13 Milford Street

Dressmakers, grocers, a butcher, a printer, and a carpenter

13 Milford Street is one of a terrace of four houses on the north side of the street, and built in the 1870s. In trade directories up to 1935 it is referred to as Tacolnestone Terrace.

1881 census

Alice Downs, head, widow, 62, dressmaker, b. Horningsea, Cambridgeshire
Emma Alice Downs, daughter, 24, dressmaker, b. Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire
John Darling, head, 61, general dealer, b. Cambridge
Mary Darling, wife, 65, general dealer, b. Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire
Austin Blanden, lodger, widower, 28, butcher journeyman, b. Haverhill, Cambridgeshire

As a teenager, in 1871, Emma Downs was living with her uncle Charles Hayhow at the Crown and Punch Bowl pub in Horningsea. His wife Mary Ann ran the pub along with Emma and another young niece. Charles Hayhow was a coprolite labourer, along with 11 lodgers and much of the male population of the village. In Cambridgeshire in the 1860s and 1870s, the relatively high pay for coprolite mining was a huge draw for young agricultural labourers.

Emma Downs and Austin Blanden were married shortly after the 1881 census. Austin already had two young daughters, and he and Emma were to have another daughter, Ida. By 1891 they and Emma’s mother Alice had moved to Sudbury, where Austin ran a butcher’s shop. They later had a shop in James Street, Cambridge.

1891 census

William Gilbey, head, 47, grocer’s porter, b. West Wratting, Cambridgeshire
Elizabeth Gilbey, wife, 55, b. Great Chesterford, Essex
Laura Gilbey, daughter, 25, dressmaker, b. Cambridge
George W Gilbey, son, 21, printer, b. Cambridge
Albert Gilbey, son, 19, grocer’s porter, b. Cambridge
Harry Gilbey, son, 16, apprentice, b. Cambridge

The Gilbey family moved around the neighbourhood, living in Norfolk Street, Staffordshire Street and by 1901 at 22 Sturton Street.

1901 census

William Feary, head, 31, carpenter, b. Cambridge
Alice Feary, wife, 28, b. Cambridge
Frederick Feary, son, 3, b. Cambridge
Florence Feary, daughter, 8 months, b. Cambridge
Elizabeth Feary, mother, 63, b. Boxworth, Cambridge

1911 census

William Edward Feary, head, 41, carpenter and joiner, b. Cambridge
Alice Mary Feary, wife, 38, b. Cambridge
Frederick William Feary, son, 13, at school, b. Cambridge
Florence Elizabeth Feary, daughter, 10, at school, b. Cambridge
Married 14 years, 2 children

1921 census

William Edward Feary, head, 51, organ builder, A K Hiller & Son, Sidney St, b. Cambridge
Alice Mary Feary, wife, 49, home duties, b. Cambridge
Frederick W S Feary, son, 23, clerk, W Eaden Lilley & Co, Market St, b. Cambridge
Florence E Feary, daughter, 20, cashier, Cooperative Society, Burleigh St, b. Cambridge

1939 England and Wales register

Alice M Feary, 24 Apr 1872, widowed, unpaid domestic duties
Frederick W T Feary, 29 Jan 1898, single, cashier (drapery)
Closed record: child born since 1921

Frederick Feary was still living at the house in 1957.

Sources

UK census records (1841 to 1921), General Register Office birth, marriage and death indexes (1837 onwards), the 1939 England and Wales Register, and electoral registers.