Bell Road, Bottisham

History of Bell Road, Bottisham

Bell Road appears to be unusual in that there was a street numbering scheme in the mid 19th century i.e. 1861 which is absent in the censuses of 1901 and 1911. Looking at the street in Google Streetview there seems little evidence that any of the 19th   century buildings have survived into the 21st.

1861

(1) uninhabited

(2) Susan Webb, 75, pauper, b Bottisham

(3) William Allen, 70, road labourer, b Bottisham

(4) Sarah Hockley, 87, pauper, b Derby

(5) Phoebe Allen, 31, nurse, b Bottisham

(6) Johanna Gibson, 60, charwoman, b Ireland

(7)

William Frances, 60, ag lab, b Saffron Waldon

Elizabeth, 61, b Swaffham Prior

George, son, 22, ag lab, b Bottisham

John Aves, grandson, 5, b Bottisham

[In 1881 John Aves was living in Mill Road, Lode]

(8) John Aves, 79, ag lab, b Swaffham Bulbeck

Robert Marsh, grandson, 13, ag lab, b Bottisham

(9) Susan Sammons, 72, b Swaffham Prior

(10) Robert Shipp, 49, ag lab, b Swaffham Bulbeck

(11) William Shipp, 46, ag lab, b Bottisham

---

1871

 

---

1881

---

1891

 

---

1901

[Vicarage]

2 uninhabited

George Hiner

1 uninhabited

Eli Johnson

Naomi Poulter

Nathan Day

[Swaffham Road]

---

1911

[Bell Inn]

Mrs Hiner

Mr Dockerill

Johnson

uninhabited

Mr Day

---

4 June 1916

Cottage struck by lightning. A cottage in Bell Road, Bottisham, was considerably damaged by lightning during a storm last week. The gable end was wrecked and the lightning appears to have passed through the floor and across the downstairs room. In the room, Mrs. G. Hiner and Mrs. A. Brown, her daughter, were sitting, and the lightning passed between the two without injuring either — a remarkable escape. Considerable damage was done to the furniture in the bedroom. A singular thing was that the occurrence took place on the same day as the sad news was received of: the loss of Lord Kitchener, and a picture of the Secretary for War, which was hanging on the wall of the downstairs room, was split by the lightning. 16 06 14b — Mike Petty, Bottisham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990.

10 March 1944

62 Years Wed. — Mr. and Mrs. Eli Johnson, of Bell Road, Bottisham, have recently celebrated the 62nd anniversary of their wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson: (nee Benstead) .were married at Bottisham Church on February 2, 1882, by the then vicar (Rev. J. D. Williams). Many congratulations have been received by the old couple including a telegram from the King. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have lived in Bottisham all their lives. Mrs. Johnson was a regular attendant at church, a regular communicant, a member of the Mothers’ Union, a member of the Parochial Church Council and other organisations, as long, as she was able to get out. Mr. Johnson, who is 80, works in his garden and walks about the village. — Mike Petty, Bottisham Scrapbook 1897 to 1990.