Lydbrook locations (1840s-60s) GRICE family (General)

by bexxi , Monday, November 02, 2009, 21:22 (5532 days ago) @ Jeff

Members of my family (Benjamin & Harriet GRICE) were living in Lydbrook in the late 1840s / early 1850s, apparently in or near a property that had earlier belonged to Harriet's brother Thomas JORDAN, and I've been trying to find out exactly where this property is. Thomas describes the property in his will (made 1847) as being “my Messuage or dwelling House, Stable and out House with the Orchard adjoining, consisting of about one acre and a quarter”.

I've been looking at the Grices' location on the 1851 census, and this has thrown up some questions about locations and names.

Location 1: Newland Bridge Mill
On the census their household is scheduled directly before that of a George CAVE, profession given as toll collector, which in turn is directly before a location scheduled as 'Newland Bridge', occupied by a COOPER family where the eldest son is. The 1876 Upper Lydbrook trade directory lists the same Alfred Cooper as a miller at 'Newland Bridge Mill', but I haven’t managed to establish exactly where this is. Two anonymous corn mills are marked on the historical map of Lydbrook I have seen, but I’m not sure which one this might be.

Location 2: Tollgate between Upper & Lower Lydbrook
Meanwhile I have read elsewhere that there used at one point to be a tollgate between Lower and Upper Lydbrook. I was wondering whether this George Cave may have been the gatekeeper, and if so, whether he was living right by the tollgate itself, which I believe was next to the Bell Inn – am I correct?

When Thomas Jordan made his will, he mentioned that Stephen Bevan was living in the property he willed to Harriet. Family correspondence suggests that Harriet never inherited the property properly as planned, as the will was disputed (after Thomas Jordan’s death in 1850) by a brother called William.

In 1851 Stephen Bevan (b. Lydbrook c. 1808) was at the Bell Inn, listed as a carpenter and publican. In his household was a lodger named William Jordan aged 54, born Lydbrook, who I suspect is this “awkward” brother of Thomas. I have never found a baptism for this William, so I can’t confirm that.

Location 3: Pudlers Arms, Lydbrook
By 1861 Stephen Bevan was no longer at the Bell Inn but at a pub called the Pudlers Arms, which is located among a mass of addresses simply listed as “Lydbrook”. I have not found any further reference to this pub so have no idea where in Lydbrook it is. Apparently, the same William Jordan (age now given as 67) was still in his household. I’d like to know where this was, just to add to the map jigsaw and in case it was once the property that belonged to Thomas.

Can anyone help with a more precise location for any of these places? I'd love to be able to narrow it down a little.

Best,
Rebecca