20 Ainsworth Street

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Number 20 is one of a terrace of seven houses on the east side of Ainsworth Street.

1881 census

Henry Vail, head, 29, bricklayer, b. Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire
Hannah, Vail, wife, 31, b. Gt Abington, Cambridgeshire
Catherine Vail, daughter, 8, scholar, b. Gt Abington, Cambridgeshire
Rosannah Vail, daughter, 7, scholar, b. Gt Abington, Cambridgeshire
Florence Vail, daughter, 5, scholar, b. Cambridge
Alice Vail, daughter, 3, b. Cambridge

Henry Vail is on the Electoral Register for 1888 at this property. After his death in 1889, the family moved to 5 Ainsworth Street by 1891, 10 Ainsworth Street by 1901, and 25 Ainsworth Street by 1905.

1891 census

Edgar Smith, head, 33, coal yard labourer, b. Sudbury, Suffolk
Eliza Smith, wife, 32, b. Sudbury, Suffolk
Laura Smith, daughter, 11, scholar, b. Kentish Town, London
Gertrude Smith, daughter, 9, scholar, b. Kentish Town, London
Nellie Smith, daughter, 7, scholar, b. Cambridge
Precilla Smith, daughter, 1, b. Cambridge

In 1897 Edgar Smith was in the news because of a workplace accident (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, 26 Mar 1897):

A FRACTURED KNEE. – On Saturday, Edgar Smith, aged 39, a coal dealer, of 20 Ainsworth Street, when jumping into a cart caught his knee against the side and fractured the cap. He was removed to the Hospital.

1901 census

James Pratt, head, 26, carman for builder, b. Cambridge
Emily J Pratt, wife, 22, b. Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire
Henry J Pratt, son, 3 months, b. Cambridge

The Pratt family had moved next door to 18 Ainsworth Street by 1911.

The Electoral Register for 1908–1909 shows a Horace William Pleasance registered at 20 Ainsworth Street.

1911 census

Robert Asby, head, 38, brick layer, builders, b. Cambridge
Esther Asby, wife, 36, b. Cambridge
Charles Asby, son, 10, b. Cambridge
Robert Asby, son, 9, b. Cambridge
Beatrice Asby, daughter, 7, b. Cambridge
Leonard Asby, son, 3, b. Cambridge
Sidney Asby, son, 1, b. Cambridge

Robert Asby had married Esther Barton in 1900, and in 1901 they lived at 110 York Street with their baby Charlie Barton Asby.

By 1911, as recorded in the Census, they had had six children, one of whom had died. This was their son Stanley Owen Asby, who died in 1906.

A news report from 1912 tells us that nos. 18 and 20 did not yet have modern toilets (Cambridge Daily News, 9 July 1912):

SANITARY REQUIREMENTS – The Public Health Committee report that at their meeting it was agreed that notices be served under the Public Health Act, 1875, calling upon the owners of the under-mentioned premises, viz: … 18 and 20 Ainsworth Street … to provide proper and sufficient lavatory accommodation to their respective premises [and] abate the nuisances existing there.

Eldest son Charles Asby joined the 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (1st Sportsman’s) as a Private towards the end of World War I. His service records are missing, but he shows up on the records of the 139th Field Ambulance. Charlie, now 19, had tonsillitis and was transferring to the 37th Casualty Clearing Station on the 4 June 1919. At this time the 37th CCS was in Deutz near Cologne.

1921 census

Robert Asby, head, 47, bricklayer, Norman Cement Factory, b. Cambridge
Esther Asby, wife, 45, household duties, b. Cambridge
Robert Barton Asby, son, 19, cement labourer, Saxon Cement Factory, b. Cambridge
Beatrice Barton Asby, daughter, 17, part day work, domestic, b. Cambridge
Leonard Asby, son, 14, b. Cambridge
Sidney Asby, son, 11, b. Cambridge
Frank Asby, son, 9, b. Cambridge
Kathleen Adah Asby, daughter, 7, b. Cambridge
Harry Asby, son, 4, b. Cambridge
Fred Asby, son, 1, b. Cambridge

In 1921 Robert Asby worked as a bricklayer for Norman Cement Company in Cherry Hinton, while his son Robert was a cement labourer for Saxon Cement Factory, also in Cherry Hinton. Both companies were owned by British Portland Cement Ltd.

Charles Asby had left home by 1921 and was living with his maternal uncle, Charles Barton, in Lambeth, working as a packer for Crocker’s Ltd, a wholesale draper. In 1931 he married Ivy Baker, and they lived at 74 York Street. Charlie worked as a wine cellarman.

Robert Asby (the younger) married Hilda Mary Chandler in 1926. At this time, he was working as a coal porter. On the 1939 Register they were living in March with their son Ronald. Robert was a railway telegraph wirer.

Beatrice Asby married Herbert Richardson in May 1926. In 1939 they were living at 80 Hobart Road. Herbert was a locomotive fireman.

Leonard Asby married May George (from 38 Ainsworth Street) in 1931. They appear on the 1939 Register living at 44 Cam Causeway with their four children. Leonard was a builder’s bricklayer. He enlisted in 1940 with the Royal Engineers. On 3 August that year he was reported missing (rank of Lance Corporal). There is a follow-up record for 12 October to say he was no longer missing.

Sidney Asby married Alice Maud Matthews in 1936 and they moved to 34 Ainsworth Street. Sidney was a bricklayer.

Frank Asby died in 1928, aged 16.

Kathleen Asby married Stephen Tedder, a carpenter, in 1938. The marriage record shows that Kathleen was working as shop assistant at the time.

Fred Asby died in 1923, aged 2 (Saffron Walden Weekly News, 16 Mar 1923):

Fred Asby – In the presence of a number of sympathisers, the remains of Fred Asby, the little son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Asby, of 20 Ainsworth Street, were laid to rest in the Borough Cemetery on March 3rd. The boy passed away after only four days illness, loved by all for his winsome ways.

1939 register

Robert Asby, b. 7 Jan 1871, bricklayer
Esther Asby, b. 29 Nov 1875, housewife
Harry Asby, b. 6 Oct 1916, single, hairdresser
Hilda Asby, b. 11 May 1921, single, preserve labeller for factory food

Hilda Asby married Francis Johnson in 1941.

Robert died in 1942, aged 71, but that’s not the last we hear of him (Cambridge Daily News, 26 June 1954):

Grandson Finds Link With Grandfather – Coincidence can play peculiar tricks. This is something that 18-year-old Malcolm Aby, and apprentice bricklayer employed by Kerridge (Cambridge) Ltd., discovered when he was working at Trinity College this week.

Working on a turret at the College he delved into the crumbling brickwork and found a small tin. Inside it, he found a small piece of paper, yellow with age and only three inches square, bearing a date, 1908, and the name R.B. Randal and R. Asby.

Here comes the coincidence – Mr. R. Asby was Malcolm’s grandfather!

Malcolm’s grandmother, Mrs. R. Asby, who lives at 20 Ainsworth Street, told the Cambridge Daily News that it was a custom amongst bricklayers, when doing a job, to write their names on a piece of paper and bury it on the site. Mr. R. Asby was a first-class bricklayer, the equivalent to a foreman-bricklayer today, and was employed for most of his life by Sindall’s.

Esther Asby died in 1955.

Sources: UK census records (1881 to 1921), 1939 Register, Civil Registration Death Index (1916–2007), Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers (1722–1966), British Armed Forces – First World War Soldiers’ Medical Records, Cambridgeshire Marriages, British Army – Royal Engineers 1900–1949, www.forces-war-records.co.uk , Forces War Records, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, Cambridge Daily News, Saffron Walden Weekly News

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