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To the West Country and Beyond
My great great grandfather, Joseph Nixey, is first found in the Kelly’s Directory for Bath in 1871, and is recorded as a Tailor. Details for these directories were usually collected a year or so prior to when they were published, so it seems most likely that the family moved to Somerset around 1869 or 1870. The address given in this directory is 11 Albion Place, Twerton, which was a sizeable Georgian town house situated on Upper Bristol road, close to a suspension bridge which crossed the river Avon. The original house was so badly damaged by a bomb during World War II, that a new house was later built on the site.
Twerton is a village located on the River Avon, 1½ miles from Bath. Many of its inhabitants were once employed in the manufacturing of wool and carpets. There were also numerous tanneries in the area, as well as quarries of lias limestone which contained ammonites and other fossils.
When the 1871 census was taken on the night of Sunday 2nd April, the family were living just a little distance away at Twerton House, 57 year-old Joseph being recorded as a Tailor (Ref: RG10 Piece 2474 Folio 43 Page 24). With him were his wife Martha (a 49 yearold Tailors Wife), and children Elizabeth (aged 29), Arthur (aged 15), Emma (aged 14), Joseph (aged 13), John (a 12 year-old Scholar), and Edward (a 7 year-old Scholar), along with their granddaughter Fanny (a 4 year-old Scholar) who is recorded as their daughter.
Twerton House was a 3-storey Georgian building on the northern side of Lower Bristol Road, and in the mid 1880s was renamed 7 Charlton Buildings. Despite having been given a Grade II listed status, Charlton Buildings had become derelict, and a number of attempts were made to have numbers 6, 7 and 8 demolished. They were rescued by Charles Ware in 1994, who restored them and used them as the headquarters of his famous Morris Minor centre.
Joseph and Martha’s daughter Mary Ann had also moved to Somerset, and was working as a Servant for Thomas Short, a retired Farmer and Minister of the Gospel in the Society of Friends at 22 Kingsmead Terrace in the Walcot area of Bath (Ref: RG10 Piece 2491 Folio 61 Page 38). So far I've been unable to find their son Alfred in this Census, but their eldest son, William, along with his wife Mary née Blackwell and their first child William are found at Middle Hill, Egham, in Berkshire (Ref: RG10 Piece 1297 Folio 79 Page 6).
Joseph’s mental health had evidently been taking a turn for the worse. On Tuesday 4th July 1871, he was admitted to the Wells Lunatic Asylum, about 17 miles from Bath. He had only been there a little over a week when he died on Wednesday 12th July. According to his death certificate, an inquest was carried out two days later, and Samuel Crocker, the coroner, recorded that the cause of death was an effusion of blood on the brain. Both the asylum’s admission books and the death certificate gave his occupation as a Pauper not a Tailor, and his age was given as 67 not 57. The coroner’s inquest was reported on in the Shepton Mallet Journal in its issue dated Friday 21st July 1871:
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Inquest. – On Friday an inquest was held at the County Lunatic Asylum, by S. Craddock, Esq., coroner for this district, on the body of Joseph Nixey, a native of Bath. Mr. W. C. Vonberg was foreman of the jury. Edmund Pearce said he was a night nurse at the Asylum, and deceased was in his ward. He last saw him alive on Wednesday morning at about quarter to 4 o’clock. (He) witness did not speak to him. Deceased was in bed, but awake and lying on his right side. About 5 minutes past six one of the attendants called to him to go to deceased and he did so. He found him lying on his face, quite dead but warm. His health had been pretty fair since he had been in the asylum. Up to the previous day he was employed in the tailor’s shop, where he regularly worked. C. M. Meddlicott, Esq., M.D., medical superintendent of the asylum, said that the deceased was admitted into the asylum on the 4th July last. In the order of admission it was not stated that he was subject to fits. He had made a post mortem examination, and found a large quantity of blood on the brain. His death must have been very sudden. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence to the effect that death was caused by the effusion of blood on the brain. |
Joseph was buried in the cemetery of the church of St. John the Evangelist at East Horrington on 18th July 1871.
In the Kelly’s directory of 1872-3, Martha is recorded as “Mrs Nixey”, and she is still living at Twerton House. The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of 20th March 1873 reported on an incident involving her son, Alfred, the article showing that he arrived at Twerton a few years later than the rest of his family:
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A youth, named Alfred Nixey, was summoned for being drunk and riotous at Twerton on the 9th inst. The defendant said he had been in Bath only about three months, and the Bath beer did not agree with him (a laugh). He was fined 10s. and costs, or a week’s imprisonment. |
The second of their children to be married was Arthur, his bride being Jemima Butt. They were married at the Bath register Office in 1877. Jemima was born at Winsley, Wiltshire in 1844, and was the daughter of George Butt and Hannah née Kettlety. Their family soon began to grow with the birth of their son William George on 15th May 1877, who was baptised on 29th July the same year at Winsley, and two more sons, Albert Edward in 1878 (who was 2 years-old when he died), and Edward Charles in 1880.
Another marriage took place at the Bath Register Office in 1878, this time it was the wedding of John Nixey and Elizabeth Florence Grimshaw. Elizabeth was born in 1853 at Langley Burrell near Chippenham in Wiltshire, and was the daughter of Thomas Grimshaw, and his wife Dinah née Ealy who was also known as Ann. John and Elizabeth soon moved to Sheffield in Yorkshire where he worked as a Railway Signalman. It was while they were living there that their first child was born, a daughter who they named Alice. Very sadly she died aged just 9 weeks, and was buried on 28th November 1880 at St. Thomas’, Brightside. It’s most likely that Alice was named after Elizabeth’s younger sister who was 19 years-old when she died in 1875.
In Kelly’s directories covering the years 1876-1887, as well as the Census taken on 3rd april 1881, Martha Nixey is recorded as a Dressmaker living at 15 Percy Terrace, East Twerton. Percy Terrace is no longer in existence, but was located alongside the Somerset railway, and just across the suspension bridge from Albion Place. The area is where the Stothert and Pitt engineering works were later built. Also living with her in that census were her grown-up children Elizabeth who was a Dressmaker, her sons Alfred, Joseph and Edward, all of whom were Plasterers, and her granddaughter Fanny who was a Scholar. Her daughter Emma was working as a Servant for Emma Annie Pratt at 2 Lynwid Villas, Bath, and so far I've been unable to find her other daughter Mary Ann.
Elsewhere around the country in that Census were Martha’s two sons, William and John. William along with his wife Mary né Blackwell and their son Thomas were living at 1 Alexander Cottages, Boston Road, Hanwell, Middlesex, where William worked as a House Painter. Their twelve year old son, William Charles, is recorded as a Juvenile Offender Under Detention at the Farm School for Boys, which was a reformatory school at Redhill in Surrey. Records of the Royal Philanthropic Society School, held at the Surrey History Centre show that he was admitted on 22nd January 1881, and was discharged by warrant because of a diseased hip. Meanwhile, John and Elizabeth née Grimshaw are found living at Blackburn Road, Sheffield, Yorkshire.
The following year, John and Elizabeth’s second child, a son who they named William George, was born on 3rd February 1882 at Brightside, Sheffield.
Martha’s son, Joseph, was living at 1 Upper Vale, Entry Hill, and working as a Plasterer when he married twenty-three year old Louisa Hucklebridge of Hatfield Buildings on 30th October 1886 at St Thomas a Beckett, Widcombe, Somerset. The witnesses to their wedding were R. Hornsby and Mary Love, and their fathers, Joseph Nixey and John Hucklebridge were both recorded as deceased, their occupations being given as Tailor and House Painter respectively. Louisa was born at Bath in 1862 and was the daughter of John Hucklebridge and Matilda née Spragg.
During 1888, Martha’s son Arthur got himself into some trouble, as reported on in the Bath Chronicle. The first occasion appeared in the issue dated 19th April:
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Arthur Nixey, of Percy-terrace, Twerton, plasterer, was charged with stealing two shirts, value 1s. 6d., the property of Harriet Marsh. The prosecutrix said she gave the prisoner two shirts to pawn, promising him a pint of beer for his trouble. The next day he came into her house, produced a pawn ticket, and said he would make the other allright the next day. However, he did not. W. Squires, pawnbroker’s assistant, stated that the defendant got 1s. 6d. on the shirts which he pledged in his own name. Nixey admitted the offence. Sergt. Edwards said the defendant was a drunkard. Sent to gaol for seven days. |
The following week, the same newspaper in the issue dated 26th April reported on another theft committed by Arthur:
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Arthur Nixey, plasterer, of Vernon-terrace, Twerton, was charged with stealing a pair of boots, value 5s., the property of William Sartain, at Batheaston, on the 13th inst. The prisoner, who was last week convicted of stealing a couple of shirts, went into Sartain’s house and asked if he might sit down as he was tired. He was left in the kitchen for a few minutes, and the boots which were in the room, were missed two days afterwards. It appeared that he offered them in pawn at Mr. Reynolds’s, Westgate-street, but the assistant being suspicious refused to take them. The prisoner sold the boots for 8d.* to a shoemaker named Stott, who pledged them at Mr. Young’s, Bath-street, for 2s. 6d. Nixey said he had been to an asylum twice and was not accountable for his actions when he took the boots. The Clerk: I hear you’re sane enough to know a pint of beer when you see it. Prisoner: I have not had one for a fortnight. The Bench sent Nixey to gaol for a month, and commended Mr. Reynolds’s assistant for his behaviour which they said was very creditable. |
The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Thursday 11th July 1889 reported on another incident involving Arthur. An obvious error is found in the article though, where Arthur is described as “the deceased”!
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Arthur Nixey (38), plasterer, of Twerton, was brought up supposed to be of unsound mind having been found wandering in the Lower Bristol-road, on the 9th inst. – Mr. Hopkins thought the deceased had been affected by the heat, and was not fit to be at large. Nixey’s wife stated that he had been peculiar lately. – Sent to the Workhouse for a fortnight. |
Martha Nixey née Blinco died on 21st February 1891, her age being given as sixty-eight. She was buried in Twerton Cemetery on 25th February, the plot reference being U.X.15.
The first child born to Edward James Nixey and Sarah Jane Nicholls was William Edward James Nixey who made his appearance into the world at Batheaston on 22nd January 1892. When he was 6 months-old, he was baptised on 31st July 1892 at Shoscombe. He married Ada Maria Emerson at St. George The Martyr, Southwark, Surrey on 12th July 1919, in the presence of E W Emerson and E M Nicholls.
Ada Maria Emerson had been born on 15th November 1889 at Smithfield, London, and was the daughter of Edward William Emerson and Maria née Fairhead. William and Ada had 3 children:
Ada Irene Nixey was born on 4th July 1920, and was baptised on 25th July the same year at Carlingcott, Somerset. She married William F Robinson in late 1940 at Lambeth, and died on 3rd February 2006.
Alice Lilian Nixey was born at Lambeth, Surrey on 3rd December 1921, and died on 27th June 2012.
William Edward Nixey was born at Lambeth in 1930. He married Vera Patricia Moore. He died in Sussex on 2nd September 2014.
William Edward James Nixey died at Canterbury, Kent on 17th November 1974 aged eighty-two. Ada Maria Nixey née Emerson survived her husband by 3½ years, until her own death at the age of 88 on 19th May 1978 at Bromley, Kent.
The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of 22nd December 1892 reported the following incident involving Edward James Nixey:
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Edward Nixey, plasterer, of Twerton, was summoned for being disorderly and refusing to quit the Midland Arms, Twerton, and assaulting the landlord, Mr. Butcher, and P.C. House on Dec. 10. Mr. Herbert Clark prosecuted on behalf of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association. From the evidence it appeared that the defendant was very disorderly, and on Mr. Butcher asking him to behave himself defendant seized him by the throat and struck him in the chest. Defendant had used his house for eight years, but he did not remember seeing him drunk before. P.C. House, who took defendant into custody, said he kicked and fought like a madman. Witness had had to wash his clothes they were so covered with mud. As this was defendant’s first offence he was fined 20s. to cover costs for refusing to quit, and 20s. to cover costs for assaulting P.C. House, or 14 days in each case. |
At the time this event took place, Sarah Jane was pregnant with their second child, a daughter who they named Caroline Fanny Louise. She was born on 12th March 1893, and was known as Lou. She married Arthur Henry Smith at The Ascension, Claude Avenue, Bath in 1921. It is evident that Arthur had already moved to Abertillery in Monmouthshire prior to their marriage, because marriage banns record him as being a resident of the parish of St Michael’s there, while she was said to have been of the parish of Twerton, Bath. Arthur and Lou had two children, both born in Abertillery: Arthur Edward James in 1923 who was known as Ted, and Gwynneth Edna in 1928. Lou died in the Newport area in 1982.
Edward and Sarah’s third child, another daughter, named Edwardina Florence Mary, was born on 18th August 1894. Her forename was recorded as Enid when she married Ernest Herbert Stamp at The Ascension, Claude Avenue, Bath in 1919, but was generally known as Ena. They had 2 children: Jack Alfred Ernest in 1923, and Marion Nancy in 1926. Ena died at Bath in 1954 aged sixty.
In the Kelly’s directories of Bath from 1894 to 1904, Edward Nixey was listed as a plasterer at 11 South View Road, Twerton. The houses in this road were part of the mid Victorian development and were quite large properties with basements. The area is now known as Oldfield Park.
Their fourth child, Albert Ernest Charles, was born at 1:30am at 11 South View Road, Twerton on 11th September 1896, followed 30 minutes later by his twin brother. Albert John Henry was how his birth was registered, but he was known as Alfred John Henry. Very sadly, Albert Ernest Charles died on 8th May 1897 at the age of just 7 months, the cause of death being recorded as Whooping Cough Convulsions.
Their sixth child was My grandfather, Arthur Albert Ernest, who was known as Ernest, and was born on 9th August 1898. At the age of 9 months, he was baptised on 28th May 1899 at Shoscombe. In December 1906 when he was 8 years-old, he and many others at his school were awarded prizes for good attendance, as many as 28 of the prize winners having missed no days at all. It’s unknown if Ernest was one of them.
Their next child, another daughter, Dorothy Minnie, was born on 13th December 1900, and was baptised at St. Peter’s, Twerton on 7th April 1901. She married Frederick William Dole at Bath Register Office in 1924, and they had 4 children who were all born in the Bath area: Phyllis Beatrice in 1924; Edna May in 1930; Vera Dorothy in 1932; and Ileen in 1935. Dorothy Minnie Dole died at Bath in 1991, aged 90.
The first of Joseph Nixey and Martha née Blinco’s children to die in Somerset was Alfred, who passed away at the age of 49 at the Royal United Hospital on September 1st 1902. Following his burial which took place at St. Swithin’s, Locksbrook, Walcot on 6th September, the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Thursday 11th September, under the heading “Death of an Avon-street Man” published the following article on the Coroner’s inquest:
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The City Coroner (Mr. B. A. Dyer) held an inquest on Friday at the Guildhall, touching the death of Alfred Nixey, aged 49, plasterer, of 23 Avon-street, who died at the Royal United Hospital on September 1. Joseph Nixey, living at 4, West Avenue, Twerton, a plasterer, brother of deceased, said his brother’s name was Alfred, but he was often called Charles. He last saw him alive in May. He got his living by doing odd jobs, but some years ago he followed the trade of plasterer. |
Edward and Sarah’s final daughter, Lily Rosina May, was born on 30th December 1903. She married George Edward Davidge at Bath Register Office in 1924. Five of their children were born at Bath, and their sixth child was born at 17 Darran Road, Abertillery in Monmouthshire: Joyce Lily in 1925 who very sadly died soon after birth, Margaret Florence in 1926, Christine Mary in 1929, Jean May in 1931, Ronald George on 7th April 1937, and Maureen L in 1944. Her husband died at Bath in 1961 aged 59, she later married Ernest Edward Harding at the Bath Register Office in 1969. Lily died at the age of 89 in 1993.
It was around the time Lily was born that the family moved along South View Road to number 39, where Kelly’s directories list Edward from 1905 until 1910.
Their final child, a son who they named Leonard Herbert, and who was known as Bert, was born on 20th September 1906. He married Edna Maud Lewis at Bath Register Office in 1931, and they had no children. Edna was born on 31st July 1909, the daughter of Walter Henry Christopher Lewis and Mabel Annie née Yeandle who were married on 13th June 1908 at the Hebron Methodist Chapel in Bedminster, Bristol. Edna died at Bath on 24th June 1975 aged 65, and was buried on 30th June in the same plot as her mother at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, the plot reference being 42.T.386 (E). Bert then married his second wife, Rosina May Reeves, at Bath Register Office the following year. “L H Nixey” is listed in the British Phonebooks as living at 104 Rosewell Court, Monmouth Street, Bath in the directories for the years 1978, 1980, and 1982. Bert died at Bath on 9th February 1982 aged 75, and was buried on 16th February at the Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, plot 27.E.248 (H). “Rose” survived Bert by more than eighteen years, and died on 29th September 2000 aged 87. She was buried with her husband on 6th October. On a heart-shaped, onyx marble headstone, the following memorial inscription is found:
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Treasured Memories Of Bert Nixey |
By the time the 1911 Census was taken, the family had moved to 31 The Close, Twerton. The only child not with the family is William Edward James who is at Shoscombe with his maternal grandmother, Louisa Nicholls née Turner. The 1911 census was the first to be filled out by the head of house, and it’s intriguing to note that Edward claimed he and Sarah had been married for 19 years. No doubt you’re wondering why I say that. You’ll find out shortly!
An incident involving the surviving twin, Alfred John Henry, along with three of his friends, was reported on in The Bath Chronicle of 20th September 1914:
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A Little Game of Footer. – Percy Perry, Fred Nixey, Walter Dean and Albert Shepherd, all of Twerton, were summoned for playing football in the highway at Twerton on September 12. They all pleaded guilty. P.C. Bromsgrove stated the boys were playing on the highway near Cook’s factory. There was a lot of traffic about. It was during the dinner hour. The boys were fined 1s. each as it was a first offence. |
A few years later, Fred joined the armed forces, and served as a Corporal in the second Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers during World War 1. He was killed in action in France on 18th October 1918, and is buried in Plot III G. 15 at the Highland Cemetery in Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, France. With regards his death, the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Saturday 2nd November 1918 reported:
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Bath Corporal Killed |
The same newspaper in its next issue dated Saturday 9th November made the following brief announcement about Alfred’s elder brother William Edward James:
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Bomb. W. Nixey, of 1, Warwick Villas, now serving with the R.F.A. |
When the 1921 Census was taken on the night of 19th June, Edward and Sarah are living at 1 Warwick Villas (Ref: RG15 Piece 11515 Schedule 189). Edward is recorded as a “Plaster On Building,”, his employer being E Chancellor & Sons of Lower Bristol Road. His age was recorded as 58 years and 7 months, a year older than he actually was. Sarah was 53 years 8 months old, and with them are their children Louise (a 28 year-old Corset Machinist with Drew Son & Butcher at Gascoyne Place), Ernest (a 22 year-old out of work Collier Hewer with Abertillery Lancaster & Co in Monmouthshire), Dorothy (a 20 year-old Corset Machinist with Charles Bayer & Co on Lower Bristol Road), Lillian (a 17 year-old Corset Baster with Charles Bayer & Co), and Herbert (a 14 year-old Printers Caster with Pitman & Co on Lower Bristol Road).
The following announcement was published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Saturday 5th April 1924 regarding Sarah Jane Nixey:
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Sister Mrs. Nixey, of 1, Warwick Villas, a member and P.O.T. of the Bath Jubilee Lodge, I.O.G.T., has been commissioned to hold the office of Deputy Grand Chief Templar of England and United Services for this year. |
In June 1926, Bert was involved in a motoring accident in Dorset, as reported on in the Western Daily Press of Tuesday 31st May 1927, under the heading “Local Engineer to Pay £361”:
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At the Dorset Assize, Henry Thomas Miles, a boiler cleaner, of Upper Parkstone, was given judgment for £361 17s 3d against Leonard Nixey, a Bath engineer, as a sequel to a motor-cycle collision on the Poole-Wimborne road last June. It was alleged that respondent went on to his wrong side and ran into plaintiff who was rendered unconscious for two days, sustaining a broken jaw, broken nose, severe scalp wound, deep cut in thigh, and right knee joint cut open. Respondent denied negligence and counter-claimed for £37 3s 1d (injuries and loss through the accident), but the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff and judgment was entered as stated. |
Now, getting back to the marriage of my great grandparents. It was actually more than 27 years after the 1911 Census was taken, and while living at 1 Warwick Villas, Millmead Road, Bath, that Edward James Nixey and Sarah Jane Nicholls finally “tied the knot” at the Bath Register Office on 31st August 1938, in the presence of Alice A Wilson and Winifred M Bradley. Their fathers’ occupations were recorded as Tailor and Farm Labourer respectively. As Edward’s age was given as 74 and Sarah’s as 70, it’s really not that surprising to find that both their fathers were recorded as deceased!
Sarah Jane Nicholls was born at Dunkerton, Somerset on 29th October 1867, the daughter of William Nicholls and Louisa née Turner. She was baptised on 6th January 1868 at the Free Methodist Chapel, Carlingcott, Somerset.
When the 1939 Register was taken on 29th September, Edward and Sarah were once again found living at 1 Warwick Villas, his occupation being recorded as a retired Plasterer (Ref: RG101 Piece 7010A Schedule 016). Just 6 months later, the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Saturday 30th March 1940 made the following brief announcement:
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Nixey. – On March 23rd. Edward James Nixey passed peacefully away, at 1, Warwick Villas, Millmead Road, aged 76. |
the same newspaper in its next issue dated Saturday 6th April printed the following article regarding his funeral which had taken place on 27th March:
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Retired Plasterer |
That article goes to prove you can’t always believe everything you read in newspapers. He was born in Slough, not London, and their golden wedding anniversary would actually have been on 31st August 1988...! Sarah survived her husband by almost four years, until her death at the age of 76 at the St. Martin’s Hospital in Bath on 30th November 1943. The cause of death was given as “Cardio-vascular degeneration.” She was buried with her husband at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, on 6th December, the plot reference being 29.C.326 (F).
References
Unless otherwise stated, all newspaper articles can be found at the British Newspaper Archive.