35 Abbey Walk

A coach builder and a Post Office engineer

35 Abbey Walk is one of a terrace of six houses built in the 1890s and referred to as Rosa Terrace in some early census records.

1901 census for 4 Rosa Terrace, Abbey Walk

Frederick J Howlett, head, 31, wheelwright, b. Cambridge
Martha Howlett, wife, 31, b. Cambridge

1911 census for 35 Abbey Walk

Frederick John Howlett, head, 41, coach builder, b. Cambridge
Martha Howlett, wife, 41, b. Cambridge
Dorothy Elizabeth Howlett, daughter, 8, b. Cambridge
Nellie Winifred Howlett, daughter, 6, b. Cambridge
Married 15 years, 2 children

Kelly’s and Spalding’s trade directories from 1900 to at least 1975 mention the yard and works of Bryant and Howlett, cart builders (in earlier records), coach builders and wheelwrights. The premises would have been at the southern end of Abbey Walk behind the Dobblers Inn. Frederick Howlett’s business partner was Henry Bryant, a master coach builder from Great Bardfield, Essex, who lived at 175 and then 174 Sturton Street from 1891 until at least 1939. His son Sidney also became a coach builder.

In 1939 Frederick Howlett and his second wife Abigail were living at 196 Sturton Street.

1921 census for 35 Abbey Walk

William Strangward, head, 47, parcel carman, Gt Eastern Railway, b. Cambridge
Emily Strangward, wife, 46, home duties, b. Quy, Cambridgeshire
Frederick Strangward, son, 23, labourer, G E Railway, b. Cambridge
Hilda Strangward, daughter, 24, knitting machinist, A R C Knitting Co., Abbey Walk, b. Cambridge
Isabel Strangward, daughter, 21, house work, private, b. Cambridge
Grace Strangward, daughter, 15, dressmaker, for Mrs E Danby, dressmaker, Milton Rd, b. Cambridge
Eva Strangward, daughter, 13, b. Cambridge
Emily Strangward, daughter, 7, b. Cambridge

1939 England and Wales register

Emily M Strangward, 19 Oct 1874, married, unpaid domestic duties
Emily F Halls, 11 Jan 1914, married, unpaid domestic duties
Frank E Halls, 3 May 1913, married, instrument adjuster PO eng. (heavy worker)

In 1939 Emily Strangward’s husband William was visiting their daughter Grace and her husband William Gunning in Norwich. He was a retired carman for LNER. Emily Halls was the youngest of their seven children, and had married Frank Halls in 1937.  In 1911, before Emily’s birth, the Strangward family had lived at 175 Sturton Street.

In 1966, according to the electoral register, the inhabitants were Cyril and Dorothy Woor. They had lived at 20 Milford Street in the 1930s-1950s, when Cyril worked as a milkman.

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, and Kelly’s and Spalding’s street directories.