James Wither – the deeds of next door (number 21 St John Street) include a document dated 24th March 1812 which indicates that the house now known as number 19 St John Street in Thornbury was built by a carpenter James Wither or Withers on land he bought from Thomas Rolph in 1796. It was occupied in 1812 by James Wither who also built number 21. We know a little more about James and his family – click here to read more
We don’t know when James Wither moved or sold the property.
Sarah Thomas – when number 21 was sold in 1815, the deeds refer to number 19 as being occupied by ‘Mrs Thomas’. We know that at the time of the 1840 Tithe Survey, the house was owned by Sarah Thomas, although it was occupied at that time by “William Holloway”. The 1859 and 1862 Rate Books show ‘Mrs Thomas’ as the owner and “William Alloway” as the occupant. It is possible that Sarah Thomas was the widow of Samuel Thomas who died in May 1838. We note that Samuel was referred to in an indenture of 1812 about a neighbouring property. The Rate Books show that “Mrs Thomas” owned the property until at least 1869. However the Bristol Mercury of December 4th 1858 has the obituary of Sarah that says “November 19th at her daughter’s Mrs Barton, Bevington Berkeley after a few hours illness aged 79 Sarah, relict of Samuel Thomas, Cromhall Gloucestershire. ”
The next owner we know about was:
Henry Allen – we have a copy of an abstract of title showing Henry owned number 19. He was an auctioneer, maltster and grocer from Cromhall who settled in Marshfield. We cannot find any connection between Henry, or his wife, Keziah and Thornbury, so can’t guess how he came to own the house in St John Street.
Note – there is a reference in the deeds of number 5 St John Street of the owners of other properties in the street adjoining number 5 in 1873. The list of names does not mention Henry Allen and it does mention a Mrs Barton in the house we think is number 19. Presumably Mrs Barton was the same person referred to above as the daughter of Sarah Thomas, the previous owner. The abstract of title clearly implies that Henry Allen and his trustees owned the property until 1908.
We know from an advertisement in the Bristol Mercury of January 3rd 1832 that Henry Allen had recently taken over the “Catherine Wheel Commercial Inn Family hotel and Posting House” in Marshfield. He seems to have held regular auctions in a variety of public houses in the Marshfield area.
Henry Allen appears in the census of 1851 aged 37. He was living in Marshfield with his wife Kezia, then aged 38. Both Kezia and Henry were born in Cromhall. They had two daughters both born in Marshfield Sarah aged 17 and Rebecca aged 18.
In 1861 the census shows that Henry and Kezia were still living in Marshfield. Their daughter Sarah was still living with them but they have two visitors in the household. Sarah Barton aged 28 and Julia Barton also aged 28. By 1871 Henry was a widower aged 56. He was still living in Marshfield but his daughter and son in law were living in the house with him. They were Thomas Wayte Knight and his wife Sarah Ann Knight aged 38. Thomas Wayte Knight had married Sarah Ann Allen in 1869. There were also two grandchildren; Henry Wate Knight and Walter Henry Deighton aged 11 (12?).
Henry died on 20th December 1872 aged 60. In his will dated 16th December 1863 he left the house in trust to his grandson, Walter Henry Deighton.
Thomas Knight – the Rate Books between 1880 and 1905 Rate books show that Thomas Knight owned the house and was renting it to James Underhill. Thomas Knight, as the son in law of Henry Allen was presumably a trustee rather than the owner of the property.
As far as we know, neither Henry Allen nor any of his family ever lived in the house. It was occupied for much of this period by James Underhill as tenant. The property was still occupied by James at yearly rent of £8 10s (landlord pays rates) when it was put up for auction on 29th June 1908. It was then sold to Charles Fry for £130 (see below).
Charles Fry – Charles was baptised on 1st August 1858, the son of George Fry, a tailor and his wife, Elizabeth. Charles married on 5th May 1881. His wife was Ellen Lester, the daughter of John Lester, a gardener and his wife, Elizabeth. Charles became a saddler and harness maker in the High Street in the 1890’s. By 1901 Charles had moved to Tytherington where he was innkeeper at The Swan. At the time of the census they had four children living with them Fanny aged 18, Hilda aged 11, Charles aged 8 and George aged 5. Charles and Ellen were still living in Tytherington in 1913 when his father died. Click here to read more
William Wall – by 1910 it appears that William Wall had acquired the property (also the one next door) which was still being rented to James Underhill. We know a little about William Wall – click here to read more
Major Howard – by the 1926 Rate Book ‘Major Howard’ had acquired the property. In 1978 the property was advertised for sale by the Thornbury Castle Estate. We assume that it became owned by the Castle Estate for the purpose of housing members of their staff. In which case it appears that he may have acquired it before 1918 when William Stinchcombe, a gardener in the Castle, was living there. Another gardener, Richard Henry Dagger and his wife were living there from 1916 onwards.
When the house was advertised for sale in 1978 it was described as:
‘An attractive late Georgian town cottage with potential and for sale with vacant possession. The property comprises one of a terrace of similar older town properties constructed of stone and rendered under a tiled roof. It is considered ideal for renovation and modernisation’. The Ground Floor consists of an entrance hall, front sitting room with tiled fireplace and cupboard under the stairs, dining room with tiled fireplace and serving hatch to kitchen, kitchen with glazed sink (cold only) and walk-in pantry, and a lean-to off which there is a separate W.C. low level and store. The First Floor consists of a landing and three bedrooms, one of which had a small fireplace‘.
On 20th July 1987 we know that the property was acquired by Avon County Council from Carl and Carol Ann Windsor. We assume that Avon bought the property under a ‘blight order’ because it was affected by the Council’s plans to construct a new road from Pullins Green to Gloucester Road. This road scheme was never implemented and eventually discarded.
In 1995 the property was acquired by Brian and Janette Cason and later merged with number 21 to form a single house.