Little Trinity , Cambridge

16 Jesus Lane, Kimbold’s tenement, Little Trinity

History of 16 Jesus Lane

A B Gray in Cambridge Revisited notes that the site was called Kimbold’s tenement in the reign of Elizabeth I. There was originally a small thatched cottage on the site until; 1650 when a Mr Amthill, under lease from Jesus College, built a house there.

1657 – 1672 leased to Thomas Fox I, grandfather of Thomas Fox III.

According to Evelyn Lord, The Great Plague, p.102, Dr William Floyd lived at Little Trinity circa 1664-5.

In 1738, Lettice Fox, daughter of Thomas Fox III married Rev Charles Berridge, a Fellow of Trinity Hall. In 1744 Lettice received a large legacy. In the same year Jesus granted a new lease on the house to Charles Berridge and agreed a large extension, visible today. (See CWN 29 Oct 1981)

Accord to the 1959 Royal Commission, the principal block was built c. 1725 and the kitchen range on the E. is probably of the same age. ‘Little Trinity’ is an outstanding small 18th-century house containing fittings of the same period. The Royal Commission report contains a lengthy description.

1851

Charles Crosse, 22, bachelor of arts, b Suffolk

Elizabeth, 21, b Suffolk

Charles, 1 mos, b Cambridge

Mrs Adams, 50, nurse, b Cambridge

John Kirkland, lodger, 23, bachelor of arts, b Scotland

A B Gray writes: Here in mid-Victorian times, lived that well known “coach”, Charlie Crosse, whose charming and hospitable wife lavishly entertained her husband’s pupils, made Little Trinity tea parties famous, and held quite a saloon for the undergraduates of the time.

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1861 (16)

Rev William Girdleston, 39, MA of University of Cambridge, b Norfolk

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1913

James Heber Taylor – obituary

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1962 not listed

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1969-70

RS emailed in 2022: The Buxtons were hostel keepers at Little Trinity when my husband resided there in the 1969-1970 academic year. I remember bringing my eldest child to visit them in the late 1970s, probably 1977 ….Wonderful folks! Certainly provided lots of hilarity along with kindness to the young men far from home who resided there.

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1981

Jesus College graduate hostel

Violet and James Buxton, hostel keepers.

Violet and James were former music hall artistes known as Gene Durham and Vi Lockley.