Capturing Cambridge
  • search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

36 Abbey Walk

A brickworks labourer and a Linotype operator

36 Abbey Walk is one of a terrace of six houses built in the 1890s and referred to as Rosa Terrace in some early census records.

1901 census for 3 Rosa Terrace, Abbey Walk

Frederick Maltby, head, 33, general labourer, b. Cambridge
Priscilla Maltby, wife, 31, b. Cambridge
Francis Maltby, son, 12, b. Cambridge
Grace Maltby, daughter, 10, b. Cambridge
Ethel Maltby, daughter, 8, b. Cambridge
Ralph Maltby, son, 3, b. Cambridge
William Lilley, boarder, 24, coach driver, b. Aylsham, Norfolk

In 1891 the Maltby family lived at 4 Abbey Walk, part of the street that was later demolished in the 1960s.

1911 census for 36 Rosa Terrace, Abbey Walk

Frederick Maltby, head, 43, engineer driver, brick making, b. Cambridge
Priscilla Maltby, wife, 41, b. Cambridge
Grace Maltby, daughter, 20, shop assistant, b. Cambridge
Ethel Maltby, daughter, 18, domestic servant, b. Cambridge
Ralph Maltby, son, 13, at school, b. Cambridge
George Maltby, son, 9, at school, b. Cambridge
Sylvia Maltby, daughter, 7, at school, b. Cambridge
Eric Maltby, son, 5, at school, b. Cambridge
Married 23 years, 7 children

Frederick Maltby probably worked for the nearby brickworks that once filled up the triangle of land between Newmarket Road, Coldham’s Lane and the railway line – now occupied by Cambridge Retail Park.  An aerial photograph of 1928, made available by Historic England, indicates the enormous scale of the works:

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/EPW025459

1921 census for 36 Abbey Walk

William H Barron, head, 32, Linotype operator, Cambridge Chronicle, 9 Market Hill, b. Cambridge
Daisy B Barron, wife, 36, home duties, b. Cambridge
Ronald W A Barron, son, 9, b. Cambridge
Evelyn A Barron, daughter, 7, b. Cambridge
James Barron, father, widower, 64, smith’s mate, Great Eastern Railway, b. Cambridge

1939 England and Wales register

William H Barron, 24 Sep 1888, married, Linotype operator
Daisy B Barron, 17 Apr 1885, married, unpaid domestic duties
One child [closed record]

Linotype printing (a.k.a. ‘hot metal’) was a technology used primarily for newspapers, and indeed William Barron was working for the Cambridge Chronicle in 1921. He is listed as living at 36 Abbey Walk in trade directories from 1915 to 1955.

From 1956 until at least 1966 the residents were Ramon and Marie Abbs. Ramon had grown up on the street, as had his father Cecil. For several years in the late 1950s and early 1960s the Abbs family occupied three houses in the terrace: 33, 36 and 38.

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 trade directories.

Contribute

Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

License

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Dear Visitor,

 

Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Did you know that we are a small, independent Museum and that we rely on donations from people like you to survive?

 

If you love Capturing Cambridge, and you are able to, we’d appreciate your support today.

 

Every donation makes a world of difference.

 

Thank you,

The Museum of Cambridge