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8 Milford Street

A fitter's labourer, a railway guard, a printer, and a bank clerk

8 Milford Street is in a terrace of 11 houses on the south side of the street, with a plaque reading Clara Terrace 1869. The terrace was built by property developer and coach builder John Burford, and he named it after his daughter.

1871 census

Jonathan Smith, head, 26, fitter’s labourer, Wickhambrook, Suffolk
Eliza Smith, wife, 27, b. Dalham, Suffolk
Elizabeth Smith, daughter, 3, b. scholar, Cambridge
Jane Smith, daughter, 1, b. Cambridge
George N Nunn, head and lodger, 25, b. railway labourer, Hargrave, Suffolk
Emma Nunn, wife, 27, b. Wickhambrook, Suffolk

In 1879 Jonathan Smith signed a petition asking for sewers to be built in Milford Street.

Jonathan Smith became a railway engine driver and moved with his family to March, a major junction on the railway network.

1881 census

Joseph Haynes, head, 26, b. goods guard Great Eastern railway, b. Cambridge
Harriett Emma Haynes, wife, 29, b. Great Abington, Cambridgeshire
Grace E Haynes, daughter, 5, scholar, b.  Cambridge
Harriett M Haynes, daughter, 4, scholar, b. Cambridge
Helen E Haynes, daughter, 2, b. New Fletton, Huntingdonshire
Joseph James Haynes, son, 7 months, b. Cambridge

In 1890 Joseph Haynes was cited in a newspaper report as a witness to the death of Elias Prime, a railway employee who was mown down by the Wisbech express on his way to work (Cambridge Independent Press, 26 July 1890, page 8).

1891 census

Joseph Haynes, head, 36, railway guard, b. Cambridge
Harriet E Haynes, wife, 38, b. Great Abington, Cambridgeshire
Grace E Haynes, daughter, 15, domestic servant, b. Cambridge
Helen E Haynes, daughter, 12, b. New Fletton, Huntingdonshire
Joseph J D Haynes, son, 10, b. Cambridge
Eva E Haynes, daughter, 8, b. Cambridge
Mabel F Haynes, daughter, 6, b. Cambridge
Ernest A Haynes, son, 2, b. Cambridge

By 1901 the family had moved to 104 Thoday Street. In 1939 Joseph was still living there, aged 85, with his youngest daughter Hilda and her family. In total he and Harriet had 10 children.

1901 census

Henry Hight, head, 46, printer, b. Hemingford, Huntingdonshire
Mary A Hight, wife, 43, b. Lawshall, Suffolk
Violet Hight, daughter, 2, b. Cambridge

1911 census

Henry Hight, head, 55, printer, b. Hemingford Abbots
Mary Ann Hight, wife, 53, b. Lawshall, Suffolk
Rosamond Violet Sutton Hight, daughter, 12, b. Cambridge
Matilda Mortlock Lincoln, visitor, married, 57, b. Lawshall, Suffolk
Grace Mary Dunn, boarder, 24, embroideress, b. Cambridge
Married 33 years, 5 children of which 4 died

The Hight family had a run of tragedies in the 1880s when three children died very young, and again in 1892 when their 10-year-old daughter Rosamund Kate died. Their fifth child, Rosamund Violet, was born in 1898 and lived to the age of 80. She never married but she did have a daughter, Mary, in 1923; Mary married and raised a family.

1921 census

Jehu Patten, head, 67, retired baker, late employer, b. Yeovil, Somerset
Charlotte Patten, wife, 54, home duties, b. Norwich, Norfolk

Jehu (John) Patten ran the bakery at 1 & 2 Milford Street for many years. Charlotte Patten, née Nichols, had lived at 15 Milford Street in 1901 and 19 Milford Street in 1911.

1939 England and Wales register

George H Gregory, 1 February 1915, single, bank clerk
Charlotte Patten, 26 January 1867, widow, unpaid house duties

Sources

UK census records (1841 to 1921), General Register Office birth, marriage and death indexes (1837 onwards), the 1939 England and Wales Register, electoral registers, and local newspapers available via www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

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