74 and 74a Ainsworth Street, Claremont Arms

The Claremont Arms

Now an empty plot in front of the Virgin Media building.

74 Ainsworth Street was home to The Claremont Arms for at least some of the time it was still standing. We can see from old maps that there is a small alleyway where Ainsworth Place now runs, leading to the back of one of the now demolished properties, where there was likely a workshop or a stable. At some point after 1961, the building, along with the two alongside, was demolished.

1881 census

James Cawdron, head, 28, publican & waiter (Claremont Arms), b. Mile End, London
Elizabeth Cawdron, wife, 29, b. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

1891 census

John G L Dippold, head, 61, tailor & publican, b. Bavaria, Germany
Margaretha Dippold, wife, 59, b. Prussia, Germany
Tom Smith, lodger, 20, carpenter, b. Hemingford, Huntingdonshire

Tom Smith, the lodger, is likely to have been a member of the Smith family living opposite at no. 83, because George Smith is also listed as a carpenter from Hemingford in Huntingdonshire.

The Dippolds were born in Germany – John in Bavaria and Margaretha in Prussia – and they were naturalised British subjects.

In the occupation column next to Margaretha’s name, ‘pub’ has been written in another hand. This may indicate that Margaretha was a publican like her husband.

The name John Dippold (John rather than Johan, Johannes or Hans) appears on a passenger list of 23 August 1872, for a steamship setting out from Hamburg to New York with its first stop in Hull. His age is given as 43 and his occupation as ‘Kaufmann’ (merchant), and he had been living in New York.

Header of passenger list of steamship Hansa, 23 August 1872, bound for New York via Liverpool and Hull. Source: Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934

John Dippold’s name in the Hansa’s passenger list

In 1901 and 1911, John Dippold is still a local resident, having moved to lodge at 79 Ainsworth Street, where the women are running a brewers and off-licence. It is possible John Dippold has taught them the skills they needed.

1901 census

Albert W Tofield, head, 41, beer retailer & plumber & painter, b. Winslow, Buckinghamshire
Jane Tofield, wife, 41, b. Wendover, Buckinghamshire
Beatrice Tofield, daughter, 16, b. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Florence Tofield, daughter, 13, b. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Albert E Tofield, son, 4, b. Cambridge

Albert Tofield, beer retailer, is described as working on his ‘own account’, ‘at home’, indicating that the Claremont Arms was still up and running in 1901.

On the 1910 land tax, the site is listed as ‘House and Premises’, and is vacant, suggesting that the Claremont Arms has now shut down. It is listed as owned by Phillips & Co. Ltd, Royston, a brewery dating back to 1725.

By 1911 the former pub was divided into two households, nos. 74 and 74A.

1911 census

74 Ainsworth Street
Frederick W Arnould, head, 48, assurance agent, b. Pimlico, London
Alice R Arnould, wife, 40, b. Diss, Norfolk
Ethel Arnould, daughter, 14, b. Shoreditch, London
Stanley Arnould, son, 10, b. Shoreditch, London
Olive May Arnould, daughter, 2, b. Cambridge
18 years married, 5 children

74A Ainsworth Street
John Cook, head, 31, porter, railway, b. Cambridge
Nellie Cook, sister, 23, housekeeper, at home, b. Cambridge
George Cook, brother, 19, engine cleaner, railway, b. Cambridge

Frederick Arnould worked for Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society.

1921 census

74 Ainsworth Street
Frederick W Arnould, head, widowed, 57, retired storekeeper NACB, b. Pimlico, London
Ethel M Arnould, daughter, 26, waitress, Saunders Caterers, b.  Hampstead, London
Robert A Arnould, son, 22, compositor, R I Severs Printers, b. Shoreditch, London
Stanley R Arnould, son, 20, chef, Caius College, b. Shoreditch, London
Olive M Arnould, daughter, 12, b. Cambridge

74A Ainsworth Street
William Smith, head, 51, general labourer, Cambridge Corporation, b. Netteswell, Essex
Susan Smith, wife, 58, domestic duties, on own account, b. Seaborough, Somerset
Victor Smith, son, 17, builder’s labourer, b. Cambridgeshire
Winifred Smith, daughter, 27, domestic servant, b. Stratford, Essex
Reginald Smith, grandson, 1, b. Chingford, Essex

Ethel Arnould was a waitress at Saunders Caterers, a café in King’s Parade. Her brother Robert was a compositor at R I Severs Printers in Hobson’s Passage

William Smith worked in the Cambridge Corporation Store Yard. His son Victor worked for H Suttle, Builders, at 22 Beche Road,

Sources: 1881–1921 Census, Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850–1934, 1910 land tax records, OS 25 inch (published in 1903), and OS 1 inch seventh series map (published in 1961).