The History of 7 Tennyson Road, Bath, Somerset

The houses along Tennyson Road were built in 1897 on land leased by St John’s Hospital. The lease began on 21st Dec 1895 for a duration of 499 and there are 33 houses in total.

This is Tennyson Road in 1905, with number seven up a little bit from where the boy is heading.

These two maps from 1888 and 1904 show how the area was turned from fields into streets.

Residents: 1899-1939

Using census and electoral records I have been able to trace the occupants of 7 Tennyson Road from 1899 (two years after it was built) to 1939 (three years before it sustained serious war damage and was rebuilt), so more or less covering its existence in its original form.

• 1899-1907 – Census records and the electoral register show Edward PARSONS and ELIZABETH C PARSONS were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1899-1907.
• 1908-1909 – 7 Tennyson Road is not listed in the electoral register between 1908-1909. All other houses on either side were listed.
• 1910-1912 – Census records and electoral registers show Frederick DAY and Laura DAY were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1910-1912.
• 1914 – The electoral register shows Harriet PUTTICK was living at 7 Tennyson Road in 1914.
• 1915-1917 – 7 Tennyson Road is not listed in the electoral register in 1915. All other houses on either side were listed. There were no registers taken between 1915-1917.
• 1918-1922 – The electoral register shows Emily MEREDITH was living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1918-1922.
• 1923-1924 – The electoral register shows Walter Thomas DAVIS and Alice M DAVIS were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1923-1924.
• 1924-1925 – The electoral register shows Frederick PIKE and Alice M PIKE were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1924-1925.
• 1926-1927 – 7 Tennyson Road is not listed in the electoral register between 1926-1927. All other houses on either side were listed. The Pike’s above and the Coleman’s below were living elsewhere.
• 1928-1931 – The electoral register shows Frank D COLEMAN, Minnie COLEMAN, William H COLEMAN and Worthy COLEMAN were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1928-1931. The register only goes up to this date online, so I don’t know how much longer they lived there.
• 1932-1938 – There are no electoral registers online from 1932 onwards, so I don’t know who was living there up to 1938.
• 1939 – The 1939 register shows four residents living at 7 Tennyson Road, including Esther LOCK, Lilian E LOCK, Frederick J PARKER and Constance M STEVENS (with the surname “VEGIARD” added at a later date). Perhaps these were the last people to live in the original house before it was destroyed in 1942.

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1899-1907

Census and electoral records show Edward PARSONS and ELIZABETH C PARSONS were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1899-1902 and just Elizabeth from 1903-1907 (and most likely 1908).

No.7 is not listed in the electoral register for 1908, but Elizabeth PARSONS was most likely still living there during some of this year. 

Edward PARSONS & Elizabeth Caroline MEDDICK

Edward PARSONS, a Draper by trade, was born in 1819 in Greinton, Somerset was one of six children born to Quaker parents Isaac PARSONS and Mary BAGMELL. His father was a Yeoman of Greinton who died when Edward was 11. I’ve not traced Edward in the 1841 census, but by 1851 he was working as a Draper in Gloucester, age 31 and as yet unmarried. He married his first wife, Ann BUCKINGHAM, in 1853 and they had five children before her death in 1864 at age 36 (she was 9 years younger than Edward).

Edward and Ann’s children:

1. Margret Annie Parsons (b. 1855 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire)
2. Alice Elizabeth Parsons (b. 1857 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire)
3. William Edward Parsons (b. 1860 in Barton, Gloucestershire)
4. Elizabeth Bagwell Parsons (b. 1862 in Sherston, Wiltshire)
5. Beatrice Mary Parsons (b. 1863 in Sherston, Wiltshire)

Three years later, Edward married a 45-year-old spinster called Elizabeth ROWE. In 1871 Edward, now 51, was working as a draper and grocer with two assistants, a governess and a servant. His youngest daughter Beatrice was not living with them and died the following year at age 8. In 1881 Edward was in Stroud and listed as a visitor in the household. The head was Susan Smith, a Grocer, and the houses on either side all along the street were full of drapers. Elizabeth and his youngest surviving daughter were living in Weston-Super Mare at this point, until three years later in 1884 when his second wife died.

Another three years on, in 1888, Edward moves on to his third and final wife! He married Elizabeth Caroline LLOYD nee MEDDICK, a widow fourteen years younger than him. Elizabeth’s first husband, Robert LLOYD, died the year after Edwards’s second wife died. Robert was a farmer, and Elizabeth was also his third wife.

Elizabeth Caroline MEDDICK was born in 1834 in Bath, Somerset and the second child of eight to parents John MEDDICK and Sarah STILL. Her father was a Cardwainer (aka Shoemaker). He died in Feb 1853, when his youngest child was just three. In 1861 Elizabeth, age 27, was unmarried and living at home (at 8 Kingsmead Terrace, Bath) working as a Milliner and Dressmaker. By 1871 she was the head of the household, living with two of her sisters (now at 4 Old King Street, Bath), still working as a Dressmaker. In 1880, she married the twice-widowed Robert LLOYD. Robert was age 65 and a retired farmer, and Elizabeth was 46. The marriage lasted just five years until 1885 when Robert died.

Elizabeth was living in Sherston Magna, Wiltshire in 1885 when her first husband died. She married Edward there in 1888 and was still living there in 1891. At some point between 1896 and 1899, they move to 7 Tennyson Road where Edward remained until his death in 1902 and Elizabeth to at least 1907 (probably into 1909*). When Elizabeth died in 1909 aged 75 she had been living at 3 Berkeley Place, Camden Road, Bath with her niece Elizabeth Caroline GADD, nee MEDDICK.

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1910-1911

Census records and the electoral register show Frederick Martin DAY and Laura DAY were living at 7 Tennyson Road in  1910 and 1911.

Frederick Martin DAY & Laura TREASURE

Frederick Martin DAY, a Butcher by trade, was born on 16th Dec 1882 in Creech St Michael, Somerset. He was the third of six children born to William DAY and Florence Ellen MEAD. His father was an innkeeper and ran the Star Inn in Adsborough, Somerset and later The Star Inn in Thurloxton, Somerset (now the May Inn).

Laura TREASURE was born on 14th May 1884 in Stoke St Michael, Somerset. She was the fifth of eleven children born to Theodore TREASURE and Hannah ROSSITER. Hannah had a baby every two years from 1876 to 1890. The last two were three years apart, and she died in 1905 aged 50. Laura’s father was an innkeeper and haulier and ran the Waggon & Horse Inn in Doulting, Somerset.

Frederick and Laura’s marriage was registered in the 1st quarter of 1907, and Laura would have been heavily pregnant if it was before Feb 7th, or just given birth to their first child if after. They had a second child the following year, but no more.

1. Phyllis Dorothy Day (b. 7th Feb 1907 in Stoke St Michael, Somerset)
2. Gladys Evelyn Day (b. 6th Aug 1908 in Bath, Somerset)

The family moved into 7 Tennyson Road around 1910 and lived there until 1911, and probably part of 1912. The 1911 census shows they had a visitor called Edith PHILIP. Edith was aged 51, unmarried and had no occupation listed (previously a Kindergarten Teacher). She was the daughter of Emily PHILIP, who lived very briefly at 28 Tennyson Road in 1911.

By 1912,  the family had moved just around the corner to 7 Westhall Road, then next door to 6 Westhall Road in 1914 where they were still living in 1939.

Frederick’s youngest two brothers enlisted when WWI broke out, as did one of Laura’s brothers. Albert DAY (Sergeant in the Royal Tanks Corps) was killed in action or died from wounds on or just after 1st Dec 1917 during the battle of Cambrai aged 30, and Wilfred DAY (Corporal in the Motor Transport Company) died 12th Feb 1919 from TB caught during 1917, aged 27. Alban TREASURE (Lance Corporal MM in the Machine Gun Corps) died just two days before peace was declared on 9th Nov 1918 aged 31.

Frederick died towards the end of 1953 (registered in Bath) aged 70. Laura died two years later on 15th Apr 1955 at The Manor Hospital in Bath, also aged 70. Her probate record shows her last address was in Shepton Mallet. Both their daughters died in 1999.

DAY Family Tree

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1914

The electoral register shows Harriet PUTTICK was living at 7 Tennyson Road in 1914. Only partial electoral records are online for Bath between 1912-13 and no.7 is not to be found or was unlisted. Harriet Puttick may have moved into no.7 when the Day’s moved out in 1912.

There were no registers taken between 1915-1917, and Harriet had moved out by 1918.

Harriet PUTTICK nee THURGOOD

Harriet THURGOOD was born in 1857 in Billericay, Essex and was the second of four children born to Thomas THURGOOD, an Iron Founder, and Harriet ARCHER. Her maternal grandfather Richard ARCHER was a butler to John Tyssen Tyrrell, Baronet Magistrate, and two of her uncles also worked for him (her other uncle was a police constable).

She married widower Frederick Valentine PUTTICK in 1886 (who had one son) and they had four children together, all born in Essex. Frederick was a Grocery, Wine and Spirit Merchant (Shopkeeper).

1. Margarette Puttick (b. 1887 in Colchester, Essex)
2. Frank Valentine Puttick (b. 17th Nov 1888 in Colchester, Essex)
3. Claude Henry Puttick (b. 5th Aug 1890 in Colchester, Essex)
4. Florence Muriel Puttick (b. 3rd Dec 1892 in Colchester, Essex)

In the 1911 census, Harriet was living at 42 Newbridge Hill, Bath with her daughter. She also had two servants and a border. Her husband Frederick was in London with his brother Thomas at this time, with “no occupation” listed (his brother was a Licensed Victualler). Harriet was listed as a Boarding House Keeper. Very shortly after the census was taken Frederick died in London, aged 61.

Harriet had moved to 7 Tennyson Road by 1914 (possibly 1912 after the Day’s moved out). Both her sons had emigrated to New Zealand by this time and in 1914 they enlisted into the army giving their mother as next of kin and her address as 7 Tennyson Road, which changed to 55 Bassett Road, Kensington, London shortly afterwards. Frank and Claude survived the war and returned to NZ, but in 1926 Frank committed suicide by shooting himself.

Her daughters both lived in Kensington (Margarette from at least 1911 and Florence in the early 1920s). Harriet looks to have lived with Margarette from just after the 1939 registry, then moved to Southsea, Hampshire where her younger daughter Florence now lived with her husband and three sons, and where died in 1946 aged 89. Margarette died unmarried in 1959 aged 72, and Florence in 1982 aged 89.

PUTTICK Family Tree

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1915-1917

There were no registers taken between 1915-1917 so I don’t know the year Harriet PUTTICK moved out and Emily MEREDITH moved in, or if someone else lived there in the time between.

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1918-1922

The electoral register shows Emily MEREDITH was at 7 Tennyson Road between 1918-1922.

O = Occupational qualification

Emily MEREDITH

Emily MEREDITH was born in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire in 1858 and was the second of nine children born to William MEREDITH, a Carpenter, and Eliza WATKINS, a Stay Maker.

The Meredith family moved with their then five children from Hertfordshire to Bath in about 1865, where the next four children were born. They lost their middle child at age 21 in Bath and also lost two babies in 1866 and 1868.

1. Amelia Maria Meredith (b. 1856 in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire)
2. Emily Meredith (b. 1858 in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire)
3. Julia Meredith (b. 1860 in Bryn-Mawr, Breconshire, Wales)
4. Arthur William Meredith (b. 1862 in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire)
5. Winifred Kate Meredith (b. 1864 in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire)
6. Charles James Meredith (born and died 1866 in Bath, Somerset)
7. Walter Owen Meredith (born and died 1868 in Bath, Somerset)
8. George James Meredith (b. 1869 in Bath, Somerset)
9. Frank Ernest Meredith (b. 1872 in Twerton, Somerset)

Of the six siblings to make it into adulthood, two of the three brothers married (Arthur and Frank) but none of the three sisters (Amelia, Emily and Julia). The third brother, George, was described as having a “tumour on head since childhood” and “feeble minded from birth“. Her brother Arthur married in Bath in 1890 at age 28 and emigrated to Jamaica where he was a Baptist Minister, and Frank married in Bath in 1902 at age 30.

The three sisters and brother George lived with their parents until they died (Eliza in 1894 and William between 1901-11). Amelia, Julia and George were still living together in 1911 at 25 Winchester Road, Oldfield Park. Emily was visiting the Sessions family who lived at 11 Argyle Street in 1911 (occupation “private”), but most likely lived at Winchester Road too. By 1918 she was living at 7 Tennyson Road, where she remained for four years. Amelia was still living at 25 Winchester Road in 1918 but was gone by 1920 and died in 1929 aged 73. Julia was at 12 St Georges Place in 1920 then I lose track of her. The next time Emily is found is in 1930-31 at 2 Kensington, Bath and then again in 1935 when she died at age 76.

MEREDITH Family Tree

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1923-1924

The electoral register shows Walter Thomas DAVIS and Alice M DAVIS were living at 7 Tennyson Road between spring 1923 and spring 1924. Also living at no.7 in spring 1923 was Ernest CLEEVE.

R = Residence qualification
O = Occupational qualification
HO = Qualification through husband’s occupation

Walter Thomas DAVIS & Alice JACKSON

Walter Thomas DAVIS was born in Bath on 17th July 1871 and was one of eight children born to Edward DAVIS and Eliza WHIDDEN. His father was a Cabinet Maker, whereas Walter was a Shorthand Printer Compositor Foreman.

Alice JACKSON was born 19th Feb 1872 in Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire and was the second of two children born to parents Llewellyn Frederick Martin JACKSON and Caroline HIGGINSON. Her father was a gardener and the illegitimate son of Josiah JACKSON, a Steam Engine Driver, and Ann MARTIN. Alice’s grandmother Ann moved in with Josiah after his wife died, most likely to help with the children he was left to look after. She lived with him until his death in 1867, but they never married and only seem to have had one child together, Llewellyn, who died in 1875 at age 29 when his daughters were aged 5 and 3.
Caroline had been previously married and widowed, but I’ve not been able to trace down her first husband (surname CHANT). She married again in 1881 to Ambrose WEBB, a former sailor with the Royal Navy. He was the manager of “The Cripples Home” (for boys and young men) at 3 Prospect Place, Camden Road, Bath for many years and Caroline was the Matron. They had one son together (Alice’s half-brother), and Ambrose died just before the 1911 census at age 59. Caroline died in 1923 aged 84.

Walter and Alice married in 1895 and had one daughter:

1. Enid Amy Davis (b. 13th Sep 1899 in Bath, Somerset)

In 1911, Alice’s occupation was stated to be a Newsagent, Stationer & Tobacconist (Employer), although the business was listed under “Thomas Davis” in the trade directory for that year. They moved around Bath quite a bit, living at 3 Westhall Road (1901-03), 4 Victoria Buildings (1907-11), 5 Ashley Avenue (1912-19), 17 Ashley Avenue (1920-22), 7 Tennyson Road (1923-24) and 9 Belgrave Crescent (1924-39).

Alice died in Bath a few months after the 1939 registry was taken (registered Jan-Mar 1940) aged 67, and Walter died in 1963 at Westleigh, Freshford, Somerset aged 91.

DAVIS Family Tree

Ernest CLEEVE

On following the Davis’s above, I found Ernest CLEEVE was also living with them in 1911 at 4 Victoria Buildings as their boarder (age 36 and unmarried). He was still living with them at 17 Ashley Avenue between 1918-22 and had all moved together to 7 Tennyson Road by spring 1923. He was no longer registered as a voter at 7 Tennyson Road in autumn 1923 and I haven’t found him after this point in any records.

Ernest CLEEVE was a Cabinet Maker, born in 1874 in Wiveliscombe, Somerset. He was the eighth of nine children born to Richard CLEEVE, a Sawyer and Brewer’s Labourer, and Jane GILES. His father’s family were from Devon and his paternal grandfather was a Farm Labourer. His mother’s family were from Somerset, and his maternal grandfather was a Journeyman Mason.

CLEEVE Family Tree

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1924-1925

The electoral register shows Frederick PIKE and Alice M PIKE were living at 7 Tennyson Road between autumn 1924 and autumn 1925.

R = Residence qualification
O = Occupational qualification
HO = Qualification through husband’s occupation

Frederick John PIKE & Alice Mary WHITEHEAD

Frederick John PIKE was born on 28th May 1892 in Bathwick, Somerset and the fourth of eight children born to Alfred PIKE, a police constable, and Sarah Ann POULSOM. Frederick grew up at 14 Hampton Row, Bathwick, and in 1910 his oldest sibling Annie emigrated to Canada. He followed her over there just after the 1911 census was taken, and was working as a french polisher at the time. He came back over to England in late 1913 and headed back to Canada in Jan 1914 where he worked as a Machine Hand. On 25th Sep 1914, he enlisted into the Canadian Field Artillery and was promoted to bombardier in the field in May 1915. He became ill with pleurisy in Feb 1916 just before being promoted to corporal and a few months later to sergeant (both in the field). He became ill again with pleurisy in 1917 and was also treated for syphilis, which he had contracted prior to enlistment. Then, in Jan 1918 he became dangerously ill with pneumonia, from which he slowly recovered. He returned back to Canada on 31st Dec 1918 and was officially discharged on 27th Jan 1919 and received the Military Medal. He remained in Canada until the end of the year when he came back to England to his family home in Bathwick and became a commission agent. His father died in 1921, and in 1922 he married Alice Mary WHITEHEAD.

Alice Mary WHITEHEAD was born on 12th April 1881 in Southport, Lancashire and was the fifth of six children born to  John William WHITEHEAD, a printer compositor, and Eliza Anne ORDISH. Alice grew up in Southport, so how did she meet Frederick? On tracing her siblings I found her sister Fanny married a chap called Leonard Ewart DEWEY in 1912 (in Lancashire) who in 1911 was living in Bath and working as an opticians manager. I’ve no idea how Fanny and Leonard met either, but I found Fanny and her husband living at 35 Paragon, Bath from 1918, so would guess that Alice visited her sister in Bath and met Frederick sometime between 1919-22.

Frederick and Alice married in 1922 in Bath, Somerset and lived at 7 Grosvenor, Walcot, Somerset between 1922-23. In 1924 they moved into 7 Tennyson Road and were there until 1925. From 1926-29 they lived at 4 Pulteney Avenue and in 1930 at St Mary’s Buildings, Wells Road. They didn’t have any children and Frederick died suddenly on 7th Jan 1930 at age 37, for which I found an article in the Bath Chronicle. I also found an article about his funeral which notes he was part of the Bath Club and Fellowship Skittle Leagues.

Alice remarried the following year to the recently divorced Walter Stanley LOADER, they didn’t have any children together. Alice and Walter died within four months of each other in 1979 in Bath. Alice was age 88 and Walter was age 86.

PIKE Family Tree & WHITEHEAD Family Tree

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1926-27

I haven’t found 7 Tennyson Road in the electoral register between 1926-1927, and the previous residents (Pikes) and next residents (Coleman’s) were listed elsewhere. All other houses on either side were listed. Either the house was empty, or whoever was living there wasn’t eligible to vote.

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1928-1931

The electoral register shows Frank D COLEMAN, Minnie COLEMAN, William H COLEMAN and Worthy COLEMAN were living at 7 Tennyson Road between 1928-1931. The register only goes up to this date online, so I don’t know how much longer they lived there.

R = Residence qualification (man)
Rw = Residence qualification (woman)
Dw = Qualification through husband’s occupation
O = Occupational qualification (man)

Henry William COLEMAN & Minnie Angela BEDFORD

William Henry COLEMAN, a Tailor’s Manager, was born in 1880 in Hoxton, Middlesex and was the third of seven children born to William Henry COLEMAN (a Tailor’s Cutter) and Elizabeth GOUGH (a Tailoress). The family moved around a bit as his parents were from Bristol, where they had their first child, then they moved to London where they had two more children, and then onto Walsall in Staffordshire where the last four children were born.

Minnie Angela BEDFORD was born in 1874 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and the first of six children born to parents Worthy BEDFORD and Ada Emily BEDFORD (1st cousins). Worthy was a farmer, maltster and licensed victualler, as was his father before him. Both Worthy and Ada were from Marshfield, Gloucestershire and only Ada was born in Staffordshire. Their second child was born in Bristol, and the last four in Swainswick, Somerset. But this is the least of the stories to piece together!

Her father Worthy BEDFORD was born in 1833 in Marshfield, Gloucestershire and married his first wife Marianne Elizabeth ROBINSON when they were both just 17. They had four children together between 1852 and 1857 and in 1861 Worthy was working as a farmer of 160 acres (employing six men and three boys). Then, in 1864, Worthy petitioned for divorce from his wife on grounds of adultery with one Robert Clement Matthews and one William Osborne. The accusations were denied by all involved, and Marianne replied with a long list of violence her husband had caused her. She stated he beat her with a riding whip and his fists, attempted to strangle her and even threatened to shoot her with a loaded gun. This was all alleged to have happened between 1852, just after they were married, right until the year of the petition. She also gave names of two women Worthy himself had committed adultery with (Elizabeth Lloyd at 13 Milk Street, Bath, and Victoria Hancock at 3 Milk Street, Bath). He also committed adultery with unknown women at 7 Little Corn Street and 7 Monmouth Street, Bath. The case lasted nearly a year and a half and went to court several times with witness statements from both sides. Marianne requested custody of their daughter Harriet, and Worthy had to pay her court fees of £82 5s & 8d but their marriage was not dissolved as she filed for divorce herself on the grounds of adultery and cruelty in 1869 (no indication within the papers if it was granted). Marianne is nowhere to be found in census records after this point.

In 1870, I found a newspaper article mentioning Worthy Bedford as taking part in a 60-yard race around Marshfield, which attracted quite a crowd. He was described as “weight 22 stone“.

In 1871, Worthy’s eldest son was living with an uncle (Worthy’s brother), and his daughter was living with an aunt (Worthy’s sister). His other two sons were living with him (who stated to still be married) and they were all living with Worthy’s mother. Amongst the household was his cousin Ada, age 24, with whom he then started a relationship with (their first child, Minnie, born in 1874).

In 1881 her father was running the Bladud Arms in Swainswick, Somerset but the two oldest children are missing (Minnie and Ernest). Ernest was boarding age 5 with the Haines family (no relations that I can find) and I’ve not found Minnie anywhere, nor in 1891 either. Why was Minnie born in Staffordshire? There are no links to the place on either parent’s side, so could it have been work-related? Where was she in 1881 and 1891, and could this help explain how she met her future husband, who himself grew up in Staffordshire?

In 1891 Worthy was running the Railway Inn in Avon Buildings on Lower Bristol Road, Twerton. Worthy and Ada didn’t get married until 28th May 1895 (their eldest daughter Minnie was 21 by then), and he states to be a widower at this point. Four days later he died (1st Jun), aged 62. On his death, his wife Ada took over the Railway Inn briefly until her death in 1900, and then their son Ernest ran it until 1906.

William and Minnie married on 12th Dec 1900 in Twerton, Bath. In 1901 The couple were living with Minnie’s brother at 13 Avon Buildings, Twerton. William’s youngest sister, another Minnie, was also living with them.

They had five children:

1. William Worthy Coleman (b. 9 Nov 1903 in Bath, Somerset)
2. Frank Douglas Coleman (b. 11 Aug 1905 in Bath, Somerset)
3. Worthy Thomas Coleman (b. 1 Oct 1906 in Bath, Somerset)
4. Dennis Coleman (b. 23 Dec 1907 in Bath, Somerset)
5. Leonard Charles Coleman (b. 5 Apr 1912 in Bath, Somerset)

In 1911 the family were living at 5 Rockliffe Road, Bathwick before moving to 64 Shakespeare Avenue, Bath later that year where they remained until 1917. William enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps on 2nd Feb 1917 and was a private at one of the training depot stations. He was put into reserve in Feb 1919 and finally discharged in Apr 1920.

The family moved to 37 Monmouth Street, Bath in 1918 where they lived until 1927. William used the premises at Monmouth Street to run his clothing works business, and on 5th Nov 1928 filed for bankruptcy. It was also in 1928 that the family moved to 7 Tennyson Road, where they lived until at least 1931. Minnie died in 1938 at age 64 at the Royal Infirmary in Bristol, and William in 1939 at age 59 at the Isolation Hospital in Combe Down.

COLEMAN Family Tree

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1932-1938

There are no electoral registers online from 1932 onwards, so I don’t know who was living there up to 1938.

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1939

The 1939 register shows four residents at 7 Tennyson Road, including their exact dates of birth, marital status and occupation. Living there were Esther LOCK, Lilian E LOCK, Frederick J PARKER and Constance M STEVENS (with the surname “VEGIARD” added at a later date). Perhaps these were the last people to live in the original house before it was destroyed in 1942.

Edward LOCK & Esther BROWN (& Lilian Elizabeth LOCK)

Edward LOCK was born in 1853 in Witney, Oxfordshire and was a licensed victualler. His mother was an unmarried Elizabeth LOCK, and Edward was brought up by his grandfather (an Agricultural Labourer) and step-grandmother. His mother married in 1859 to Albert TAYLOR (a Bootmaker), but Edward never lived with them or his six half-siblings. Edward married for the first time in 1878 to Mary Ann Leader IBBETSON and had six children together (the youngest of which was Lilian Elizabeth LOCK, who was living at 7 Tennyson Road in 1939 with her stepmother Esther). Mary died in 1903 and Edward remarried Esther BROWN in 1905.

Esther BROWN was born on 23rd Jul 1871 in Isleham, Cambridgeshire and was the last of seven children born to William BROWN, a general labourer, and Mary HARVEY. She married Edward LOCK on 20th Feb 1905 in London and they had two children:

1. Edward Wreford Lock (b. 10th Dec 1908 in North Kensington, Middlesex)
2. Frederick Charles Lock (b. 17th Dec 1910 in Bath, Somerset)

Edward and Esther moved from London to Bath c.1909 where they ran The Star Public House (aka Star Inn) at 23 Vineyards until his death in 1921 aged 68. By 1925 Esther was living at 13 Bladud Buildings in Bath and was still there in 1931 (when the online electoral register stops). She had moved into 7 Tennyson Road by 1939. Esther died in Bath in 1952 aged 81.

LOCK Family Tree

Constance May WOODNUTT

Constance May WOODNUTT was born on 29th Aug 1899 in Kensington, Middlesex. She was the fifth of seven children born to Edward Wreford WOODNUTT (a Butcher) and Sarah Elizabeth BROWN. Sarah was Esther’s sister, making Constance her niece. She worked as a clerk and travelled to Connecticut, USA in 1930 and 1932 (at least).

Constance married Henry J STEVENS in 1936 in Devon, but I haven’t been able to find out anything about him. In 1947 she travelled back over to the USA, now divorced, and married George Steinkamp VEGIARD the following year in Connecticut. He was a newspaper linotype operator and a recent widow, with his first wife dying in 1946. Constance visited England several times after marrying and died in Hartford, Connecticut, USA on 15th Aug 1979 aged 79. George predeceased her in 1972 aged 69.

WOODNUTT Family Tree

Frederick John PARKER

Frederick John PARKER was living at 13 Bladud Buildings between 1923-31, along with Esther Lock. There don’t appear to be any common ancestors, so perhaps he was a boarder and moved with her to 7 Tennyson Road when she moved. He was working as a Meter Reader for the Bas Gas Company at the time.

John was born on 27th Aug 1888 in Somerton, Somerset to single mother Elizabeth Ann PARKER (a domestic servant). Frederick looks to have been brought up by his grandparents Mark PARKER (coal miner and farm labourer) and Mary OBORN (laundress), whilst his mother married Edward DUNSTER in 1895 and started a new family with two further children. His half-brother George William DUNSTER enlisted into the Machine Gun Corps during WWI, then transferred into the Somerset Light Infantry. He survived the war and was discharged on 25th Oct 1919.

His mother Elizabeth died in Bridgwater, Somerset in 1936 aged 73. Frederick never married, and he died in Bath in 1944 aged 56.

PARKER Family Tree

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1942

Tennyson Road sustained major damage during WWII in the early hours of 26th April 1942 during a bombing raid by the German Luftwaffe, part of the “Baedeker raids” which targeted historical rather than strategic sites. Over 400 people died in the Bath Blitz and more than 1000 were injured.

The road took a direct hit from a 500kg bomb totally destroying five houses (in red – 21, 22, 23, 24, 25). Seven were so badly damaged they were demolished, including number 7 (in orange – 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27), five were unusable (in yellow – 5, 8, 9, 10, 17), leaving only half the houses habitable.

The whole line of houses from 18 to 26 was demolished before being rebuilt after the war, as were numbers 5 to 8 between Westhall Road (which was also totally demolished).

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Further Research

The deeds to the house will contain information about the owners of the house from the time of its build-up to the current day, which may or may not be the same as the people who lived in it during this time. Further research on its occupants between 1931-1938 and 1940 onwards could be done via historical Electoral Registers, usually held in the local library.