Bath Cottages Wherrytown

Well, I got that wrong... it appears to be No. 10 Gwyll's Row (which becomes No. 5 sometime between the 1881 and 1891 census), so North side, towards the Beachfield Hotel - under the present Beachfield Court.

Charles and Wife Mahala Stevens both worked with Serpentine, as did their sons Samuel and Joseph.

You can just see the tops of the porches in the second 'Victory Arch' photo on pg 2 of this thread ("Victory, Peace, Security, Liberty"), together with the gable end.

The census records are a nightmare, by the way - either the numbering etc kept changing, or the good Victorian folk of Wherrytown all decided to randomly swap houses every time they saw the Census Enumerator coming.

a@Hedge Slammer I have copy of the 11 occuppants but I don't know how to paste it here!!

have been asked to post this via @farmersfriend

Here's what I can work out so far...

Grylls’s Buildings (Wherry Town).
1. William Bradbury, Manager Serpentine Co.’s Works. (see Advt.)
2. John Semmens, Master-mariner.
3. William Perraton, Serpentine-worker. -> Frances (his widow) + Daughter (also Frances) still lives there in 1871
4. Charles Wildgoose, Foreman Serpentine Co.’s Works. -> still lives there in 1871, at No. 8 in 1881 and at No. 3 in 1891
5. John Rawling, Boot and Shoe maker.
6. James Smith, Superannuated Coast-guard-man.
7. Mrs. Merifield, Shopkeeper. -> still lives there in 1871, passes the property to Daughter and son-in-law (Tonkin), who are still there 1891
8. John Fleetwood May, Coach-builder.
9. Joseph Brown, Serpentine-worker. -> still lives there in 1881, possibly 1891
10. John Truran, Master-mariner.
11. Nicholas Pentreath, Mariner.

If I can get access to the 1901 census, I'll post it up. I'd still love to see that 'advert' for the Serpentine Co. from the Coulson's Directory.

@farmersfriend

I couldn't find a copy of the Coulsons 1864 Directory, but I did find a copy of the 1873 Post Office Directory, which contains an advert for the fine wares offered by Mr. William Bradbury, from their new address just up the road at 26 Cornwall Terrace:



It appears that The Bradburys moved up the road from Wherrytown sometime between 1864 and 1871, as the 1871 Census data reveals:


Going from the children's ages and places of birth, they must have moved down sometime between 1854 and 1857. By 1881, they've left No. 26 Cornwall Terrace and moved to No. 4 Coulson's Place:

Also an found an advert for Mr. Charles Wildgoose of 4, 8 and 3 (possibly all the same house) Grylls Row:



There's still a ton of stuff I haven't had the time to look through, I'll keep you posted if anything else turns up.

Cheers, HH. I hope things work out for you soon.

This is from the Morrab Library Photographic Archive (posted to the 'Indoor Baths' thread as well) - I'm fairly sure that it depicts the demolition (of at least some) of the 'cottages' under discussion, probably the result of the Council proceedings discussed here:



Title
Bijou House Wherrytown demolished 1950
Subject
Residential Property
Description
Owned by Howard Rogers Church Warden St Marys Church Original design composed of Stone & Wood decorated with Carvings of Gnomes Gargoyles& Gold Mosaic Work demolished with Cottages to create Car Park
Date
1950

(as noted elsewhere, that date doesn't sound right... more likely to be 1938).

@Hedge Slammer You have done very well! Just to open these Bradburys up the elder son William Gregory Bradbury died in 1868 and is buried in PZ cemetery, his sister Fanny then dies in 1877 and is buried in her brother's grave. also in 1862 a girl is born Eunice Avena Bradbury but only lasts 2 years and she is buried there somewhere. William (father) dies in 1882 and is buried somewhere from Coulsons Terrace. What puzzles me is that while they were marble and stone masons there doesn't seem to be a headstone and 2 other bodies are buried on top of them. I spoke to Mike Kearey about it and he said that the grave had to be bought to put a headstone on it and so strangers could be placed in it. William Bradbury was declared bankrupt in 1876 I don't know what the result was. His wife Fanny, changed to Frances, died in 1884 resident in parade street possibly with a married daughter and is also buried in the cemetery. The children and grandchildren moved up the line, Alice Maud Bradbury became a Schoolie before they had to have degrees and died in Hampshire as a Headmistress. A son Frederick became a stone mason and one of his sons became an artistic sculptor. I am still trying to find the various graves!

Thanks for that, @farmersfriend... It's great to get a bit of the story behind all these names in a dusty old ledger - really brings it to life.

And finally, another one from the Morrab - this shows the first few houses in Gwyll's Row (note the 'shop front' of one of them) to the right of a rather sorry-looking Caldwell's Baths (all boarded up), pre-'Café Marina' façade. The gas street lighting makes me think it's pre-1912 (rather than 1935 as indicated).

"The cafe Marina, Penzance before being burnt down. The cottages visible on the right are the Steven's Serpentine Works cottages."

@Hedge Slammer that area is still all boarded up!!