31 Sturton Street, Cambridge

The History of the Smith Family

1881

On the 1881 Census number 31 is recorded as a pair with number 29.

Joseph Newman, head, married, 38, gardener, b. Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Elizabeth Newman, wife, married, 37, b. Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Mary E. Newman, daughter, 13, scholar, b. Cambridge
Anne Newman, daughter, 12, scholar, b. Cambridge
Frances M. Newman, daughter, 11, scholar, b. Cambridge
Margaret Newman, daughter, 9, scholar, b. Cambridge
Alice Burton Newman, daughter, 6, scholar, b. Cambridge
William J. Newman, son, 5, scholar, b. Cambridge
Arthur Newman, son, 3, scholar, b. Cambridge
Emma Newman, daughter, 1, b. Cambridge
Charles Newman, son, 3 months, b. Cambridge

1891

Herbert Groocock, 27, Painter, b. Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire

Lavinia Groocock, 26, b. Luton, Bedfordshire

Herbert Groocock, 8, Scholar, b. Cambridge

Ernest Groocock, 4, Scholar, b. Cambridge

Lavinia Groocock, 3, Scholar, b. Cambridge

Ella Groocock, 3 months, b. Cambridge

1894 – 1959

Head of household in 1901 is 37 year old Harry Smith (or James Harry Smith).  He works for the the Great Eastern Railway as a telegraph labourer.  Harry is married to 38 year old Ruth (nee Woods) from Hunstanton.  The couple have three children, Ernest (7), Emily (4) and Herbert Frank (2).

Ruth’s 16 year old sister, Amelia Woods, is visiting at the time of the 1901 census.  Ruth can be found on the 1881 and 1891 Census living at 120 Sturton Street and working as a Domestic Servant to the Brewer William Worboys and his family.

The electoral registers show that Harry Smith has lived at this property since 1894.

In 1911 Ernest is aged 17 and working as a van lad for a grocer.  Emily is 14 and recorded as ‘at home’, so she will be helping her mother with house and no longer attending school. Herbert is going by his middle name of Frank.  Ruth and Harry also have a 7 year old son called Leonard Charles.

The 1911 census records that the couple have been married for 18 years and have had 6 children, two of whom have died.

The Smith family appear on the electoral registers living at this property until 1959

Sources – 1881, 1891. 1901, 1911 UK Census, Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books (1722-1966), England & Wales Marriages (1837-2005),