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9 Ainsworth Street

9 Ainsworth Street

Number 9 is one of a terrace of four houses on the west side of Ainsworth Street.

1881 census

Edward Bell, head, 59, bricklayer, b. March, Cambridgeshire
Elizabeth Bell, wife, 61, b. March, Cambridgeshire
Flora Bell, granddaughter, 12, b. Cambridge

1891 census

Herbert Smee, head, 31, shoemaker, b. Cambridge
Bertha Smee, wife, 24, b. Ashburton, Devon
Nellie E Smee, daughter, 4, b. Cambridge
Herbert H Smee, son, 10 months, b. Cambridge

Herbert Smee was previously married to Eliza Stonebridge. She died in January 1888 and Herbert married Bertha Dart in 1889.

Their children, Nellie Eliza and Herbert Horace, were baptised in July 1890 while the family were living 32 Leicester Street in Northamptonshire. Nellie was Eliza’s daughter.

Herbert junior followed his father into the boot and shoe making business.

A news article tells us that a new family had moved in by February 1893. A 10-year-old girl called Florence Goody, living at 9 Ainsworth Street, gave evidence in the court case of a neighbour, Martha Huntlea, of 13 Ainsworth Street, who had stolen a mattress (Cambridge Independent Press, 10 Feb 1893).

1901 census

Arthur W Cornwell, head, 22, French polisher, b. Cambridge
Florence Cornwell, wife, 24, b. Biggleswade, Cambridgeshire

Arthur Willoughby Cornwell married Florence Beechener in 1900. They had moved to St Andrew’s Road in Chesterton by the time of the 1911 Census.

1911 census

Ephraim Henry Hooks, head, 49, horse shunter GE Railway, b. Thornham, Norfolk
Kezia Hooks, wife, 48, b. King’s Lynn, Norfolk
Robert Samuel Hooks, son, 24, shunter GE Railway sheds, b. Thornham, Norfolk
Emma Elizabeth Hooks, daughter, 18, Chiver’s Jam Factory, b. King’s Lynn, Norfolk
John Thomas Hooks, son, 13, school, b. Cambridge
William Ernest Hooks, son, 9, school, b. Cambridge
Aurther Edward Hooks, son, 8, school, b. Cambridge

The Hooks family moved here from 143 Sturton Street. Ephraim Henry Hooks and Kezia Park were married in 1885. They had had 11 children, of which five had died.

Another son, George Albert Victor Hooks, was now a Private in the Royal Marines, and stationed in Kent in 1911. In 1914 he married Florence Everett in Norfolk. George died of double pneumonia in the Eastern General Hospital (Cambridge) on 15 March 1917. His gravestone records he was 24, but he was probably only 22.

Lives of the First World War: George Albert Victor Hooks.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Petty Officer Air Mechanic G A V HOOKS

1921 census

John Walker Moss, head, 65, gardener, b. Kentford, Suffolk
Emily Moss, wife, 62, house duties, b. Isleham, Cambridgeshire
Esther Rebecca Moss, daughter, 38, draper, own account, b. Kentford, Suffolk

John Moss was working as a gardener for Mrs Keynes of 6 Harvey Road. Mrs Keynes was on the Borough Council and became Mayor in 1932.

Esther Moss was running a business as a draper at 71 Lensfield Road. Esther appears on the electoral rolls for this property until 1960.

Sources: UK census records (1881 to 1921), General Register Office birth, marriage and death indexes (1837 onwards), Cambridge Independent Press 10 February 1893, Norfolk Church of England Marriages and Banns (1754-1938), National Archives (ADM 159/212/177), Lives of the First World War, Commonwealth War Graves Commission,

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