis was the tenant.
We are assuming that William was the carrier who died aged 67 and was buried on 27th January 1780. It would seem that Jane is most likely William’s daughter, rather than his wife, as there is a burial of Jane Davis aged 73 on 22nd August 1826. We note that there is a marriage of William Davis and Mary Painter in Thornbury on 10th April 1740. This could be Jane’s mother.
James Taylor – the abstract of title mentions that James Taylor was an occupant in the property following Jane Davis. We note that the same abstract mentions that James was an innkeeper who had also lived next door (at 26 High Street) following on from William Taylor. We’re not sure what was the relationship was, if any, between James and William Taylor, but we note that on 13th June 1779 a James Taylor married Hannah Lippiatt, the daughter of John and Ann Lippiatt who owned Pye Corner.
Thomas Ford – the 1800 Land Tax record shows Thomas was renting the property from Betty Lippiatt. The abstract of title for the property next door refers to Thomas being a horse breaker.
Henry Robbins – the 1876 Rate Book shows the property was occupied by Henry Robbins. He set up the property as a sub-post office and ironmongers, renting it initially from the Parfitts and then in 1905 from Mrs Pritchard. Click here to read a brief history of the Post Office in Thornbury
Henry was born in Frenchay, Bristol in 1844. He was the son of Henry Robbins and his wife, Mary (nee Merrett). In 1851 Mary and her children were living in Rownham Place, Bristol. Mary was described as ‘Wife to Servant’. Henry (senior) was away from home at the time working as a house servant in York Crescent, Clifton.
By 1871 Henry (junior) had left home and he was lodging in St James, Bristol. He was working as a merchants clerk. On 22nd December 1874 Henry married Emily Michael at Thornbury. The marriage record describes Henry as an accountant and his father as a haberdasher. Emily was baptised in Berkeley on 4th September 1844. She was the daughter of James Michael, a wine merchant and his wife, Ann (nee Merrett). Thus we believe that Henry and Emily were first cousins.
We know from the rate books and baptism records of their children that Henry and Emily settled to live at 28 High Street, Thornbury and Henry became a postmaster and ironmonger there. They had three children, but all died very young: Ernest Merrett born 31st December 1875 and died 16th March 1877, Helena Emily Mary born on 3rd May 1878 and died 28 January 1879 and Eva born on 2nd April 1879 and died 3rd January 1880. The three are all buried in the Churchyard of St Mary’s Church where their tombstone can still be seen.
Henry Robbins obituary says that he became postmaster in Thornbury in February 1875. The 1881 census shows Henry was a postmaster and ironmonger at 28 High Street. He was living there with his wife, Emily aged 36 from Thornbury. Henry was listed as a member of the Thornbury Detachment of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment in 1886. He seems to have left after a short time because he was not listed in 1888.
We know from the notes of Edgar Mervyn Grace that Henry was involved with the Thornbury Cricket Club. There is one little story about Henry when he was acting as an umpire. Apparently Henry used to stand at the wicket in his top hat, frock coat and umbrella. On one occasion when the team were playing Chipping Sodbury, they went to catch the ‘Thornbury Express’ train to Yate. Normally the guard, Nicholls, would hold up the train if the team were late, but on this occasion Nicholls was upset that Henry had refused to accept an important letter which the guard had wanted to post a fraction after the post office had closed the previous evening. With the players on the train, the guard signalled the train to leave with the postmaster ‘racing up the platform with coat tails flying’.
The 1891 census describes the property as ‘The Post Office’ occupied by Henry Robbins sub-postmaster and ironmonger and stationer. Emily as described as a post office assistant. A niece, Beatrice M Robbins aged 14 from Castle Cary was living with them. She was also working as a post office assistant. On 30th May 1899 Emily died aged 54. The 1901 census shows Henry as a widowed postmaster. He had two people living with him, Annie G Dyer, a postmaster’s assistant aged 24 from Norton Cane, Stafford and Kate Attwood, a domestic help aged 22 from Stinchcombe.
In 1903 Henry re-married at Axbridge – his second wife was Emma Michael whom we suspect to be a relative of his first wife who was Emily Michael. We haven’t pinned down the relationship, but it is possible that they were cousins. Emma was born in Bath about 1850. She was the daughter of George Michael, a shopkeeper and his wife, Ann.
Henry died in Patchway on 22nd March 1908. The Western Daily Press of 25th March 1908 explained that Henry had actually collapsed on the motor-bus from Filton in Bristol to Thornbury. He had dropped his change from paying for his ticket and was unable to rise again when he stooped to pick it up. He was taken to the nearest cottage and died there very quickly.
His tombstone in Thornbury Cemetery shows he had been postmaster of this town for 33 years. The account of Henry’s funeral in the Gazette of March 28th 1908 mentions his love of cricket and his conservative politics. His coffin was carried by seven postman.
Emma appeared to return to Weston super Mare where she had been in the 1901 census. She was there in the 1911 and she died whilst living there in 1921.
Pitchers – following Henry Robbins death in 1908 the Post Office was taken over by Arthur Charles Pitcher and he ran it until the late 1950’s. When ‘Charlie’ died in 1960 his second wife, Jessie continued living there until at least 1965. Click here to read more
Wilkins – in about 1969 the shop was taken over by John Cullimore, the son of Dudley Cullimore and his wife, Mildred Laura Wilkins. John had taken 
over the Wilkins drapery business at Manchester House, 9 High Street from his mother. She was the daughter of Arthur Hewlett Wilkins, who had set up the business and who had died in 1949.
D.J and J. H Cullimore were running the drapery as ‘Wilkins of Manchester House Ltd’ in an advertisement of 1970. We believe that this would be John and Dudley Cullimore who were joint directors of the business which included the ‘Copper Coffee Lounge’.
John Cullimore
We are not sure how long John stayed. He was certainly there in 1973 when an advert shown below appeared in the Gloucestershire Life magazine. The photo of John on the left was also taken from that publication. The details below the photo describe John as ‘the Chairman of the Thornbury and District Chamber of Trade and proprietor of the last old-fashioned drapery shop in the town established 85 years ago’.
By 1977 John Cullimore and John Sweetland were advertising in the Thornbury Amateur Operatic Society’s programme as the joint proprietors of a guesthouse called “Lorna Doone” at 26 Tregonwell Road, Minehead in Somerset.
In 1978 an advertisement shows that the property traded as a haberdashery with the name of Sew and Sew which also had the ‘Copper Kettle Coffee Lounge‘. Sew and Sew was run by Esther Campbell the wife of Bobby Campbell, who played football for Chelsea and Scotland and spent 17 years as a coach and finally manager of Bristol Rovers. Since Sew and Sew closed, it was been the restaurant known as ‘Thai Basil’.