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141A York Street

Mission Hall Workers

This house no longer stands.  The 1888 Cambridge Town Plan and the 1910 Land Tax both refer to this part of York Street as “Lower York Street”.

There is no record of 141A on any census before 1911.

1910 Land Tax

The odd numbered properties, 129 – 151 (Lower) York Street, all appear on the 1910 Land Tax owned by a Mrs M C Sheldrick who lived at 151 Chesterton Road.

Mary Catherine Sheldrick (1850 – 11 September 1922) was married to Joseph Albert Sheldrick, a Superindendent for the Post Office.

George Spaxman is the tenant named on the Land Tax document.  The electoral rolls record that he moved here around 1908, and previously lived at 74 York Street.  The family is here until 1923.

1911

53-year-old George Spaxman, his 53-year-old wife, Betsy, and her mother, 90-year-old Elizabeth Howard, still lived at 141A Lower York Street. George was not working and Betsy was working as a caretaker at the Lower York Street Presbyterian Mission Hall. Her mother Elizabeth Howard had been a member of the Mission since its opening in the mid-1880s. Whether this was on the same site as the later St Columba’s Mission Hall is unknown, but it seems probable.

Elizabeth Howard lived at 141A Lower York Street until she died in 1916 at the grand old age of 94/95. She was buried in Mill Road cemetery.

Sources: 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 UK Census, 1888 Cambridge Town Plan, 1910 Land Tax, Civil Registration Birth Index (1837-1915), Civil Registration Death Index (1916-2007), Cambridgeshire Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books (1722-1966), 

1917

In 1917, possibly earlier, 37-year-old William Baker was a Sergeant in the Northamptonshire Regiment (during the First World War).

1921

63-year-old George Spaxman and his 63-year-old wife, Betsy, still lived at 141A Lower York Street, which was by then a general store – George had become a shopkeeper.

George Spaxman lived at the above address until he died aged 65/66 in 1923.

Betsy Spaxman (nee Howard) also lived at the above address until she died aged 73 in 1931.

45-year-old James Baker and his family had moved to 62 Young Street. James was a scaffolder and labourer, working for W. Saint, a builder based in St Barnabas Road.

41-year-old William Baker still lived at 163 Sturton Street with his wife Ellen and their four children. William worked as a stoker for a brickworks company on Newmarket Road.

1939

64-year-old James Baker and his family still lived at 62 Young Street. James was still a builder’s scaffolder.

60-year-old William Baker and his wife Ellen still lived at 163 Sturton Street. William was by then a gasworks operator, working for a gas company.

James Baker died in 1940 aged 64. His wife Martha died in 1957 aged 83. It is likely that she still lived at 62 Young Street when she died (she’d lived there in 1945). They were both buried in Mill Road Cemetery.

It is not clear when William Baker died, but his wife Ellen died in 1958 aged 78. She had lived at 163 Sturton Street until she died.

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