I was just looking at the Hunt & Co. and Silverthorne directories for Bath and Bristol for 1848 and 1846 respectively and thought it would be interesting to see what went on in the village around then – what was it like on Combe Down around 1846 – 1848? Who is mentioned? What trades and professions?
The problem is that, unlike later Kelly’s directories that locate a place and then show the people living there plus their occupations etc. these earlier directories are alphabetical and by class, so it’s not so simple to get an idea of what was going on.
Luckily, in this age of the internet you can find ‘electronic’ copies of most things, which makes it easier to do a search and then……
So that’s what I did, using Google books for Hunt & Co. 1848 and a PDF for Silverthorne 1846.
The results are below and provide an interesting snapshot of some of the people who lived and worked here.
I find a number of things interesting, compared to today. For example the use of ‘nobility and gentry’ and people describing themselves as ‘gent’. The boarding and day schools situated in private houses. The fact that there were actually shops in the village (!) – no cars or supermarkets then. Additionally, given the total population of 1,600 – 1,750 there are, unlike say the old telephone directories, actually very few people listed. One other thing is the blacksmith. In Silverthorne’s of 1846 it is George Humphries but by Hunt & Co of 1848 it is Harriett Humphries – presumably his wife or daughter. But, was she the owner or did she actually smith? It would be interesting to know.
The census’ for 1841 and 1851 also give a picture and are shown below the directory findings.
Some interesting things were going on with property on Combe Down around this time. John Ovens Thomas (1778 – 1836), the eldest son of John Thomas, the owner of Prior Park had died 10 years earlier but in 1846 his trustees decided to sell much of the land he had inherited from his father as well as some of his ground rents. The land, as can be seen from the estate sale notice below included the farm next door to St. Michael and All Angels Church at Monkton Combe, a number of fields near the Dundas Acqueduct and Midford Brook as well as ground rents for the Tyning Road area, The Brow, and Tyning Place.
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John Ovens Thomas estate sale – Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Thursday 16 April 1846 |
It also included the land from North Road to Church Road as the map below shows, The map also gives a really good idea of what this area of Combe Down was like in 1846.
Hunts & Co 1848
Nobility, Gentry, &c.
- Baskett Mrs. Sarah, 6, De Montalt place, Combe down
- Crawley Rev. Edm. Jones, Combe grove villa, Monckton Combe
- Freestun Capt. Humphrey, Mayfield, Combe down
- Jenkins Vaughan, Combe grove, Combe down – also Magistrate, For The Bath Division Of The County Of Somersetshire.
- Newnham Rev. George William, Parsonage house, Combe down
- Palethorpe Edward, De Montalt cottage, Combe down
- Price William, 1, Claremont bldgs Combe down
- Richmond Rev. Henry, Combe down
- Sheen Miss Emma, 2, Isabella pl. Combe down
- Steart Augustus Wm. 5, De Montalt place, Combe down
- Steart Mrs. Maria, 5, De Montalt place, Combe down
- Tanner Miss Fanny, 1, South parade, Combe down
- Tanner Mrs. Sarah, 1, South parade, Combe down
- Walters Miss Mary, 5, Isabella pl. Combe down
Other
- Aslat Mary, lodging house keeper, Claremont house, Combe down
- Bending Thomas tailor, Combe down
- Brooks William, beer retailer and smith, Combe down
- Bull Margaretta, boarding & day school, Prospect pL Combe down
- Clarke Robert, painter, plumber, &c. and grocery dealer, Combe Down
- Cook William, grocery dealer and butcher, 3, Prospect place, Combe Down
- Davidge George, quarry master, Combe down
- Edwards Samuel, beer retailer and grocery dealer, 1, Prospect pl Combe down
- Ewens Frances, lodging house keeper, Combe down
- Forward George, grocery, &c. dealer, 4, Prospect pl. Combe down
- Franckling Wm. travelling stationer, Combe down
- Garrett Samuel, haulier, Combe down
- Giles Thomas, grocery dealer, and butcher 3, Park place, Combe down
- Harding William, surgeon, 3, Claremont buildings, Combe down
- Hewlett Anne Batchelor, boarding and day school, 11, De Montalt place, Combe down
- Humphries Harriett, blacksmith, Combe down
- Hunt James, grocery dealer, Brunswick place, Combe down
- Lacey Robert, haulier, Combe down
- Margerum Robert, grocery dealer, and beer retailer, Combe down
- Massy Hugh Nelson, surgeon, Combe down
- Payne John, overseer of the parish of Monkton Combe, Park villa, Combe down
- Radburn George, quarry master, Combe down
- Rawlings William, Carriage Inn, Combe down
- Ricketts Charles, carpenter & joiner, Combe down
- Salter Job, 1, Priory cottages, Combe down
- Spence Samuel, Hadley Arms, and quarry master, Combe down
- Stinnard & Ford, quarry masters, Combe down
- Stodart John, 2, Claremout buildings, Combe down
- Sumsion Isaac, quarry master, 1, Park place, Combe down
- Vincent William, boot & shoe maker, 9, Cheap street — p. r. Combe down
- Whitaker William, boot and shoe maker, Combe down
- Wren Thomas Jay, short hand writer, and stationer, Combe down
Churches
Trinity, Combe down. — Sunday, 11 morn. and 6 even. Sacrament administered the first Sunday in the month. Rector, Rev. George Newnham. Curate, -Rev. D. Topham.
Chapels
- Independent, Combe down. Sunday 3 aft. and 6 even. Ministers various.
- Wesleyan, Combe down. Sunday 6 even. Ministers various.
Schools
National (boys and girls) Combe down. Master, Samuel Hellier.
Silverthorne 1846
- Alien Thomas Nelson, messenger at Guildhall; residence, Combe down
- Barnes George, greengrocer, Combe down
- Batchelor Arthur, grocer and provision warehouse, Combe down
- Bending John, tailor and publican, Combe down
- Burgess John, quarry master, Combe down
- Burgess Mrs. Mary, Woodbine place, Combe down
- Byfield J., quarry-master, Crossway place, Combe down
- Clarke Robert, plumber, glazier, &c., I, Park place, Combe down
- Cooke William, grocer, Combe down
- Corbould John, mourning establishment, 32, Milsom street; residence, 4, lsabella place, Combe down
- Davidge Sarah, publican, Combe down
- Dayer Mrs. Hannah, Three Crowns, Combe down
- Dill John Michael, lodgings, Green-Down house, Combe Down
- Downey John, Brass-Knocker inn, Combe
- Edwards Samuel, baker and grocer, Combe down
- Heal George, Carriage inn and tavern, Combe down
- Hewlett Miss Ann Batchelor, ladies’ seminary, 11, Demontalt place, Combe down
- Hine Thomas, brewer, and wine and spirit vaults, Combe down brewery
- Humphries George, blacksmith, Combe down
- Hunt James, grocer and tea-dealer, Combe down
- Lewis James, surgeon Combe down
- Loscomb Mrs. Mary Anne, lodgings, Woodbine place, Combe down
- Luff John, boot and shoe maker, Combe down
- Newnham Rev. George William, Combe down parsonage, Combe down
- Osburne Mrs. Col., 2, lsabella place, Combe down
- Palethorpe Edward, gent., Demontalt cot., Combe down
- Price William, gent., 1, Claremont bdgs., Combe down
- Prince Mrs. Henry, 1, Isabella place, Combe down
- Russell Henry, gardener, Combe down
- Sheppard William, quarryman, Crossway house, Combe down
- Steart Mrs. Maria, 5, De Montalt place, Combe down
- Stroud Thomas, gent., Combe down
- Sumsion Samuel, quarry-master, Combe down
- Tanner Thomas, gent., l, South parade, Combe down
- Vincent William, boot and shoe maker, 9, Cheap street; residence, 2, Priory cottages, Combe down
- Weaver William, butcher, Combe down
- White Benjamin, gent., 2, Park place, Combe down
- Wren Thomas Jay, Greendown cottage, Combe down
Clergy
- Quarrell Rev. R., Brow-hill house, Combe down
1841 CENSUS LIST OF PROPERTIES
Monkton Combe, District 8: 149 properties, 362 males and 435 females giving a total population of 797
Monkton Combe, District 9: 50 properties, 164 males and 169 females giving a total population of 313
Lyncombe & Widcombe, District 9: 95 properties, 232 males and 258 females giving a total population of 490
Combe Down: 294 properties, 758 males and 862 females giving a total population of 1,600
1851 CENSUS LIST OF PROPERTIES
Monkton Combe, District 1a: 25 properties, 196 males and 200 females giving a total population of 396
Monkton Combe, District 1b: 205 properties, 412 males and 461 females giving a total population of 873
Lyncombe & Widcombe, District 1i: 109 properties, 221 males and 248 females giving a total population of 469
Combe Down: 339 properties, 829 males and 909 females giving a total population of 1,738