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5 Milford Street

A cooper, a tailor, a cab driver, a baker, and a railway guard

5 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

Thomas H Maile, head, 31, cooper to brewhouse, b. St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Mary Ann Maile, wife, 33, b. Eltisley, Cambridgeshire
Frederick S Maile, son, 5, b. St Ives, Huntingdonshire

In the same year, Thomas Maile’s sister Henrietta Green and mother Maria Long were living at #3.

1881 census

James Wilson, head, 28, tailor’s shop man, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Elizabeth Wilson, wife, 29, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Cecil J R Wilson, son, 7, scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Ida E M Wilson, daughter, 6, scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
James W A Wilson, son, 4, scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Clement F Wilson, son, 2, b. Cambridge
Horace E Wilson, son, 11 months, b. Cambridge

In 1879 James Wilson signed a petition asking for sewers to be built in Milford Street.

James Wilson ran a successful business as a tailor and robe maker. By 1891 he had moved his family to a larger house across the road at 18 Milford Street. By 1901 they were living in a four-storey house at 4 Auckland Terrace (31 Newmarket Road).

1891 census

George H Root, head, 24, compositor, b. Cambridge
Eliza Root, wife, 26, b. Horseheath, Cambridgeshire
Matilda E Root, daughter, 2, b. Cambridge
John Pettet, brother-in-law, 19, groom, b. Horseheath, Cambridgeshire

George Henry Root had grown up next door at #6. His parents, Ralph and Matilda Root, were to continue living there until the early 1900s.

George did not stay in the print trade. By 1901, when he and Eliza were living nearby in Caius Street (Glisson Road) with their two children, he was running his own business as a horse-drawn cab driver. Several times in the years 1900–1902 he was fined for being drunk in charge of a horse and cab or for leaving them unattended while inside a public house. In one instance, in early 1901, he pleaded not guilty. He said he had had limited time for refreshment between fares late at night, and had been inside the pub for less than five minutes, during which time he had looked out of the door twice to check on his horse (Cambridge Independent Press, 11 January 1901, page 7). He also claimed that the policeman who had reported him, PC Simmonds, had a grudge against him: ‘He would like to get me fourteen days.’ The Bench were unimpressed, and fined him 5 shillings with 8 shillings costs.

1901 census

Charles Jackson, head, 28, journeyman baker, b. Ipswich, Suffolk
Florence Jackson, wife, 27, b. Lawshall, Suffolk

The Jacksons subsequently lived in the Kite district, where Charles worked for Summerlin’s bakery in City Road. They had two children. Charles died in 1915, aged only 42. His funeral report in Cambridge Independent Press (16 April 1915, page 4) tells us that he died of pneumonia, and that his widow Jane (Florence Jane) was paralysed. It also mentions that he was a fine cornetist and played in the Town Silver Band.

1911 census

Albert Martin Morley, head,  25, railway porter, b. Cambridge
Lily Margaret Morley, wife, 26, b. Sawston, Cambridgeshire
Arthur Johnathan Talbot, cousin, 22, blacksmith, b. Great Bradleigh, Suffolk
Lily Margaret Mayers, visitor, 23, servant, b. Great Wratting, Suffolk
Married 1 year

1921 census

Albert Martin Morley, head, 35, passenger train shunter, superintendent, G E Railway, b. Cambridge
Lily Margaret Morley, wife, 36, house wife, b. Sawston, Cambridgeshire
Mildred Annie Morley, daughter, 9, b. Cambridge

1939 England and Wales register

Albert Morley, 4 August 1886, relief inspector, passenger guard LNER
Lily M Morley, 9 January 1886, housewife
Mildred A Everard, 17 January 1897, single, paid domestic service

Albert and Lily Morley were still living at 5 Milford Street in 1960.

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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