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6 Hooper Street
A house with a workshop used by a dairyman, blacksmiths and car mechanics
6 Hooper Street, also called 1 Belgrave Terrace, was built in the 1870s. Behind the house there was once a workshop and yard with a cart entrance, now replaced by a modern house. Within recent decades it was used by a car mechanic for bodywork and welding.
1881 census
Henry Hymus, 61, dairy man, b. Horseheath, Cambridgeshire
Elizabeth Hymus, 56, b. Hundon, Suffolk
Rachel Hymus, 22, dressmaker, b. Balsham, Cambridgeshire
Lucy Hymus, 18, dressmaker, b. Needham Market, Suffolk
Henry Hymus had previously been a miller at the Old Mill, Hitcham, Suffolk.
In the Kelly’s Directory of 1883, Henry Hymus was listed under the heading ‘Dairymen and cowkeepers’, as was his neighbour at no. 8, Jonathan Dring. Henry’s address in 1883 was given as 3 Hooper Street; this is presumably the house next door (now no. 5), which was under construction in 1881.
His daughters Rachel and Lucy were working as dressmakers. The following advert appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle of 14 October 1887:
1891 census
F [Frederick] J Smith, 25, blacksmith, b. Cottenham, Cambridgeshire
Mary A Smith, 23, b. Haddenham, Cambridgeshire
Elsie Smith, 4 months, b. Walthamstow, London
Appropriately, Frederick Smith was a blacksmith, and he used the outbuildings and yard behind the house.
1901 census
Jabez Cornwell, 46, coal merchant’s manager, b. Horseheath, Cambridgeshire
Elizabeth Cornwell, 48, b. West Wratting, Cambridgeshire
Florence Cornwell, 16, mantle maker and tailor, b. Cambridge
Jabez was a coal dealer’s agent for R. Coller and Sons (Cambridge Daily News advert, 15 August 1900). In 1891 the family had lived at 125 Hills Road, where Jabez worked at Beale’s coalyard.
1911 census
David Moden, 45, farrier and general smith, b. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
Laura Moden, 44, b. Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire
Sidney Moden, 24, farrier and general smith, b. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
Jane Moden, 19, domestic servant, b. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
Agnes Moden, 11, at school, b. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
Matilda Moden, 8, at school, b. Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
25 years married, 6 children
David and Sidney Moden were farriers/blacksmiths running their own business in the back yard. David and Laura retired to Cherry Hinton and were still living there in 1939.
1921 census
William R Finbow, head, 39, motor haulage contractor, own account, at home, b. Wethersfeld, Suffolk
Annie Finbow, wife, 41, home duties, b. Netherton, Worcestershire
Harold Finbow, son, 16, motor car apprentice, at home, b. Cambridge
Herbert Finbow, son, 15, plumber’s apprentice, for Mr Harper, plumber, 5 Hooper Street, b. Cambridge
Cyril Finbow, son, 13, b. Cambridge
Olive Finbow, daughter, 8, b. Cambridge
In 1911 the Finbow family had lived at 41 Kingston Street, and William was working as a cab driver. By the early 1920s, at 6 Hooper Street, William was running a furniture removal business, Finbow & Sons, which continued into the late 1940s. In 1939 the inhabitants of no. 6 were the Finbows’ son Herbert, his wife Connie and their children.
From 1964 the workshop behind the house was used by Mill Road Engineering Co, motor engineers.
Sources
UK census records (1841 to 1921), General Register Office birth, marriage and death indexes (1837 onwards), the 1939 England and Wales Register, electoral registers, trade directories, and local newspapers available via www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.
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