By Christine Swan
Thomas Mayes, my great, great, great grandfather, was born in September 1819, the son of his namesake, a labourer of St Phillips in Bristol, and his wife Elizabeth. Bristol city centre has been extensively remodelled but it is possible to find glimpses of the past. Thomas’s parents lived in Tunnel Street, which no longer exists but may have been close to the Feeder Canal near Avon Street. Although Thomas’s birth would have predated the arrival of the railway and the mighty Temple Meads station, the Feeder Canal had been completed some ten years or so earlier. Indeed, this might have provided work for his father. Bristol was an important port and the ability to move materials from the Bristol Channel, up the River Avon, and to the industrial and manufacturing areas where they were needed. The Feeder Canal was part of this transport system.
Another possibility is that Tunnel Street was situated as part of the densely populated area called The Dings. This was an area of closely packed workers’ cottages that occupied the area of St Phillips now situated in the Dings Park.
Thomas married Rebecca Cooper in September 1842, when Thomas was twenty-three years old and Rebecca aged twenty. Their first child, Edward was born just two months later. The couple gave their address as New Street when they married and Ann Street on Edward’s baptism record. Geographically, these two locations are very close. New Street still exists, and Great, and Little Ann Street, run at ninety degrees to it. Thomas’s father also lived on New Street and so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the couple were living with their parents when they married, and then moved afterwards.
The church of St Phillip and St Jacob, where Thomas Mayes married Rebecca Cooper in 1842
Records show that the Mayes remained living in New Street for some years, apart from one record of Thomas and Rebecca living in Bread Street. This was delightfully close to Cheese Lane, as only British street naming conventions would permit. Bread Street also still exists and is part of an area under current development. Taking a virtual walk down the street using Google Maps, most of the buildings are very recent, apart from the old soap works known as Christopher Thomas Court. The building dates from about 1865 which is earlier than Thomas and Rebecca’s residence by about ten years.
New Street today
Thomas and Rebecca had ten children together. One of their middle children was my great, great grandmother, Eliza Rosina. Their penultimate child was Ellen Julia, was born blind. Ellen later also became deaf during her life. Elizabeth, the Mayes’ final child, was born in 1863.
The Mayes family living in New Street in 1861
New Street is not a long road, but in this small corner of Bristol, neighbours lived in close proximity, and only a short distance from the Quaker workhouse. Young people living in the street fell in love and married. Strong links were forged between the Mayes and their neighbours the Bulls, but other names living in this single street, also appear in my family tree.
The Quaker workhouse in New Street
In 1870, aged just forty-nine years, Thomas died. This would have been a disaster for the family leaving Thomas’s widow Rebecca, with three children still dependent on her, including Ellen. Just one year prior to Thomas’s death, their middle daughter Eliza Rosina, gave birth to her illegitimate daughter Rebecca, my great grandmother. After losing her husband, Rebecca the matriarch, became a Marine Store Dealer.
The Mayes in 1871, not long after Thomas Mayes’ death
Despite the grand job title, a Marine Store Dealer would have traded in second hand items, some of which were associated with boats and sailing, such as ropes, flags and other items, but also general rags and goods for recycling and resale. Rebecca’s store does appear in a trade directory for Bristol from 1879 to 1886. The address is always New Street, but the number appeared to change with each entry. Even if this was a strategy to avoid the rent man, I doubt that moving a short distance down the same street would have been successful.
The Volunteer pub existed when the Mayes lived in New Street
My great, great grandmother, Rosina, married William Henry Bull, also known as Henry William, In 1881, Rebecca had two children living with her – John, aged sixteen years, working as a pork butcher, and Ellen Julia, who was aged twenty-one. Ellen’s occupation appears to have been a chair caner. This very tactile job and also highly repetitious but very poorly paid. Workers, mostly women, would have sat on a low stool to complete their task. Nevertheless, it was work, and would have provided a meagre income.
My two times great grandmother, Eliza Rosina Mayes
Rebecca was not without wider family living in New Street. Not only were there two other Mayes neighbours, including son Isaac and his family, but William Henry Bull’s brother John, who married Mary Ann Mayes, another of Rebecca’s daughters. Martha, another daughter had lodged with her just after she married. This family was close and appeared to support one another, even when hardship hit.
Rebecca, her family, and neighbours in 1881
After Rebecca died in 1886, Ellen Julia went to live with her sister Mary Ann Bull and her husband John, who also had a disabled child of their own, John junior. Ellen appeared to be working with wool before returning to chair caning at a later date. Her employer appeared to be a blind asylum so this is an example of employment support for disabled people.
The single thread that appears to run through all of my Bristolian ancestors, was the care for one another and strong sense of family. The family legend was that they were quakers. I have no proof of this, but, when there was need, they rallied, which is a comforting thought even one hundred and forty years later.
Written with care, and not by AI
