The above photograph shows the group of buildings at the rear of The Exchange. The photo was taken in 2012 when the property, now known as 32 High Street, was occupied by Shellys Cafe and Christopher’s Barber Shop.
Click here to read about the OWNERS of the property. In addition to the owners, there have been several families associated with the property as tenants.
Mehitabel Barton – Mehitabel was living in the property at, or shortly before March 1774 when the property was sold to Thomas Hendy. Mehitabel Hughes married Jonathan Barton on 24th January 1732. Jonathan was baptised on 16th October 1705, the son of John Barton. Jonathan and Mehitabel had two children, Thomas and Ann. Jonathan was a butcher and he died aged 67 and was buried on 9th April 1773. Click here to read more
Michael Mills – was mentioned as being the occupant of the shop in 1824 when it was sold by Daniel Pitcher. Michael was baptised in Thornbury on 27th November 1785, the son of Michael Mills and his wife, Esther. On 2nd October 1806 Michael married Amelia Ball in Thornbury. The 1841 census shows Michael was an agricultural labourer living in Gillingstool. He was living there with Amelia aged 50, Michael aged 15, William aged 13 and George aged 10. Amelia died in 1845. The 1851 census shows Michael was now a widower aged 66 and still living in Gillingstool with his sons, Jacob aged 26, William aged 22 and George aged 20. All the sons were agricultural labourers. They were all still living in Gillingstool in the 1861 census. Michael died in 1866 aged 81.
We know that Michael and Amelia had another son, Michael who was born on 23rd September 1826 and baptised at the Congregational Chapel in Thornbury on 26th February 1826. He died in Chepstow on 1st April 1897.
William Wither – the 1824 indenture mentions William Wither, a shoemaker as a former occupant of the property. We don’t know much about William. We suspect that he was the one baptised on 23rd May 1736, the son of William Wither and his wife, Christian (nee French). The burial record of William Wither, the cordwainer, shows he died aged 75 and was buried on 6th August 1811.
Edward Williams – tenant of the shop when it was sold in 1824. We suspect that Edward was the butcher born in Charlton, Gloucestershire about 1797. His wife was Hannah. They had a daughter, Eliza, baptised on 16th August 1829 when they were living in the Borough of Thornbury.
The 1841 census shows Edward was living at the property which later became known as 2 High Street. He was a pig butcher living with Hannah aged 35, and their children: Edward aged 15, Eliza aged 12, and Henry aged 8. They had two servants, Emma Bennett and John Smith both aged 15. The 1851 census shows that the family had moved up the street and Edward was now trading from 8 High Street. Edward was described as a butcher and farmer of 60 acres employing two men and he was aged 53. Hannah was aged 50 born in Littleton. The two sons, Edward aged 26 and Henry aged 17 were assisting their father. Eliza was aged 20 and was described as being ‘At home’. Click here to read about Eliza
The 1861 census shows Edward was a retired butcher living with Hannah and sharing Priory Cottage in Castle with Emma Kingdon. This census shows that Hannah was born in Westerleigh. Edward died on 25th September 1861 aged 65. Hannah died on 22nd June 1873 aged 72. They were both buried in the Congregational Chapel burial ground.
Thomas Facey – at the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey the property was Plot 147 occupied by Thomas Facey. Thomas was also referred to as a tenant of John Liddiatt in an indenture dated 3rd December 1840 relating to the adjoining property of Thomas Walker. Thomas was a carpenter and shopkeeper. He was living in the shop in the 1841 and 1851 census, then he moved around the corner to live in Chapel Street. Click here to read more
George Henry Baylis – in the 1887 and 1890 rate books George Henry Baylis was occupying the house owned by Ann Honeyborne. The 1891 census shows Ann as a retired grocer aged 62. She was living in Cockmead on Kington Lane with her son, Edward W an assistant plumber aged 20. Click here to read more
William Leonard Hobbs Clutterbuck – following Ann Honeyborne’s death the property was put up for sale on 28th February 1894. The property was then occupied by ‘Mr Clutterbuck, grocer at a reduced rent of £12 per annum’. The ‘Mr Clutterbuck’ referred to in the sale notice was William Leonard Hobbs Clutterbuck who later moved to 13 St Mary Street. Click here to read about the Clutterbucks
The Exchange – Richard Hobbs Smith bought the property for £160 on 26th March 1894. In 1892 Richard had acquired the public house called Michaels and set about seriously expanding on that business. In 1894 he bought the gabled property next door to Michaels and incorporated that into the new pub he called The Royal Exchange. He also bought the property at the rear and on the side adjoining Chapel Street and made the pub into a Hotel. The shop previously owned by the Honeybornes was converted into a stable and store room. The buildings continued as part of the Exchange under the various ownerships. Click here to read more about the Exchange
We understand that for a period, the buildings were let out as residential accommodation called ‘The Exchange Rooms‘. William and Celia Holpin and their family were listed as living there in the 1935 electoral register.
In the 1960’s and 70’s the ground floor of this property was bought by Mr Tucker who lived on the A38 at Rudgeway. He let the property to Vernon Bland who used it as a small wood machine shop. Vernon was assisted for several years by Joan Pearce (wife of Ron Pearce). Vernon had a number of business ideas including the preparation of small wooden blocks sold to schools, the acquisition, refurbishment and sale of old wood machine equipment and the bottling of honey. After Vernon gave up the business in St Mary Street he concentrated on his farm in Oldbury which became well known in the district for the sale of his cider and honey.
In more recent times, the building is well known as ‘Shellys Cafe and Christopher’s Barbers Shop’. Shelly is the daughter of Mr Tucker and her family still owns this building and the adjoining property occupied by the opticians.
Click here to read about the various OWNERS of the property.