ST MARY STREET

The photo above was taken in the late 1960's just before the row of cottages was pulled down.  There were four cottages just up the street from the Barrell which can be seen on the far right in the photo.  There were two groups of two cottages, the lower two cottages and the adjoining coach-house were owned by the  Corporation of Thornbury and from the 1890's by the Thornbury Town Trust, the other two cottages were privately owned. 

The two houses on the left in the above photo were privately owned.  When house numbering was introduced in the 1950's, they became 12 and 14 St Mary Street.  Number14 was the one of the left in the photo above, with the blue door and the blue car parked outside.  Number 12 was the house next door with the brown door.

William Taylor - according to his last will and testament dated 16th September 1798 William had built the two houses.  William was the owner of the property on the High Street (later known as 43 High Street) and the houses were built at the bottom of his orchard facing St Mary Street.  The houses had been occupied by John Cossham and John Tilly, but at the time of the will in 1798 they were let to John Tilly and a person called Seager?.  We assume that John Cossham was John Goodenough Cossham who died in 1776, or possibly his son born in 1771.   We are unable to identify the person called Seager.

William Taylor had acquired the High Street property on 5th April 1760 when he had been described as William Taylor the Younger, a pig killer.  For some years he lived in the High Street property before letting it out to tenants.  By 1798 he had the more respectable title of yeoman and he was living at Sibland.  In the will he left these properties and the one of the High Street to his son, James Taylor.

Based on his age at his death, William was born about 1733.  He appears to have been married three times.  We can't be sure about his first wife, but it may have been Elizabeth Salcom who he married on 21st August 1754.  His second wife seems to be Jane Farmer whom he married on 13th March 1763.

William and Jane had at least two children: Jane born 11th January 1764, William born 16th March 1766 (who was noted in William's will to be deaf and dumb) when William was working as a carrier.  Jane died aged 25 and was buried on 17th March 1768.  On 15th May 1769 William married Hester Taylor and they had  Esther born on 11th March 1770, James born on 21st August 1773, Mary born on 14th February 1774, George born on 5th August 1776 and Thomas born on 11th September 1778.  William was noted as being a pig killer in these baptism records.  William died aged 66 and was buried on 19th November 1799. 

In the 1840 Tithe Survey the two houses were in Plot 164, two houses and garden owned by James Martin Baxter.  According to the trade directories of 1835 and 1842 James Martin Baxter was an attorney and he lived at Alveston.  He owned other property in Thornbury including the old Cock Inn in the High Street and the houses in Rock Street which eventually became numbered 11  - 19.

We haven't seen a complete set of deeds for the houses so we don't know when James Martin Baxter sold them and to whom.  The next owner we know of is Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis traded in a shop on the High Street.  He had various interests, mainly as a chemist and druggist, but he is also listed in the trade directories as a grocer, tea dealer, stationer, book-binder and stamp distributor.

Richard was born in London about 1810.  He moved west and married Jane House in Thornbury on 31st October 1835.  Jane was the daughter of George Salisbury of Crossways.  Richard and Jane had two sons: Walter baptised on 18th December 1842 and Charles Edward baptised on 3rd December 1848.  Richard died on 10th March 1873 aged 66.  His last will and testament dated 30th January 1873 shows that Richard owned the house and shop in which they lived in the High Street, a house in Soapers Lane and the two houses in the Back Street (St Mary Street).  The documents associated with the will are a bit confusing.  It appears that after allowing his wife, Jane, to use the properties during her lifetime, he left his business and property on the High Street and the cottage in Soapers Lane to his son, Charles Edward, and the two houses in the Back Street to his son, Walter. 

Charles Edward Ellis was also a chemist and druggist, but in December 1874 he became bankrupt and the business was liquefied.  Various transactions took place during 1874 and 1879 which seem to result in Walter regaining ownership of the various properties, although we are not sure about the exact details.  Jane Ellis is shown as the owner of the property in the Rate Books up to and including 1890.  In 1881 Jane is living in the house on the High Street - she is shown as being an agent for 'Gibbey & Co'.  Walter is also living there and he seems to be running the chemist shop.  He is also a widower now and he has his own son, Walter living with them.  In 1881 Charles had moved to Bristol with his wife and family.  He is working there as a 'dispenser'.  By 1891 Charles Edward was running the business in the High Street, Thornbury as a chemist and dentist and he is living with his wife, Janet Sarah, a schoolmistress from Cullompton in Devon, and their children.  Jane is also still living in the High Street house.  Walter had moved to lodgings at 3 Hannah Street, Cardiff where he was working as a chemist.  He died at Blakeney in the Forest of Dean on May 12th 1898 aged 54.

We know that the two houses were put up for sale on 26th October 1892 along with Richard Ellis's shop and dwelling house on the High Street.  The 1894 Rate Book lists Edward Charles Ellis as the occupant of 48 High Street.  By 1901 Jane had moved with Charles and his family to Roath, near Cardiff where Charles is a dental surgeon. Jane died there on 8th December 1901 aged 88.

'Messrs Ogborn' - when the houses were put up for sale at auction on 26th October 1892 they were bought by Mr Ogborn for £109.  The actual conveyance mentions it was William, Joseph and Matilda Ogborn who bought the property on 22nd December 1892. The 1894 and 1899 Rate Books show that 'Messrs Ogborn' had taken over ownership of the two houses.  This must refer to the members of the Ogborn family running the butchering business in the High Street.  The 1891 census shows that William, Matilda and Joseph were involved with the business.  They were children of John and Eliza Ogborn who had been running the business in the 1881 census.  William died on 31st March 1900 and on 4th September 1900 Joseph and Matilda Ogborn sold the two properties to Thomas Excell for £96.

Thomas Exell - the 1905, 1910 and 1926 Rate Books show that Thomas Exell was the owner.  Thomas was the son of George Henry Exell and his wife, Eliza.  He married Maria Vickerstaff in London in 1883, but settled in Thornbury where Thomas ran a grocer and corn dealer shop in the High Street and he acquired several other properties in the Town, including 10 Upper Bath Road.  Click here to read more about Thomas Exell

 He died on 14th January 1930. In his Will his estate was left to his two daughters, Lilian Mary, the wife of Reginald David Edwards, a brewer's surveyor living in Mangotsfield and Bertha Annie, the wife of Wilfred Percy Winter, a bank clerk living in Tyndalls Park, Bristol.  An auction of Thomas's property was held in 1930 and the two houses in St Mary Street were included.  They were described as 'Two four bedroomed cottages occupied by Mr M. J. Poulton and Mrs Clarke at rentals of 2s 6d and 3s 6d per week respectively'.

The houses were not sold at the auction and they continued to be owned by Exell's daughters, or at least Bertha Annie until 22nd February 1960.  Then Bertha Annie Winter (then living at Overdale, Tytherleigh near Axminster) sold them to Leslie James Hawkins for £350.  He owned them until they were acquired by Thornbury Rural District Council under a compulsory purchase order in 1969.  The houses had already demolished when the land  was finally conveyed to the Council on 29th October 1971 for £1900.  The land was used to provide an access road for vehicles to the service area at the rear of the Barrel, the Town Hall and shops.

Click here to read about the OCCUPANTS of number 12

Click here to read about the OCCUPANTS of number 14

This page was last updated: 29/04/2012