The Lodge, Mill Road

Mill Villa, The Lodge

History of Mill Villa

The Lodge, formerly known as Mill Villa, Mill Road built c1870, replaced by The Broadway c1938.

This property was built before the railway bridge separated the east of Mill Road, known as Romsey, from the west, Petersfield. Before 1870 the area was mostly fields but some wealthy people saw this area as an ideal place to have a “summer residence” such as Romsey Cottage, or a family home and garden outside the city such as Dansbury House. The area developed rapidly from 1875.

This was the family home of the Smith family from at least 1871 to 1934. We have not yet researched if this house was built for the family but it was certainly owned by them.

John and Susanna married in the church of Mary the Less, Cambridge in 1841 and set up home in Trumpington St. John was a master upholsterer employing 7 men (1851). In 1861 they were living at 20 Hills Rd (now no. 38) with their 6 children. By 1871 they had moved to Mill Villa, Mill Road. Eldest daughter Susanna married Ebenezer Brown in 1862 at the Zion Chapel on East Rd.

Susannah, wife of John died in 1865, when she was 55. The inscription on her tomb states she had been ill for 8 years. A few years after her death John and his 4 youngest children moved into Mill Villa, later renamed ‘The Lodge’ and according to the 1911 census had 12 rooms. There was always a cook and housemaid in residence. It stood in a large walled garden on the northern side of Mill Road.

Eldest son George continued to live there with his sister Alice. They were joined by elder sister Ann Weymouth and her 2 daughters, after she was widowed. Although George had trained as an upholsterer he no longer needed to work. Instead he became a councillor, Justice of the Peace and had a seat on the board of Guardians. He supported the Liberal Association and offered the grounds of The Lodge for outdoor fundraisers and garden fetes. He worshipped at Emmanuel Church, Trumpington St. Alice must also have let the people of Romsey use the garden as an elderly resident remembered going for a tea party there as a child. After Alice died the property was sold. The frontage to Mill Rd became a row of shops with flats above known as 1 to 20 The Broadway,  thus avoiding renumbering the north of Mill Road. The side roads of Cavendish and Sedgwick had houses built along the sides of the gardens.

As non-conformists the Smith family were buried in Histon Road cemetery.

north face
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF SUSANNAH THE BELOVED WIFE OF JOHN SMITH OF TRUMPINGTON STREET WHO DIED AT YARMOUTH JUNE 5 1865 IN HER 55TH YEAR
AFTER EIGHT YEARS PAINFUL AFFLICTION  SHE RESTS IN JESUS.,

IN LOVING MEMORY OF / JOHN SMITH / OF THE LODGE MILL ROAD CAMBRIDGE / WHO DIED MARCH 26 1879 / AGED 72 YEARS / BLESS THE LORD O MY SOUL AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME / BLESS THIS HOLY NAME PSALM LII ?? .

south face
FREDERICK SMITH  BORN JUNE 16TH 1847  DIED JAN. 31ST 1909.

ANNIE WAYMOUTH WIDOW OF PROF. WAYMOUTH  LATE FELLOW OF QUEEN’S COLLEGE  BORN JAN. 20TH 1844  DIED AT SCARBOROUGH SEPT. 10TH 1915.

east face
IN LOVING MEMORY OF  GEORGE SMITH  BORN JULY 25 1845  DIED APRIL 23 1925.

west face
MARTHA ALICE SMITH DIED AUG. 29 1934 / AGED 82 YEARS.

 

John and Susannah’s daughter Susannah married Ebeneza Brown. They lived at 6 Trumpington St in 1891 and are buried close to her parents in Histon Road Cemetery.

A22.502 Fallen cross on triple plinth. Metal letters.
east side
EBENEZER BROWN / WHO PASSED ON PEACEFULLY / FEB. 2ND 1905 / IN HIS 76TH YEAR.
2nd plinth,
ALSO OF / SUSANNA WIFE OF THE ABOVE / WHO PASSED ON PEACEFULLY / NOV. 21 1917 / AGED 75 YEARS.
cross
CHRIST IS RISEN.

Sources

Land value book 470.29 held at Cambridgeshire Archives
Spalding Directory various up to 1935
CHFHS transcriptions of parish records
Histon Road Cemetery
British Newspaper Archives online