Thomas Evans – Thomas Evans was a baker. He bought the property at 51 High Street on 26th May 1825. The 1809 Rent Roll shows that Thomas was living in Castle Street, in a house owned by James Allen, now known as 26 Castle Street. Land Tax records from 1814 to 1826 show Thomas as the tenant at 73 High Street.
We have not been able to trace his marriage to his wife Mary or the birth of their daughters. However we know from his will that they had four daughters; Ann, Betty, Anna Maria and Alice. Thomas’s wife Mary died on January 21st 1816 aged 59. The land tax records until at least as late as 1819 continue to show that Thomas a tenant of Ann Cossham at 73 High Street. However on 18th January 1827 he bought a property from Samuel Penduck. This later became 51 High Street.
Thomas died November 14th 1835 aged 78. The last will and testament of Thomas Evans a baker of Thornbury was proved in 1836. He left the house that he bought from Samuel Penduck to his daughter Ann who had married Stephen Hignell in Bristol on 30th September 1832. Thomas gave £200 to his daughter, Anna Maria, the wife of George Shepherd (a grocer who lived further down the High Street at the Post Office) and £20 each to daughters, Betty, wife of Thomas Tanner and Alice, wife of John Ricketts. He left a silver watch for his grandson, Thomas Tanner and £1 to his grandson, Robert Tanner. We have not been able to trace Thomas and Betty (or Elizabeth) Tanner but we note that a couple of this name had a son called Thomas in 1814 and they lived in Aust.
Thomas and Ann are both buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Thornbury.
Stephen and Ann Hignell – Stephen and Ann took over the property left to Ann by her father, Thomas Evans (see above).
Stephen was born in Thornbury about 1790. He was the son of Mordecai Hignell, a butcher and his wife, Eleanor, who were married at Elberton on 12th May 1785. They are buried in the same grave as Stephen and his family in the churchyard of the Congregational Chapel, Thornbury.
We understand from notes held by the Hignell family that in his early life Stephen lived in The Hackett, Pound House at Eastwood, Talbots End at Cromhall and then Crossways. According to electoral registers Stephen’s parents were living at Crossways in the 1830’s.
Stephen and Ann had one son, Thomas Evans Hignell, born on 28th July 1835.
The 1840 Tithe Survey describes the property as Plot 159, a house, bakehouse and garden owned and occupied by Stephen Hignell. This property is now known as 51 High Street. The 1841 Census shows Stephen as a “mealman” aged 40 living with Ann aged 40, Thomas aged 6 and two servants, Samuel Spill aged 20 and Ann Machin aged 15.
Ann died on 2nd November 1849 aged 57. She was buried in the churchyard of the Congregational Church, now the United Reformed Church in Thornbury. Ann died intestate and left her husband seized of the property.
The 1851 Census shows Stephen as a corn dealer. He was living in the house with his son, Thomas who was assisting his father aged 15, a visitor, George Hignell a farmer aged 35 from Cromhall, an agricultural labourer, William Lansdown from Elberton aged 19 and a house servant, Charlotte Selman aged 24 from Charfield.
The 1861 Census shows Stephen as a farmer of 40 acres employing one man. He was living at the house with his unmarried sister, Eleanor, aged 67, his son, Thomas Evans Hignell, described as a farmer’s son aged 25 and an unmarried housekeeper, Mary Ford aged 57.
The 1867 Rate Book shows Stephen had moved to live across the road at 50 High Street, a house he was renting from Elizabeth Ford. The 1871 Census shows he was still living there. He was a retired farmer aged 81, his unmarried sister Eleanor Hignell an annuitant aged 77 and Mary Ford, an unmarried housekeeper aged 64 born in Iron Acton. Eleanor was buried on 7th October 1874 at the Congregational Chapel. The 1876 Rate Book shows Stephen still living at 50 High Street. He died on 26th December 1876 and was buried in the churchyard of the Congregational Church in Thornbury (now United Reformed Church) aged 86.
Thomas Evans Hignell – we are grateful to Liz Smith a descendent of the Hignell family who provided us with the photo of the family shown below.
Thomas Evans Hignell was born on 28th July 1835. He was the son of Stephen Hignell and his wife, nee Ann Evans. He was baptised in Thornbury on 17th September 1836 at the Independent Chapel. The 1841 Census shows him living with his parents at 51 High Street. His father Stephen Hignell was a corn dealer or a “meal man.” By 1851 Thomas was helping his widowed father Stephen in the business.
On 9th June 1866 Thomas married Elizabeth Knapp Jefferis the daughter of Thomas Jefferis and his wife Eliza (nee Whitfield) in Warmley. Elizabeth was born on 5th October 1843. Their family bible shows that their seven children were: Stephen Madgwick born on 5th April 1867, Ann Evans born 1st August 1868, Elizabeth Mary born 21st March 1871, Sidney Robert born 3rd June 1873, Thomas Jefferis born on 22nd September 1875, Harold born on 16th May 1879 and Roland George born on 2nd May 1881.
1872 bill paid by Mr Howard of Thornbury Castle to T E Hignell
The 1867 Rate Book and the 1871 Census show that Thomas’s father, Stephen Hignell, had retired and moved away from 51 High Street. The 1871 Census shows that Thomas Evans Hignell aged 35 was a farmer of 57 acres and corn factor living at at 51 High Street. He employed two men and a boy. By this time he and his wife Elizabeth had three children; Stephen aged 4 Ann aged 2 and Elizabeth aged 2 months. Above we have a bill head from this period.
In 1878 the Bristol Mercury reported that Thomas Evans Hignell and Mark Savery were elected to be overseers for the Tithing of Moreton and Falfield. This meant he was an official and would be keepings accounts of the money spent by the parish on the poor and on other services now taken on by a local council to do with sanitation etc in the area. The meeting was said to have a very limited attendance and so perhaps there was not much competition for the job. In June 1878 Edward Livall was committed for trial for stealing a scythe from Thomas Evans Hignell in Thornbury.
By 1881 Thomas aged 45 lived at Thornbury Farm where he farmed 90 acres and employing three men and a boy. His wife Elizabeth aged 36 had had three more children as the family now had Robert aged 7 Thomas aged 5 and Harold aged 2. They had two servants to help in the household. Thomas was then letting 51 High Street to Luke Cullimore (see below).
On the 3rd December 1881 the Bristol Mercury had an advertisement for a sale of 10 oaks, 97 elm, 27 ash and 9 beech.
On 13th October 1886 Thomas put up for auction four properties including the High Street shop then being let to Thomas Exell. It was sold for £950. The 1887 Rate Book shows the property was bought by John Taylor, although it was still being let to Thomas Exell.
The Hignells had a complete change of circumstances and they moved away from Thornbury. According to the family this was caused by unwise investments in the corn market. On February 29th 1888 ‘Mr & Mrs Thomas Hignell’ of Whitchurch formerly of Thornbury were reported to have been elected to the office of Master and Matron of the workhouse in Keynsham.
The 1891 Census confirms that Thomas was Master of The Workhouse at Keynsham and that Elizabeth was the Matron. They were living there with their sons, Harold aged 11 and Roland aged 9. The 1901 Census shows they were still running the Workhouse at Keynsham. Two of their sons, Thomas Jefferis and Roland George, were employed as drapers’ assistants.
This photo shows Thomas and Elizabeth sitting with their children outside Keynsham Workhouse. Stephen Madgwick is sitting alongside his parents. Standing (left to right) are Roland George, Annie, Thomas Jefferis, Sidney Robert (known as ‘Bob’), Elizabeth and Harold.
The 1901 Census shows that Thomas and Elizabeth had stayed as master and matron of the workhouse.
Their son, Roland, was only 27 years old when he died very suddenly. On September 12th 1908 the Gazette reported on the funeral of Roland George Hignell the youngest son of Thomas Hignell at the Congregational Chapel (now the United Reformed Church). The newspaper commented on the fact that Roland’s family had been prominently associated with that church for 200 years.
Thomas Evans Hignell died on 27th April 1912 when his address was The Shrubbery, Downend. Elizabeth died in 1916. They were both buried in the family grave in the Congregation Church in Thornbury.
The Children of Thomas and Elizabeth Hignell
Stephen Madgwick Hignell was born on 5th April 1867. He married Minnie Tanner in Henbury on 13th August 1898. By 1901 he was a commercial traveller living in Bristol with his wife Minnie. They had moved to Exeter by the 1911 Census. Stephen died at Thornton Hill in Exeter on 29th September 1938. Probate was granted to Thomas Jeffris Hignell Manchester warehouseman and Sidney Robert Hignell retired Indian Civil Servant. His estate was valued at £8030 8s 8d.
Ann Evans Hignell was born on 1st August 1868. The 1891 Census shows that she became a school teacher in Clevedon. She married William Henry Sherborne in 1897. She died in Berkshire in 1946.
Elizabeth Mary Hignell was born on 21st March 1871. She married Jasper Osmond Larkin in 1899 and the couple lived in Breconshire in Wales.
Sidney Robert Hignell was born on 3rd June 1873 and generally known as “Bob.” He was educated at Malvern College where he played for the school’s first eleven cricket and football teams. According to “Oxford Men 1880 -1892” Sidney attended Exeter College where he studied chemistry.
He sailed to India from Liverpool on the SS Bohemia on 29th October 1897 to join the Indian Civil Service on 8th December 1897. He played cricket for the Gentlemen of India team in 1903/4. He became Deputy Commissioner and Financial Secretary in 1910. In 1916 he became Deputy Home Secretary and in 1917 he was awarded the Indian Distinguished Service Medal.
His appointment to the post of Private Secretary to Lord Reading the newly appointed Viceroy of India was announced in the Times of February 4th 1921. Sidney had had previous experience of this post as he acted as Private Secretary to the earlier Viceroy Lord Chelmsford in 1919 for a short time.
This was an interesting time in the history of India. In 2023 a letter dated 12th May 1921 was put up for auction written by Mahatma Ghandi. It was addressed to Sidney Hignell and asks him to give Ghandi an appointment to see the Viceroy. The letter was valued at £6,000 -£10,000 which indicates its significance.
Sidney returned to England on the SS Madura in May 1923 with Harold Hignell, at which point he gave his address as Edgecombe Lodge Downend.
Sidney officially retired in 1924 at which time he bought and renovated The Chalet in Alveston, near Thornbury. The Trade Directory for 1935 confirms he was still living in Alveston. He died on 24th May 1939 in Weston Super Mare. Probate was granted to Thomas Jefferis Hignell warehouseman, Harold Hignell retired Civil Servant and Thomas Reginald Pitcher accountant. His effects were valued at £9,343 8s 4d.
His name appears on the grave of his family in the burial ground of the United Reformed Church in Thornbury.
Thomas Jefferis Hignell was born on 22nd September 1875. His address was The Shrubbery in Downend when he died on 12th December 1942. Probate was granted to his widow Margaret Hignell and to Thomas Reginald Pitcher, accountant. His estate was valued at £13,145 16s 2d
Harold Hignell was born on 16th May 1879. He attended Norton Malreward Church of England School in Somerset. In 1881 he lived at Thornbury Farm with his parents and siblings Stephen, Elizabeth, Robert and Thomas. In 1891 he was living in Keynsham Workhouse with his parents who were master and matron there. By 1901 he was living at Ardingley in Sussex where he was a schoolmaster. In 1905 he sailed from Liverpool on the SS Suivic to Cape Town. At that time he was a tutor. When he returned to England from British East Africa in 1926 he was a civil servant and gave his address as The Chalet in Alveston. He married Catherine Elizabeth Hill on 27th April 1927. Harold died at The Chalet on 30th June 1943 . Probate was granted to the Midland Bank and Thomas Reginald Pitcher accountant. His estate was valued at £11, 212 1s 1d. Catherine his widow died on 1st September 1974 at The Chalet in Alveston.
Roland George Hignell was born on 2nd May 1881. Sadly he died young, only 27 years old, on September 2nd 1908 and he was named on the family grave at the United Reformed Church in Thornbury.
It is interesting to note that Roland Hignell, the son of Harold Hignell (and grandson of Thomas Evans Hignell) moved to live at 53 High Street in the 1940s. Click here to read more