High Street
EVESHAM
Brian Smith of Aldington is an avid collector of all manner of local things. One subject is old bottles and stone jars with Evesham names on them. The jars range in capacity from half-gallon up to 2 gallons. He has 18 of them and they take up a lot of room, but wife, Hazel, is very understanding! The oldest is from 1820 and most are late 19th century. The majority bear the names of wine and spirit merchants and breweries , but others are from tea merchants, seed suppliers and grocers, as they were used for all sorts of solid goods as well as for liquids.
Brian likes to find out as much as he can about these firms. One was Edwin Thompson, Grocer, High Street, Evesham. Brian googled him and discovered to his surprise and delight that the only useful link was to the Badsey Society site which informed him that at the time of the 1881 census he was living at The Firs, High Street, Badsey. He was described as a retired grocer, so Brian reckons his jar is from about 1870 or even before.
So who was Edwin Thompson? He was a resident of Badsey for around ten years, so here is is story.
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Edwin Thompson was born at Coventry c1823-1829 (the date variance is due to differing ages given on census returns). He was most likely the son of William Thompson, a grocer, and his wife, Ann, who, at the time of the 1841 census, were living at Sherbourne Street, Coventry, with their two sons.
On 14th March 1851 at the parish church, Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire, Edwin married Hannah Dunscombe Ransford by licence. Hannah had been born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1813, the ninth of ten children of Joseph and Mary Ransford. The Ransfords were Baptists and the births of all the children were recorded by the Minister of the Congregation of Protestant Dissenters of the Denomination Baptists in a Register of Births and Burials for the Baptist Chapel in Bourton on the Water.
Just 2½ weeks after their wedding, the 1851 census was taken. Edward (sic) Thompson, grocer, and his wife, Hannah, were living at No 4 St John’s Wood Terrace, Marylebone, London, with their three-week-old daughter, Ellen. Was Ellen born before or after the wedding? What happened to Ellen is not known, but it is assumed that she died as a baby.
By around 1854, the Thompsons were living in Evesham. According to census returns, they had twin daughters, Annie Louisa and Mary Elizabeth, who were born at Evesham in about 1854, but no record has been found of their births. It’s possible that they may have been adopted.
By 1861, Edwin Thompson was well established with his grocer’s business in High Street, Evesham. He lived in a place described as “Two Houses” with his wife, Hannah, two daughters, a shopman and two servants; this was close to the King’s Head Inn. The family was still there in 1871.
By 1881, Edwin had given up his grocery business in Evesham and moved to Badsey, where his occupation was described as “Grazier, 45 acres”. The house where the family lived was the one known today as “The Firs”, 27 High Street. Edwin appeared on the 1882 electoral roll for Badsey as a Property Owner or Occupier at a rent of £50 and upwards.
On 4th September 1889, Edwin died at Badsey, but he was not buried at Badsey. Probate of his will was granted to his widow, Hannah, and to Albert Ransford of Bourton-on-the-Water, gentleman. By 1891, Hannah and her daughters had returned to live in High Street, Evesham. Hannah was described as living on her own means. Hannah died on 14th February 1895. Probate of her will was granted to Annie, the elder of her twin daughters, and Albert Ransford, gentleman.
The two daughters never married and remained living on High Street, Badsey, for the rest of their lives. Their address in the 1911 census was given as 95 High Street. Annie died at 95 High Street on 19th April 1919. Probate of her will was granted to her sister, Mary, and to William Henry Collett, Hop Merchant. Mary died at 21 Burford Road, Bengeworth, on 9th July 1928. Probate of her will was granted to Bernard Collett, Chartered Accountant, and Aubrey Ransford Collett, Insurance Broker.
Brian Smith,with additional research by Maureen Spinks, November 2024