Looking for any information or recommended sources of information for the Grice family of Upper Lydbrook.

All are ironworkers!
Thomas b. 1830 married Isabella from Ruardean. Children all born Lydbrook;
George, Morris, Thomas, Frank, Edward, Kate, Clara.

All left Lydbrook around 1882 when both parents died.

Any information or help much appreciated.

1851 west dean

61
GRIST Thomas 19 Finer Ironworker Shrops Not Known
Isabella 20 Ruardean

1871

Benjamin Grice 16 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
Clara Grice 11 months Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean Gloucestershire
Edward Grice 5 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
Fanny Grice 7 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean Gloucestershire
George Grice 13 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
Isabella Grice 42 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Wife West Dean Gloucestershire
Kate Grice 3 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean Gloucestershire
Morris Grice 11 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
Thomas Grice 39 Wilden, Worcestershire, England Head West Dean Gloucestershire
Thomas Grice 9 Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire

Civil parish: West Dean
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Jesus
Town: Lydbrook
County/Island: Gloucestershire
Country: England


Source information: RG10/5300
Registration district: Monmouth
Sub-registration district: Coleford
ED, institution, or vessel: 23
Folio: 102
Page: 22
Household schedule number: 102

1861
Thomas Grice abt 1832 Willindom, Worcestershire, England Head West Dean Gloucestershire
Issabella Grice abt 1829 Lydbrock, Gloucestershire, England Wife West Dean Gloucestershire
Benjamin Grice abt 1855 Lydbrock, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
George Grice abt 1858 Lydbrock, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean Gloucestershire
Maria Grice abt 1860 Lydbrock, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean Gloucestershire
Mary Ann Grice abt 1856 Lydbrock, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean Gloucestershire

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

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

Year: 1828
Month: May
Day: 26
Grooms_Surname: GRICE
Grooms_Forenames: Benjamin
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence: Llanwenarth in the County of Monmouth
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: JORDAN
Brides_Forenames: Harriet
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Hundred of St Briavels
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: He signs she marks
Witness_1: Mark of Parker Cecil
Witness_2: Mark of Eleanor Cecil
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: H. Douglas Vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P227 IN 1/11
Page_Number: 204
Parish_Chapel: Newland

1841
Benj Grice abt 1801 Worcestershire, England Hales Owen, Worcestershire
Harriot Grice abt 1801 Hales Owen, Worcestershire
Thos Grice abt 1831 Worcestershire, England Hales Owen, Worcestershire
Mary Grice abt 1835 Worcestershire, England Hales Owen, Worcestershire
Harriot Grice abt 1838 Hales Owen, Worcestershire

1851 Lydbrook nr Newland Bridge
Benjamin Grice abt 1808 Wildon Parish Horthebury, Worcestershire, England Head West Dean, Gloucestershire
Harriot Grice abt 1802 Upton Mongrog, Shropshire, England Wife West Dean, Gloucestershire
Harriot Grice abt 1838 Parish Ningswinford, Staffordshire, England Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire
John Ball abt 1820 Old Park Parish Douly, Shropshire, England Visitor West Dean, Gloucestershire
William Jaffin abt 1830 Stanton Drew, Somerset, England Visitor West Dean, Gloucestershire

Year: 1853
Month: Jun
Day: 6
Surname: GRICE
Forenames: Benjamin
Residence: Lydbrook
Age_at_death: 51
Officiating_Minister: M. W. Palliser Officiating Minister
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P208 IN 1/11
Page_No: 2
Parish_Chapel: Lydbrook

Location 1: Newland Bridge Mill, Upper Lydbrook

very possibly the Corn Mill near the Telephone Exchange (on Worral Hill)
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
coords 360500 215800 and enlarge

Location 2: Tollgate between Upper & Lower Lydbrook

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
coords 359900 216100 and enlarge
marked as TP between the Iron Works and Holy Jesus Church

Location 3: Puddlers Arms, Lower Lydbrook

one of the many small pubs in Lower Lydbrook

{The Bell was still trading into the 1950's)

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide that information - much appreciated! I can see me doing some more poking about in maps to locate a few other places, too.

Rebecca

Hi Bexxi, I'm quiet new to family history and while scambling around came accross your entry. I also have Benjamin & Harriet as forebears. I've traced them back to Thomas Grice d.o.b 1775 and Eleanor Handley 1731 but there the scent goes cold. Does anyone know any more?

There is a photo of the old toll gate building here in the photo gallery titled "Lydbrook Central c1930" number 52/60. Its the little building right between the two vehicles.

Thank you for pointing that out!

Hi CG,

Thanks for posting on this topic - it's always interesting to discover new branches of a tree!

Benjamin GRICE was the son of Jacob Grice (1772-1857) and Mary HARRISON (c. 1865-1841). Benjamin's paternal grandparents were John GRICE and Eleanor HANDLEY, who married in Hartlebury, WOR in 1749. Eleanor was the daughter of Samuel and Phoebe and was baptised in Areley Kings, WOR in 1731. John Grice MAY have been the son of Thomas and Mary (nee Barber), but I don't have any concrete evidence. Benjamin's mother's Harrison family seem also to have come from Worcestershire.

Harriet JORDAN was the daughter of Thomas Jordan and Ann Dunn, who married in Mitcheldean in 1788. I've not got any definites on their ancestors, though I have a strong hunch that Thomas was the son of Francis Jordan and Elizabeth Hughes.

I'm a direct descendant of both Benjamin GRICE's sister Ann Harrison Grice and of Harriet JORDAN's brother Mark. Mark married Mary EVERSON, while Mary's brother William married Ann Harrison Grice - thus three sets of brother-sister siblings each married into the other families. To make matters more complicated, Mark & Mary's son James Powell JORDAN married TWO (successively, mind you!) of William & Ann EVERSON's daughters, Charlotte and Rhoda.

I'll be happy to provide further details and more precise dates etc. if you're interested, but I didn't want to overload this post.

What continues to baffle me is what happened to Benjamin and Harriet's daughters Harriet and Mary Ann - I've located both of them on the 1851 census but they seem to disappear after that (I do know that Benjamin died in 1853 and Harriet senior married Thomas O'Brien Cooper in 1856).

CG, do you know any more about what happened to these girls?

Best,
Rebecca

Hi bexxi, thanks for that. I've come across mentions of John (as Jacobs Father). This link has a lot of info on Grices -

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sah1717&id=I02028

they have him down as Thomas. Alas no info on the daughters of Ben.

Chris