Vol 12.1 STATION ROAD Part 5

Non-Hampton & Richmond Borough related posts.
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Les1949
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Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:59 pm

HAMPTON, AROUND AND ABOUT

Things you may not know, or didn’t know you knew!

No 1 STATION ROAD Part 5
The oldest buildings on Station Road

So, where were we when the 2020/21 season came to a crashing halt last February. Oh yes, I had been meandering down Station Road and this was supposed to follow on from the previous four. Onwards.

For this, the final article in this ‘mini-series’, time to look at the block of buildings just beside the entrance to Beaver Close. The ‘block’ comprises of three different units; three cottages, Barrack Row and Queens Bench Cottages.

Nos 40,42 & 44 are 3 cottages, one of which, no 44, originally called Vine Cottage, which probably dates from some time in the 17th century, the other two are slightly younger and were originally numbered 1 & 2 Feltham Cottages –after James Feltham an earlier owner. The 1891 census records that Harriett Sharp was living in no 1 and is described as ‘living on her own means’, son, William, was a carpenter. Next door was John Feaver, a bricklayer. Frustratingly, Vine Cottage is not identified in the census! Currently these three cottages are occupied by Duncan & Julia, Pippa and Marianne – who remembers when, before Viking Court was built, there were several Orchards on that site.

Barrack Row has been known under several names, including Jessamine Cottages and New Street Row. In 1891 a varied number of people occupied this block. James Hanley, a Coachman/Groom; Frederick Dormer, a Boat Decorator; George Turner, a Boat Builder (with a boat decorator living next door!); James Ryan, an Engine Driver at the Waterworks; William Dormer, another Engine Driver; John Sullivan was an Army pensioner, whilst his son, John, was a Fly Driver/Groom. So, you have a range of occupations showing the change from horse transport to mechanised engines and boat building.
A snapshot showing the change from old to new. Ten years on and John Sullivan is still living in Barrack Row, whilst son, John, is no longer working with horses but is an Engine Polisher – times have changed.

In the 1860s, the first house in Barrack Row, no 46, was the original Police Station in Hampton, the small building in front, which looks like a garage, was originally the stable for the police horses.

In 1891 the inhabitants of Queens Bench were a mixture. Several labourers, a photographer Robert Bates (that name rings a bell), and Charlie Williams, a Watchman. In the 1901 census, Robert Bates is still busy snapping away.

Incidentally, I am not deliberately ignoring Women, unfortunately, most of them are either recorded as ‘wife’, ‘living on own means’ or ‘domestic’ – typical of the late 19th century. Most women were not regarded as other than domestics or ‘chattel’, it would be many years before that situation changed,


The Old Historian
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