Shelthorpe house - the middle years

Last time on the blog, we looked at some of the families who had lived at Shelthorpe House from its creation around 1866, when Richard Warner Hole and his wife lived there, through the time of Herbert and Clara Paget, to the time of Charles Lewes Dashwood, who by late 1880 had left the property. So what happened next?

The 1881 census return records William Frederick Beardsley with his wife, Roza Luis (nee Fernandes), who he had married in Wakefield in 1874, living at Shelthorpe House. The size of the property would have been eminently suitable for the Beardsleys who at this time already had five children, whose births had been registered at Barrow-on-Soar. I wonder if the lodge house, where George Thompson, the groom, and his wife, Caroline, and five children lived, was equally suited to a large family?

William and Roza’s family continued to grow whilst they were living at Shelthorpe House, and another son, Arthur was born in 1883, his birth being registered in Loughborough in the third quarter, i.e. July-August-September. Meanwhile, the groom associated with the house was now Joseph Cross and he and his wife Ellen, had a daughter Constance who was born in July 1883.

A puzzling piece of the jigsaw which came to light during this research was a newspaper article from 1884 which reported on a person called Fanny Fearey who lived at Shelthorpe House with her mother, and who accused someone of stealing her umbrella when she was in Sanders’ Vaults. I can only assume she was a servant?

While the Beardslesy were living at Shelthorpe House, Mrs Roza Luis Beardsley was very socially active! In August 1887 she opened the grounds of Shelthorpe House to the gathering of the Loughborough Habitation of the Primrose League of which she was the current Dame President. When the same group had their March 1888 meeting in the Oddfellows Hall on Sparrow Hill, Mrs Beardsley was re-elected to the position of Dame President, and Mr Beardsley was elected as Ruling Councillor.

Six months later, the Beardsleys were on the move! The birth of their daughter, Mabel in August 1888 was probably what prompted the move. And so it was that in March 1889 Shelthorpe House was again offered for sale, this time the auction taking place at the Bell Hotel in Leicester.

The auction details described Shelthorpe House as a freehold residential property, suitable for use as a family home, or a hunting residence. The accompanying cottage was well-built, there were outbuildings, and stables, all situated in gardens with orchards and paddocks, in all about 14 acres. The house itself had a spacious entrance hall, three large reception rooms, eight bedrooms, offices, modern conveniences, and good cellars. Included in the sale were the coach house, washing box, harness room with a loft above, loose horse boxes for about 7 horses, which could be extended to fit 10. The town of Loughborough was a short distance away, the Quorn Kennels were within about 2 miles, the Charnwood Forest was within easy reach, the railway service was excellent – 2 hours and 40 minutes to London, 20 minutes to Leicester, and 25 minutes to Nottingham - and the nearby schools were good.

The sale of Shelthorpe House was successful, and the price paid was £4,000. The new owner was John William Taylor, snr., the bellfounder, who with his extensive family had moved from Bellfoundry House on Freehold Street. In May 1889, the council agreed to extend the water main from Leicester Road to Shelthorpe House, on the proviso that Mr Taylor paid water rates at an annual amount which was equal to 10 % on the outlay. A year later, in April 1890, the building plans committee agreed to Mr Taylor building an entrance lodge to Shelthorpe House, which was described as his ‘new business premises’.

The Bellfoundry on Freehold Street

Like Mrs Roza Luis Beardsley, John William Taylor, snr., was involved in the Primrose League – although not as its Dame President!!! In July 1890, Mr Taylor hosted the annual summer fete of the Loughborough Habitation of the Primrose League and the local Conservative party in the grounds of Shelthorpe house which were profusely decorated, making a particularly pleasing background for photographs. In the evening the grounds were lit by Chinese lanterns.

At the time of the 1891 census returns, John William Taylor snr. was living with his wife, Eliza and both were aged 64. Offspring also living with them at Shelthorpe House were Mary E., aged 36; Charles T. aged 38; Edmund Denison aged 26; Horace Newcombe aged 23, and Owen D. aged 20. The were also 3 servants – Thomas Gent 16, Mary Bowley 28, and Caroline Taylor 24. One of John William and Eliza’s other children, Pryce, who wasn’t living with them, married Helena Gertrude Bardsley of Ivy Cottage, Loughborough, at the parish church, later that same year.

Members of the Taylor family supported good causes, and in 1894, Horace Newcombe donated 10s. to the church voluntary schools fund. Meanwhile, the lodge to Shelthorpe House was occupied by Alfred Rupert West and his wife Mary in 1897. In July 1899, the scholars of the Holy Trinity Sunday School had their annual treat in the grounds of Shelthorpe House and the Borough Band entertained, just 21 years after the consecration of the Holy Trinity Church. A few months later, produce from Shelthorpe House was included in the Harvest Festival decoration at the parish church of All Saints.

Loughborough had held an annual agricultural show since about 1848, and in the 52nd annual show of 1900, John William Taylor’s horse came in as the reserve in the brood mare with foal class. In the summer of 1901, the 10th annual wool sale was held in the Drill Hall, and Horace Newcombe Taylor provided fleece for sale. A few months earlier, at the time of the 1901 census, John William Taylor snr, and his wife Eliza, both according to the census return now aged 63, were living at Shelthorpe House with offspring, Edmund Denison aged 36, Horace Newcombe aged 33, and Owen J. aged 30. The family had three servants – Sarah Bowley aged 29, Rosa Aldridge aged 25, and Ernest Wilson aged 14. Alfred Rupert West, the gardener, was still living at Shelthorpe Lodge, with his wife and two daughters.

The grounds of Shelthorpe House continued to be made available for Primrose League events. However, due to poor weather conditions, the one in August 1905 wasn’t particularly well-attended, but people danced to the music played by the Borough Band, and listened to a concert from a group from Leicester.  

In March 1906, John William Taylor (25th March 1885 – 15th September 1916) came of age, but his 21st birthday wasn’t celebrated at Shelthorpe House, but rather at the bellfoundry, where the yard was covered and decorated with flags, and the tables and platform were decorated with flowers.

Sadly, only eight months after the celebrations of John William Taylor’s 21st birthday, John William Taylor, snr., his grandfather died, aged 79. In April 1907, the will of John William Taylor, snr., of Shelthorpe House was proved, and the estate valued at £47,614 gross.

Memorial headstone to John William Taylor, snr., Eliza his wife, and Edmund Denison Taylor, their son 

Whether or not Shelthorpe House was sold, or offered for let, I am not sure, however, by the time of the 1911 census return, the occupier was William Smith Dodgson, aged 50, a retired farmer and quarry owner from Monk Bretton in Yorkshire. He was living at Shelthorpe House with his wife Annie aged 45, son Rupert aged 6, daughter Olive aged 5, and stepson A. Norman Mullinson aged 23. There were also 5 servants listed.

William Smith Dodgson died on 7th January 1918. His will was proved on 22nd March 1918 by his widow Annie Augusta Dodgson, and Alfred Clegg, a solicitor. Effects were £80,158 17s. 11d. The address on the probate record was mistyped, and appeared as Skelthorpe House, rather than Shelthorpe House.

And here we will leave the history of Shelthorpe House and its occupiers until next time when we will consider the final years in the life of the house. 

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). Shelthorpe House – the middle years. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/12/shelthorpe-house-middle-years.html [Accessed 8 December 2024]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

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Thank you for reading this blog.

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Shelthorpe House – the early years

A newspaper report of July 1871 appearing in the ‘Leicester Journal’ suggests that Shelthorpe House was built for Richard Warner Hole and his family, around 1866. Richard was the son of Richard Hole (1804-1869) a solicitor and his wife Harriett (nee Handley Warner), and he, Richard Warner Hole, married Amelia Ann Brooks, the daughter of the late George William Keats Brooks and his wife Catherine Ann (nee White), stepdaughter of Randal Browne and his wife Catherine Ann (nee White, formerly Brooks) in 1863.

Sadly, before Richard and Amelia had started a family, at midday on 26th November 1868, Richard suddenly died. Although he had been ill for some time, he had spent three months in and around Prussia, and appeared to have improved. However, once home he succumbed to an ‘internal rupture of blood vessels’. According to the ‘Leicester Mail’, Richard Hole was part of the hosiery firm of Cartwright and Warner, and was exceedingly popular and respected in Loughborough.

Richard Warner Hole's will was proved on 22nd May 1869 in Leicester by his widow, Amelia Ann, and William Coleman, gentleman of Loughborough, just a few months before the death of his father, Richard, on 10th July.

The memorial to Richard Warner Hole, and, I believe, his wife Amelia Ann.

And so it was that in August 1870, Shelthorpe House was for sale, being described in an advert as a handsome residence with 13 acres, 2 roods and 14 perches of land and situated within a mile and three-quarters of the famous Quorndon Kennels. There was a splendid entrance hall, a drawing room of 28 ft by 22 ft, a dining room of 27 ft by 22 ft, a billiard room, a library and conservatories, as well as spacious bedrooms, and every modern convenience. The sale included the adjoining lodge, excellent stables, carriage, and harness rooms.

The 1871 census taken on 2nd April, shows that Shelthorpe House was occupied by Herbert Byng Paget and his wife, Clara (nee Fraser Robinson) who were married in February 1869, and had a 10-month-old son, John. However, the house was again put up for sale by auction in July 1871. The description of the house in the 1871 advert was similar to the earlier one:

It was beautifully and pleasantly situated about one mile from the town of Loughborough and adjoining the high road to Leicester. The details suggest that the property was built by Richard Warner Hole for him and his family, only 5 years earlier, which would have been about 1866, and only two years before his death, at quite some expense, and was only for sale because of his death. At the time the house comprised a handsome entrance hall, a drawing room of 29 ft by 22 ft, a dining room of 27 ft by 22 ft, and a library of 16 ft by 16 ft.. The rooms above these, one of which was a billiard room, were the same size. There were also many other rooms including bedrooms, bathroom, and domestic and servants’ quarters and offices, along with a conservatory and vineyard. The grounds amounted to about 14 acres, and the whole was approached by a carriage drive from Leicester Road. Included in the sale were the stables, carriage and harness rooms, and the kitchen garden, all of which adjoined the entrance lodge. The auction details stressed that the house was in one of the most favourite localities of the Midland Counties, in the heart of the Quorn Country. The house was currently being let until next Lady Day, but the furniture could also be included in the sale if required.

Whether Herbert Byng Paget bought the house, or leased it is unclear, but in 1872, when his and Clara’s daughter was born, she was born at Shelthorpe House. Whatever the situation, Mrs Amelia Hole removed her furniture from the house and put it up for sale in 1873. The following year, Mrs Paget was looking for a good cook to cater for a small family, and was paying wages of between 18 and 20s..

In January 1874, and January 1875, Herbert and Clara Paget had another two daughters born at Shelthorpe House. In May 1875 the family were holidaying in Pensarn, Wales, where they stayed at a property on Marine Terrace.  

Records show that Herbert Byng Paget and Clara were still living at Shelthorpe House in 1876, but in May 1877 the house was advertised for let, unfurnished on a yearly tenancy, or for a term of years. There was an option to lease the extra 11 acres too, as well as extra stabling, although the house did come with stables for seven horses, and a cottage for a groom. The house was described as being in the centre of the Quorn and Donnington Hunts, 12 miles from Leicester, 17 miles from Nottingham, and only three hours from London.

It is clear that by July 1877, Herbert Byng and his family were moving away from Leicestershire. As such, he is selling his horses, corn bin, chaff cutter, oat crusher, two sheep troughs, a pig trough, iron standards, and wire fencing. In the words of the auctioneer “The young stock are well grown, show plenty of size and substance, and are in good condition. ‘Epworth’ would make a very valuable country stallion, as he is a sure stock getter and good tempered.” The 12 lots could be viewed at Shelthorpe House, upon application to the groom, and all except lots 10, 11, and 12 were available without a reserve price. 

In 1887, Herbert and Clara Paget were living at Farley House in Matlock with their children John Byng (1 June 1870); Isabel Clara (19 July 1871); Margaret Byng (2 Dec 1872); Georgina Byng (20 Jan 1874); Dorothea Byng (21 Jan 1875 – 4 June 1875); Beatrice Mary (3 July 1877), and Victoria Bertie Innes Byng (9 Feb 1879).

Meanwhile, back at Shelthorpe House, in November 1879, the new occupier was Charles Lewes Dashwood (1833-1891). He was the son of Samuel and Caroline Dashwood of Stanford Hall. Samuel was the rector of Stanford from 1800-1827, and Charles was letting out his farm at Stanford Hill. Charles Dashwood was still occupying Shelthorpe House in 1880, which was also the year that Richard Hole’s widow, Amelia Ann, married Sir Joseph Neale McKenna.

By June of 1883, Charles Dashwood was no longer living at Shelthorpe House, and another family had moved in. 

Do pop back to the blog next week and find out a bit more about who was living at Shelthorpe House.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). Shelthorpe House - the early years. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/12/shelthorpe-house-early-years.html [Accessed 1 December 2024]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

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If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

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Loughborough Pub Licence Transfers

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been so busy on the blog, sharing the story of the Barkers the Builders, and Remembrance 2024, that I had forgotten that the first anniversary of the publication of my book ‘Loughborough Pubs’ – inspired by and dedicated to my friend Bill Wells, who was one of a few people who encouraged me in the early days of my local history journey – was mid-November 2024!

Around this time last year, I shared some relevant legislation around pubs, and the use of pubs as meeting spaces. This time, let’s have a look at a few selected licence transfers …

Half Moon to Hunters Moon 1959 / 1961

Half Moon (previously the Half Moon Inn) on Pinfold Street, closed in 1959 and the licence was transferred to the Hunter’s Moon which opened on Monday 11th September 1961, on the junction of Walnut Road and Poplar Road in Shelthorpe. It was opened as an Ind Coope house, and that brewery had just joined a group of other brewers – Ansells (Birmingham) and Tetley (Leeds) – to become Allied Breweries. Hunter’s Moon closed and was re-opened first as a Nisa then as a Spar mid-2015, but the pub name remains on the side of the building.

Bull’s Head to Bull’s Head 1927 / 1928

The Bull’s Head on High Street had originally been a coaching inn. It closed in 1927, and the licence was transferred to the new Bull’s Head in Shelthorpe in 1928. The Shelthorpe pub itself closed in X and is now a fast-food burger restaurant.

Nelson to Maxwells 1986 / 1987

The Nelson closed in 1986, and since that time has been home to various retail shops, and is currently a mobile phone shop. The licence was transferred in 1987 to Maxwells on Maxwell Drive, which was built to serve the residents of the new housing estate in that area.

Stag and Pheasant to The Beacon 1962 / 1963

As reported in the 'Loughborough Echo' of 6th December 1963, when the Stag and Pheasant on Nottingham Road closed in 1962, the licence was transferred in 1963 to The Beacon on Beacon Road, which served the growing population of that area. In recent years, The Beacon has had a major refurbishment, a side extension, and marquees erected in the grounds. However, both The Beacon and the Stag and Pheasant are listed in the 4th edition of a CAMRA listing - 'Real Ale in Leicestershire and Rutland' - which was published in November 1981 by the Leicester and Loughborough branch of CAMRA. Was the Stag and Pheasant still operating beyond 1962? Was a licence transferred from another pub to keep the S&P going for a while? Conversations with friends leads us to believe the licence really was transferred from the one to the other, and they were not open at the same time!

Nag's Head, Swan Street to the Ring O' Bells, Derby Road 1956 / 1956

Along with the Half Moon, the Nag’s Head is the only other pub mentioned here which no longer stands. It was situated where the former Wilkinsons building is now. Of course, the Wilkinsons building was only built around 2000, and replaced a Co-operative food store which had only been built around 1960, after the demolition of the Nag’s Head. The licence was transferred to the Ring O’ Bells on Derby Road when the Nag’s Head closed in 1956.

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‘Loughborough Pubs’ is available from W H Smith in Loughborough, through various online retailers, and - for Loughborough residents - from the author upon request. 

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). Loughborough Pub Licence Transfers. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/11/loughborough-pub-licence-transfers.html [Accessed 24 November 2024]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Builders Thomas Barker and Sons

Following on from last week’s post about the family of Thomas Barker, this time we’ll have a look at some history of the building firm he was part of. Thomas was the son of bricklayer, Joseph, and Thomas himself started work as a bricklayer. By 1871 however, he is recorded on the census returns as a builder, but I have been unable to discover when exactly he started his company, except that by 1881 he was employing 17 people so sometime after 1861. Let’s have a look at some detail around the company.

A selection of companies from 1887

A Selection of Contracts won and lost (not a comprehensive list!)      

Although the Barkers tendered to complete the irrigation works on the Loughborough sewerage farm in 1913, they lost out to Moss. They also lost out to Hammonds for the erection of buildings required in connection with the extension of the Electricity Undertaking.

From 1913-1915, Barkers were advertising their fireplaces, and that they were agents for the Stonestill cleaning processes for cleaning and renovating brick and stone exteriors.

In 1915, Barkers were repairing a property occupied by Mr Antil in Bedford Square Loughborough.

Barkers were successful in being awarded the contract to build houses at Rotherham in 1926, being 50 houses at Ravenfield, at a cost of £23,420 and 54 at Brampton Bierlow, costing £23,424.

A report in the 'Nottingham Journal' in August 1926 reported on the house building that was currently happening in Loughborough. The only such housebuilding scheme at that time was the building of 42 houses on Derby Road by Barkers.

Later that same year, Barkers won the tender to build a pressure filter house and mains apparatus at Blackbrook Reservoir. Their competitors were William Moss, and the Hodsons, and their success was probably down to quoting the lowest cost.

Barkers were undertaking the building of 38 parlour-type houses (having two rooms downstairs), at a cost of £18,050, and 104 non-parlour-type houses (those with only one room downstairs) costing £39,520, on the Whitehall Estate in Ramsgate in 1927. These houses were the last of the Corporation’s house-building scheme. There was some discussion as to why a firm from Loughborough, and not a local firm from Ramsgate were given the work, and there was some worry that Barkers might bring their own workers with them. However, it was likely they might take their regular foremen, but it would cost them too much to temporarily house workers from Loughborough, so there would definitely be jobs for the locals of Ramsgate.

In 1928 Barkers were given the contract to build 134 Admiralty houses in St Budeaux, Plymouth. The firm appear to have upset the local workers a little by taking some of their own workers from Loughborough with them to Plymouth, and also there was some concern about the rates of pay. Some Union officials had agreed a rate, but others argued that the rate of pay for certain tradespeople should be higher, like joiners, pipe layers, and pipe joiners. There were about 150 people involved in the work altogether. 

In April 1928, representatives from Barkers were present at the opening ceremony of the new garage for petrol buses at Rotherham. It’s not clear if Barkers were actually involved in the building of the garage, but it is quite possible. The garage adjoined the Corporation tram depot on Rawmarsh Road, Rotherham, and had cost £9,000 to construct, with an extra £1,000 for the construction of a concrete bridge.

Closer to home, in 1932, Barkers were unsuccessful in their tender to build a quarter of a million-gallon capacity reservoir at Blackbrook. Their tender was the 11th lowest at £4,960, compared to that of another local building firm, William Moss 6th lowest at £4,400. The contract was granted to a firm from Hugglescote.

Barkers were among the eight firms who tendered to erect 26 non-parlour houses on Welland Road in Market Harborough, and were successful in 1933. The 26 houses cost £6,683, the sewage and surface water drainage, fencing and water services cost £356 10s., 13 pairs of tool houses (I presume this means sheds attached to the actual houses) cost £155 5s. bringing the total cost to £7,195 10s..

Late in 1933, Barkers tendered to build 20 houses on Meadow Lane to house people affected by the ‘slum clearances’, at a cost of £6,573, but were unsuccessful. 

In 1934, Barkers were involved in the building of an office block for Genatosan, which was adjacent to the corner of Derby Road and Broad Street. The foreman at the time was Mr Fred Wootton, and one of the apprentices, aged 14 at the time was Ernest Spicer. Barkers were responsible for another Genatosan building in 1938, built on Derby Road.

At the end of 1934, the tender of Thomas Barker and Sons, Loughborough, was accepted for the erection of 14 houses at Asfordby at a cost of £4,046, and for road and sewer work in connection with the scheme at £430. [I’m wondering if these might be the houses off the main street, on Jubilee Avenue - see photos below - given that if they were actually built in 1935, this year was the silver jubilee of King George V].

The contract to build 40 houses at Market Harborough in 1934, on a road called Walcot Road was awarded to Barkers, and the cost was £13,714

Barkers tender for the contract to build a new fire station at Melton Mowbray in 1936 was not successful. The fire station was built on Nottingham Road, and was demolished in 2012, and replaced with a new building.

Melton fire station, demolished in 2012 and replaced by a new one on the same site

Barkers appear to have lost a mare in 1938, as they advertised in the Leicester Evening Mail that a bay mare of 15 hands, with 3 white legs was missing from a field on Burton Road, Ashby.

In December 1962, builders Thomas Barker and Son won the tender to construct a cafeteria, bus crews room, shelters, public conveniences, and parcels office at Loughborough’s proposed central bus station. There were 8 tenders altogether, and as part of the acceptance, the work was to be completed within 32 weeks. I assume this is the bus station that was on Biggin Street, before being demolished for The Rushes shopping complex.       

Legal-ly Things

1913 fined for not adequately marking out a sewer hole in Woodhouse while they were doing some work on a house called The Oatts in Woodhouse. The magistrate fined them 20s., including costs.

In January 1915, some lead piping valued at 4s. was stolen from the back of Mr Antil’s property on Bedford Square which Barkers were in the process of repairing.

The Workers

In 1928 a 67-year-old man who worked for Barkers in Loughborough was cycling to his home in Hathern, and had almost reached it, when he was in a collision with a car. Sadly, he died two days later.

In 1954 a 15-year-old boy became an apprentice bricklayer with Barkers, at a time when it was not compulsory to stay on at school until the age of 18. From 1959 until 1963 he, his wife, and his young daughter lived in a flat which was part of the building firm’s offices on Swan Street.

A building contractor will always be on the lookout for workers! Here are a few examples of the adverts placed in the newspapers by Barkers!

In 1912 the company were looking for someone to work in the office – a smart boy was required, and one just leaving school was preferred!

In 1915 the builder’s office required a junior assistant immediately!

In 1916 the company were looking to employ good bricklayers and labourers immediately to work on an extension of a large works – I wonder where that was?!

In 1929, “good bricklayers” had become “practical bricklayers” and “capable bricklayers”, but again, they were needed immediately!

By 1931, the standard of bricklayer needed was now “good”!

In 1950, bricklayers and labourers were invited to apply at the works site on Southfields Park, and also at the site of the Co-operative Society’s New Stores at Barrow-on-Soar.

In 1960 Barkers advertised for carpenters and joiners, and promised them good prospects.

It would appear that by 1967 the company had folded, and the builders plant machinery and stock in trade was up for auction on 6 July 1967 at Armstrong’s on Devonshire Square. This was possibly as Thomas Barker had died in 1952 and his wife, Sarah Ann in 1966.

The Social-ly Things

The company created a Welfare Club and held an annual dinner, starting in 1927. The third of the annual dinners took place at the Great Central Hotel. The workmen had contributed to a penny-in-the-pound scheme, which meant that at the dinner, they presented a cheque for £60 towards the Loughborough Hospital extension. The ninth annual dinner took place in the Bulls Head, Shelthorpe in 1935.

Miscellaneous Things

In June 1951, a voluntary works and buildings emergency organisation was being formed. The purpose was that during times of war, the organisation could arrange building and civil engineering contractors to deal with demolition, debris clearance, and repairs following damage. This was, I believe, a national initiative, and one of the leaders in the Leicestershire area was Mr Frederick Barker, of Thomas Barker and Sons, Swan Street Loughborough.

And here we must leave the story of Barkers the builders. I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). Builders Thomas Barker and Sons. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/11/builders-thomas-barker-and-sons.html  [Accessed 17 November 2024]

Take down policy:

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So Who Was Thomas Barker?

Last time on the blog I mentioned that the gates leading into the churchyard of the parish church from Steeple Row were being re-dedicated. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the event as I had already agreed to support the OH by watching him running at Prestwold Hall.

This time, I thought I’d share with you some research I’ve done into the Barker family. And very tricky it was too! The gates on the parish church were dedicated to Thomas Barker and his wife Sarah Ann, and it has taken a while to establish exactly which branch of the Barker family they were from, which of the numerous Thomas Barkers, many with similar occupations, this particular Thomas was. I do hope I’ve got it right, and huge apologies if I haven’t.

Let’s go back a few generations to Thomas’s grandparents …

Joseph (sometimes listed as Jos.) Barker had married Sarah (nee Mansfield), in All Saints Church on 1st December 1794, both having been born and brought up in Loughborough. Joseph and Sarah had numerous children, all of whom were baptised in All Saints Church, including (but there may be others) Christiana baptised 13th November 1795; Rose baptised 12th Feb 1797; Joseph baptised 13th November 1798; John baptised 6th July 1800; Mary baptised 13th November 1801; William baptised 17th June 1804; Sarah baptised 22nd Aug 1806; Charles baptised 14th November 1808.

As mentioned above, Joseph and Sarah’s son, Joseph was baptised in All Saints Church on 13th November 1798, and on 19th March 1820 he married Mary Jennings at All Saints. So far I’ve only been able to trace their children who were born from 1829 onwards, so there may well be children born earlier.

Hannah was born on 14th June 1829, and baptised at All Saints Church on 16th February 1836. Sarah was born in 1831, Henry in 1832, Lucy in 1834, and then came our Thomas, born on 8th January 1837. A further daughter, Elenar, (sometimes known as Martha Ellen, or Helen) was born in 1839 and baptised on 21st July 1844, and twins Sophia and Edward were born in 1842 and baptised on 13th February 1842. Sadly, Joseph’s wife, Mary died on 19th October 1843.

In 1851, Thomas was aged 13, and living in a yard off Baxter Gate, with his father, Joseph who was a journeyman bricklayer. Daughters Hannah and Sarah were no longer living with the family, but son Henry was now aged 19 and like his father was a bricklayer, Lucy (17), Helen (11), Edward and Sophie both aged 9 were all living with Joseph.

On 12th December 1859, Thomas Barker married Eliza Towers in the parish church of St Mary’s, Nottingham. They both lived on Island Street, Nottingham. Eliza was born in April 1838, and was the daughter of John Towers, a cordwainer. Thomas and Eliza’s first child, Mary Jane was born in January 1861 when the family were living on Pinfold Street, a few doors down from the Half Moon pub. Thomas was a bricklayer, as was his father, who was still living in a yard off Baxter Gate, with his 21-year-old daughter Martha Ellen who was a dressmaker.

Over the next ten years, Thomas, now a builder, and Eliza had a few more children! Sophia Ann in 1863, Florence Lucy in 1865, John Edward in 1867, and Ellen Maud in 1869. By 1871 Thomas was now a builder aged 34, and the whole family were living at Cemetery Place (which I think was later called Aumbry Gap). Meanwhile, Thomas’s father, Joseph was still a bricklayer aged 72, and was living with granddaughter Sophia, a hosiery warehouse hand now aged 27, and a grandson, Frederick Bradbury a blacksmith aged 20. They were living next door to, or behind the Fox Inn where William Underwood was the landlord, and the actual address seems to be 1 Court Street, or 1 Court H.

On 3rd January 1874 Thomas Barker’s father, Joseph, a bricklayer of Wards End, died at the age of 74. Joseph was buried on 6th January 1874, and the burial ceremony was performed by Octavious Glover, the rector of Emmanuel. However, probate was not granted until 9 June 1896, to Henry Barker, cabinet manufacturer. Effects were £375.

In 1876 Thomas and Eliza had another daughter, Chrissy Alberta, followed by Mabel who was born in 1879, and Thomas in 1880. By the time of the 1881 census, builder Thomas Barker, aged 44, was now employing 15 men and two boys in his business. The family, who were living at 14 Swan Street, included wife Eliza (43), Mary Jane, a dressmaker aged 20, Sophia Ann, a warehouse assistant aged 17, Florence Lucy (no occupation listed) (16), John Edward, scholar (14), Maud Ellen, scholar (12), Crissy Alberta (5), Mabel (2) and Thomas jnr. aged 11 months. Thomas and Eliza’s youngest child, Henry was born in 1884.

With the Barker family being quite extensive and Thomas having lots of siblings, and lots of children, this blogpost is concentrating on Thomas’s direct ancestors and only some of his descendants. It is relevant to this piece to mention that Thomas’s daughter, Sophia Ann married Zachariah Onions in 1886.

Thomas the builder and his family were still living at 14 Swan Street in 1891, and this appears to be next door to the Nag’s Head pub, which was demolished and replaced firstly by a Co-operative food store, and more recently by the former Wilkinsons store. The family consists of Thomas and Eliza, Mary Jane aged 30; John Edward a bricklayer, aged 24; Maud Ellen 22; Cressy Alberta 15; Mabel 12; Thomas 10 and Henry 6.

In 1892, Thomas and Eliza’s son, John Edward married Mary Elizabeth Barker in Nottingham. She was the daughter of Henry Barker, a furniture dealer in Nottingham in 1871, who had been born in Loughborough in 1833 – son of Joseph and Mary, and brother of our Thomas. Mary Elizabeth’s mother was Mary A. who was aged 31 and also born in Loughborough, and her siblings were Ernest born in 1856 in Loughborough, Alice born 1864, Charles A. born 1870, and another child (name unknown) born in 1871. Sibling Ada was born in 1876, Frank in 1877, and Selina in 1878. Alice and the other younger siblings were born in Nottingham.

Some 10 years later, in 1901, Thomas Barker and the family were still living at 14 Swan Street, by which time Thomas was aged 64 and his wife, Eliza was 63. Thomas was still a builder who had people working for him, and one of those was likely to be his son Henry now aged 16. No occupations are listed for Mary Jane now aged 40, Ellen M. 32, Chrissy A. 25, Mabel 22, but son, Thomas aged 20 is a plumber. 

Meanwhile, son John Edward was now living at Northview on Bridge Street, possibly number 21. He was a 34-year-old employing builder. His wife was Mary Elizabeth aged 39, who had been born in Nottingham, and they had several children - Albert Edward aged 7, Frederick aged 5, and Eric aged 4.

On 14th November 1902 Eliza Barker (nee Towers), wife of Thomas, and mother of Mary Jane, Ellen, Sophie Ann (married an Onions), Florence Lucy, John Edward, Maud Ellen (or Ellen Maud), Chrissy Alberta, Mabel, Thomas, and Henry died. She was buried at Leicester Road cemetery on 17th November 1902.

By 1911, the widowed Thomas Barker aged 74 had retired from the building trade, but was still living at 14 Swan Street with daughters Mary Jane (aged 50), and Ellen Maud (aged 42) and son Henry, now aged 26, who was a builder and contractor employing people, as was Henrys brother, John Edward, 44, recorded on the census as a builder and contractor employing people. He, and his wife Mary, 49, were still living at Northview on Bridge Street, with children Albert Edward 17, Frederick 15, Eric 14, and Olive Eliza 8.

John Edward, now aged 54, and his family were still living on Bridge Street in 1921. His occupation was listed as a building contractor and employer, with Thomas Barker & Sons, and his two sons, Frederick 25, and Eric 24, are both working for the company. Frederick being a joiner, Eric a bricklayer. John Edward’s wife Mary Elizabeth was now aged 60, and daughter Olive Eliza, still living at home was aged 18.

By the time of the 1921 census, Thomas Barker was aged 84, still retired from the building trade, and still living at 14 Swan Street with daughters Mary Jane and Ellen Maud. Thomas died on 24th March 1922. Probate was granted on 28 July 1922 to John Edward Barker, Thomas Barker, and Henry Barker, builders. Effects were £6,493 11s. Thomas was buried at Leicester Road cemetery.

The following year, on 26th October 1923, Thomas and Eliza’s daughter, Sophia Ann Onions, who lived on Derby Road, died. Probate was granted on 20th March 1930 to Zachariah Onions (the younger), an engineer, and effects were £498 10s.. Thomas and Eliza’s daughter Maud died on 1st April 1929.

On 7th November 1933 Mary Elizabeth Barker, wife of John Edward Barker died at 70 Forest Road. Probate was granted 10th May 1934 to John Edward Barker. Effects were £87 8s. 5d..

John Edward Barker, son of Thomas and Eliza, died on 13th April 1945. He is buried in Leicester Road cemetery. His son, Albert Edward Barker, who was born in 1894, died in 1963 at Loughborough Hospital, a couple of days after collapsing. At the time of his death, he was a senior partner in the building firm.

John Edward’s brother, Thomas, aged 72, died on 4th September 1952, at Loughborough General Hospital. Probate was granted on 15th November 1952 to his wife Sarah Ann, and John Cockerill and Edward Wood, both bank cashiers. Effects were £15,641 18s. 5d.. Thomas’s wife, Sarah Ann died on 12th February 1966, aged 71. She left £5,497 2s. 7d. gross.  

It was John Edward Barker, son of Thomas and Eliza, who with his brothers and sisters who had desired to offer wrought iron gates to the parish church authorities in memory of their father and mother, and also of their sister Sophia Ann.

Although this post does not follow the life and death of all members of the family, and certainly the last bit is somewhat morose, I hope this has given a little insight into the family. Next time on the blog I'll probably be able to tell you some of the buildings they were responsible for building!

 ____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). So Who Was Thomas Barker? Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/11/so-who-was-thomas-barker.html [Accessed 10 November 2024]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

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Remembrance 2024

Sadly, this year I have been unable to attend the annual Service of Remembrance which takes place in our beautiful Queen's Park, under the watchful gaze of our wonderful war memorial, the Carillon. It's always a poignant service, and serves to remind us all of who we lost so we can be here today, and to remind us to look after each other, now and in the future

I visited the park earlier in the week, and was truly amazed by the fantastic poppy display that rose up from the ground, and swirled around the trunk of a tree that lines that path to the Carillon! Members of the Loughborough in Bloom group, aided by many individuals and volunteer groups, created the 6,500 poppies that make up the display!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2024). Remembrance 2024. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/11/remembrance-2024.html [Accessed 10 November 2024]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne