In 1841, the village was a small farming community, with houses scattered across the countryside, which was typical of rural England in the early Victorian period. Population density was low, with an equal number of males and females.
Giving Up Housekeeping
Whilst looking for information on her daughter’s marriage in 1917, I stumbled across this intriguing advertisement in the newspaper placed by Alice Ann Glaister (nee White) the same year:
“TUESDAY, 27th NOVEMBER,
At 2 o’clock.
On the Premises, No. 17 Springhill road, Mornington (off Glen avenue).
Instructed by Mrs Glaister, who is giving up housekeeping…”
…followed by an impressive list of household possessions.
I had not heard the expression, ‘giving up housekeeping’ before but it seems to refer to a time when people are no longer able to maintain their own home and need to ‘give up’ or sell their possessions.
Alice’s husband was coachbuilder, William Glaister, who died 9 November, and was buried 11 November 1917. A couple of weeks later, Alice was auctioning off her household furniture and furnishings from her home at 17 Springhill Road – where the couple had lived since at least 1890. (Their daughter, Mary, had even married at the address earlier that year.)
Interestingly, the family had starting advertising the home to be let as early as 20 October 1917. William was suffering from stomach cancer and the family probably knew his time was coming to an end and so were making preparations for the future.
In 1933, 16 years after William’s death, Alice died ‘at the residence of her daughter, 616 Cumberland Street’. But which daughter? She had had seven daughters and two sons.
Alice’s second youngest daughter, Ada, was recorded at the Springhill Road residence with her parents in 1914. Ada would remain a spinster so this seems an obvious choice of family member to live with.
However, electoral records show that the home she died in was that of her eldest daughter, Laura, who had married Alfred Burns in 1908. The electoral rolls show her living there with her husband in 1931 and 1935.
Why not Ada Victoria?
Alice and Ada had been recorded moving from place to place together since 1919.
- 1919 – Hugh Street, Sawyers Bay (near Port Chalmers) (daughter Barbara was nearby in Glendermid – possibly even the same house)
- 1922 – 14 Maitland Street
- 1925 – 8 Jones Street
- 1928 – 8 Jones Street, then 117 Dundas Street
- 1931 – 117 Dundas Street
14 Maitland Street appeared to be some kind of boarding house based on advertisements in the newspapers.
8 Jones Street was let as a 4-room house in 1924 – perhaps this was the ad seen by Alice and Ada when planning their move from Maitland Street?
117 Dundas Street appeared to be owned (and lived in) by an Alfred Edwin Maitland and his family until at least 1949. There appears to be no family relationship to the Glaisters so perhaps they were simply renting a room?
In 1935, Ada was still at 117 Dundas Street and remained there for at least a few more years. This suggests she had not also been living in her sister’s house when Alice died in 1933. Ada may have had some form of employment which meant she could not care for her ailing mother, but no profession was given in the electoral rolls. Alice and Ada were described throughout the electoral rolls only as ‘widow’ and ‘spinster’, but this, along with, ‘married’, seemed to be the case for all the women on the page.
Although the phrase ‘giving up housekeeping’ had initially caught my attention, it led me to a valuable insight into my 2nd great grandmother’s life after her husband died and illustrated how much her circumstances changed. Alice went from having her own 7-bedroom home for about three decades, to moving between various rentals and boarding houses, possibly relying on her daughters for support.
A map of Alice Glaister’s residences from 1917 can be seen here.
A Patriarchal Family
From the Suffolk Chronicle, 22 October 1870:
“A PATRIARCHAL FAMILY.—A family named Prentice, living in Flowton and Bricet, seems to be of remarkably good stuff. The hero of the quartette, Robert, living at Bricet, is 95; Henry and John, living at Flowton, are a couple of boys aged 89 and 82 respectively; and Mary, living at Bricet, is 77—the average age is 85 years, nine months.”
This little snippet about the Prentice family of Great Bricett and Flowton is very informative, although not entirely correct.
All four mentioned were baptised at Great Bricett. Robert was baptised 1781, Henry in 1786, John in 1791, and Mary in 1803 (although born in 1800). They all appear to be siblings but Mary’s parentage is unclear (father’s name not recorded).
Children were not always baptised soon after their birth (such as in Mary’s case) but in this case, Robert seems to have been. He was baptised early 1781 and considering his parents were married the previous year, 1780/1 seems a likely birth year.
This would make Robert 90 at the time of this article, not 95. Henry’s age was closer to 85 than 89; John’s was 79 rather than 82; and Mary’s was 70 rather than 77.
They probably did believe these to be the correct ages though, since they match the ages given 6 months later in the 1871 census. (Except for Mary, whose age was given as 73.)
All four died within 8 years of the article being published – Robert in 1871, Henry in 1874, John in 1875, and Mary in 1878.
Robert and Mary were buried in Great Bricett churchyard and Henry and John were buried at Flowton (about 4 miles southwest of Great Bricett).
A Week at Bricett
This postcard shows the interior of Great Bricett church, facing the altar.
The stamp shows the postcard was received/processed at Great Bricett post office on 16 September 1929, and was addressed to:
Miss Edith Robinson
Trickers Green
Combs
Nr Stowmarket
Suffolk
The note reads:
Dear Edie
We are just having a week at Bricett. How is the harvest work going on
Dearest Love,
Ruth
Fortunately, I was able to find an Edith Robinson living at Trickers Green, Combs in 1911, who just happened to have a younger sister named Ruth. The girls, their parents, and their brothers were all born in Combs meaning there was no apparent connection to Great Bricett.
However Ruth uses ‘we’, and since further investigation shows she married in 1920, it seemed highly likely her travel companion was her husband.
And this is where the Bricett connection lies – Ruth’s husband, Stanley Kitchener Barton, was born in Great Bricett.
Stanley was born and baptised in Great Bricett, as were both his parents, Willie Barton and Eliza Sayers. His parents had even stood at the altar featured in the postcard when they married in 1891.
Willie and Eliza lived almost their entire lives in Great Bricett. After Eliza died in 1936, Willie appears to have lived with daughter Evelyn for a time at Great Blakenham, before becoming a patient at Stow Lodge Hospital in Onehouse, and apparently dying there 1940. Willie and Eliza are both buried in Bricett churchyard.
Stanley and Ruth married at Combs in 1920 and settled at Woodbridge where Stanley worked as a chauffeur and motor driver. His father, Willie, had worked as a groom and domestic coachman, so Stanley’s career seems to have followed the modern progression of the trade.
When the postcard was sent in 1929, the couple were likely staying with Stanley’s parents on New Road (now B1078).
More details of Stanley Barton and his family can be found on WikiTree
Research Note: In the 1891 census, Eliza was recorded as a servant in the Makens household at Ringshall, while Willie was recorded as a visitor of Eliza’s parents at Great Bricett. They would marry later that year. In 1921, Willie was recorded as an employee of Miss K. Makens, Ringshall.
A Cup of Tea
This postcard featuring a view of Bricett Hall was shared with me late last year.
The postmark on the reverse is very faint but appears to have been posted July 1938, and addressed to:
Mrs. Gomm
10, Garrick Road
Greenford.
Middx.
The note reads:
Griffen: House
Monday evening
Dear Elsie,
Arrived here 6.15 had an easy ride with the wind all the way, called at Mrs Proctor’s for a cup of tea she was very pleased. Taint arf quiet here. Had a sleep all afternoon in a cornfield, wasn’t arf good, am sleeping here tonight may go to sea-side tomorrow Love to all
Gilbert
Gilbert and Elsie Gomm were both recorded at the address on the postcard in the 1939 register. The couple had married in 1931, and since both had also been born in the London area, there appeared to be no link to Great Bricett.
However, after receiving the postcard I blogged about recently, I noticed both involved the surname Gomm. It turns out that Gilbert was the son of the sender of the previous postcard, Ernest Gomm, and the Bricett miller’s daughter, Cinderella Clark! An amazing coincidence considering the postcards had been shared by different owners.
Gilbert writes from ‘Griffen House’. This would not be the property currently named Griffin House, but more likely to be the buildings that used to be the Griffin Inn. His uncle, Herbert Clark, was recorded living at Griffin Cottage the following year, so Gilbert was probably staying there.
The Mrs Proctor who Gilbert visited for a cup of tea, could be Gladys Proctor (nee Lazenby), who was recorded living on Griffin Hill in 1939. She was the widow of George Andrew Proctor, a farm labourer, who had died two years previously.
Or it could have been Elizabeth Proctor (nee Richardson). Elizabeth and her husband Andrew George Proctor, an agricultural labourer, were living on The Green of Great Bricett in 1939. These were the parents of the above Gladys Proctor’s deceased husband.
OR it could have been a completely different Mrs Proctor that he visited on the way.
Either way, Gilbert seemed to have a lovely time in the area – sleeping in a cornfield seems a very relaxing way to spend the day.
More details of Gilbert Gomm, Gladys Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and their families can be found on WikiTree
*Another amazing coincidence while researching this postcard:
A few years ago, a friend recalled that a great aunt of his had lived in Bricett – the Gladys Proctor likely referred to in the postcard was this same woman!