Dear all, I have recently moved to the Forest and am looking at the history of the house we live in. It is the former Crown Inn at Ruardean, and was once owned by Thomas Thompson, who owned the Malt Shovel, as well as numerous other properties in the area, including the aforementioned pub and Pales House on the Square, Ruardean.
I am trying to track down information about the house itself (latterly Dean Dairy, now the Old Dairy) and home to May and Jonathan Hale, who manufactured ice cream on the premises) as well as images of the village which show the house. and to try and trace some of its history through the people who lived and worked in it. We have the title deeds back to the very early 1800s, and, as a result, know who owned the house (or rented it) through the deeds. The most notable name is local land owner Thomas Thompson, his wife Lydia and son Edward, all of whom at one point were connected to the Malt Shovel.

The house itself was built it seems as the Crown Inn, was sold to Thomas Thompson in 1861 after it had closed and went through numerous trades before becoming a private residence.

I'll list all the various names as I transcribe the title deeds and look forward to any help you can give.

I have various images of Ruardean. Mitcheldean and Drybrook that I can upload here too.

Campbell

www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=thread&id=2462

This website could be useful (previous thread)

www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=39819

1861 Census, Glos. Ruardean

Street

Thomas THOMPSON - 54 married - Innkeeper - born Ruardean
Alis THOMPSON - mother widow - 86 - ditto
Elizabeth THOMPSON - daughter - unmarried - 47 - ditto
John THOMPSON unmarried - 30 Carter

---

FoD records

Burial at Ruardean - 21 November 1973

Jonathan HALE
The Square
Ruardean

age 77

County Hospital Hereford

Frank Fidler Band Instruments
The Old Dairy,
The Square, Ruardean,
Gloucestershire, GL17 9TJ

Year: 1865
Month: May
Day: 6
Surname: THOMPSON
Forenames: Alice
Residence: Ruardean
Age_at_death: y[ea]rs 90
Officiating_Minister: William Penfold
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P275 IN 1/12
Page_No: 180
Parish_Chapel: Ruardean

1861 Ruardean Crown Inn ?
Thomas Thompson 54 Inn Keeper
Ales Thompson 86 Mother
Elizabeth Thompson 47
John Thompson 30

1851 Crown Inn ?
Alice Thompson abt 1775 Ruardean, Gloucestershire, England Head Ruardean, Gloucestershire Victueller
Elizabeth Thompson abt 1814 Ruardean, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Ruardean, Gloucestershire
George Morgan abt 1832 Walford, Herefordshire, England Servant Ruardean, Gloucestershire

1841 nr Church Yd
Alice Thompson abt 1775 Ruardean, Gloucestershire Inn Keeper
Thos Thompson abt 1811 Gloucestershire, England Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Illiamw Thompson abt 1813 Gloucestershire, England Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Elizabeth Thompson abt 1816 Gloucestershire, England Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Richd Probert abt 1823 Gloucestershire, England Ruardean, Gloucestershire
William Horlick abt 1806 Gloucestershire, England Ruardean, Gloucestershire

Year: 1838
Month: Apr
Day: 14
Surname: THOMPSON
Forenames: Edward
Residence: Ruardean
Age_at_death: years 61
Officiating_Minister: J Chell
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P275 IN 1/12
Page_No: 88
Parish_Chapel: Ruardean

Year: 1808
Month: May
Day: 14
Parents_Surname: THOMPSON
Child_Forenames: Thomas
Fathers_Forenames: Edward
Mothers_Forenames: Alice
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Jn HORLICK
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Born: 1808/04/26
Notes:
Register_Reference:
Page_Number:
Parish_Chapel: Ruardean Congregational

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

ta,

I'll add in the owners' details later today as I read through the indenture for the house from 1861, which is when Thomas Thompson buys the property. By 1861, the property is entitled 'formerly the Crown Inn'.

Campbell

The Edinburgh Gazette 20 May 1960

The Bankruptcy Acts 1914 - 1926

From the London Gazette

Receiving Orders

Jonathan Hale, of The Square, Ruardean, Gloucestershire, Ice Cream Vendor

-

London Gazette - 3 March 1961

Order Annulling revoking, one rescinding order

Jonathan Hale of The Square, Ruardean, Glos - Ice Cream Vendor

---

Gloucestershirebdm

Jonathan HALE married May GRIFFITHS - Forest of Dean Westbury on Severn Register Office 1921

---

????

1911 Census, Ruardean, Farm Lane

GRIFFITHS

Wm - 53, Collier Hewer, born Glos East Dean
Emma - 54
Wm - 23 - Collier, Hewer
Albert - 21 - ditto
Joe - 17 - Driver in pit
Frank - 12 - School
May - 12 - School

????

1911 Census, Ruardean, High Beach

HALE

Thomas - 56 - Collier Mine Hewer - Waterloo - born Hawsley, Mon
Martha - 52 - born Monmouth
Charlotte - 29 - daughter married - all born Highbeach
Thomas - 26 - Collier Hod boy - Trafalgar
Leonard - 22 - ditto
........ Agatha - 19
Allen - 16 - Collier Hod boy - Trafalgar
Jonathan - 14 - working at home (previous reply buried 21 November 1973 age 77)
Albert - 10

Hi Campbell
welcome to the Forum and of course the Forest, hope you enjoy your time in the woods :-)

An earlier post mentioned the excellent Easywell Glos Pubs website.
http://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/AllGlosPubsDatabase/AllGlosPubs_view.php

Well I must say I've used this site many times and I think it's entry for your pub is, sadly, easily the briefest I've ever seen, so bad luck there !

In case you've not used it I can't give a direct link, but search "Ruardean" and goto the 7th "hit". It states
"Crown, Caudle Lane Ruardean GL17 9TL.
Mentioned in 1756.
No other details yet, last updated April 2010."

And that's yer lot ! The site usually contains some mentions from Census records etc, but not here !

So by the time you've finished your research the website owner and book author Geoff (not me) Sandles will probably be delighted to speak to you....then again I recommend you contact him first as he may perhaps have more info yet to reach the website.

You may know the main local public Library for FoD Local History is the Cinderford one which I recommend you visit sometime. A book they stock (as does Coleford branch) is Heather Hurley's excellent "Pubs of the Royal FoD" which is worth trying.
Glos Library Catalogue site is
https://prism.talis.com/gloucestershire/items/765212?query=pubs+dean&resultsUri=ite...

Cinderford Library also contains the microfilmed archives of the local newspaper the Mercury (now Forester) which may be worth your browsing thro, please see
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=34751

It may perhaps also be worth your carefull searching of the online Old Newspaper Archive sites, this thread refers.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=36879

Coleford is also home to the must-visit Forest Bookshop who carry a great many local history publications including the above Pub book.
http://www.forestbookshop.com/pages/Categories/1904396224.html

Apart from this website another one where you can view, and perhaps purchase, old photos of the Forest including Ruardean is the excellent Forest Prints one.
http://www.forestprints.co.uk/ruardean.htm
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/gallery/ruardean/

Another relatively new site with an ever-icnreasing list of images available to buy are from Neil Parkhouse of our own Lightmoor Press
http://www.archive-images.co.uk/index.gallery.php?gid=143

From the above libraries/shop you may find the series of books containing many more old photos produced by local authors Humphrey Phelps and Joyce Latham, such as
https://prism.talis.com/gloucestershire/items?query=old+photographs+forest

Unfortunately they don't have indexes so can be laborious to search, but still make great browsing at the very least.
Similarly the "Glance Back At ..." series by Lightmoor Press, see
https://prism.talis.com/gloucestershire/items?query=glance+back+at

I do hope this is of some help to you, and that you enjoy your time in the Forest, but please don't mention those pesky Bears ;-)

UPDATE:
I presume this is the source of the above Easywell site's "1756 mention" of the Crown Inn.
From the always excellent Victoria History site, among great detail of Ruardean's history;

"The sites of two Ruardean inns named in the early 18th century are unknown but in the village Caudle Lane had the Crown in 1756 and the south side of the main street had the Angel, the Malt Shovel, and the Bell, recorded from 1760, 1774, and 1780 respectively. The Bell, opposite the church, was for a time the principal meeting place in the parish; it was closed after 1939. The Crooked Inn, recorded in 1775, may have given its name to Crooked End. Inns and alehouses were opened elsewhere in Ruardean in the 19th century. Waterscross had the New Inn in Vention Lane by 1829. Known later as the King's (or Queen's) Head it was closed c. 1890. A beerhouse on the parish boundary at Ruardean Woodside in 1841 was known later as the Jovial Colliers; it closed after 1959. At the Morse the Nelson (later the Nelson Arms) had opened in Morse Road by 1868 and the Rose in Hand in Morse Lane by 1876. They, together with the Angel and the Malt Shovel in the village, survived in 1990.

From: 'Ruardean', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 231-247.
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23261&amp;strquery=crown
Date accessed: 08 May 2013.

Dear Jeff

Thanks for the information.

Here's what I sent to Geoff Sandles a few weeks back - I expect his website will update shortly. He had no other information beyond the Victoria County History reference.

The Indenture for our house is dated 31 November 1861 and is from Lydia Davis and her son John Davis to Mr Thomas Thompson, who is listed as a farmer, but who I also think is the same Thomas Thompson who owned the Malt Shovel at the same time. I'm going to pop up there later for a quick half and check out their Indenture, which is on the wall of the bar, and see if Thomas Thompson's signature is the same as the one on ours. (update: Sadly, their indenture is from the late 1790s and so predates Thompson owning the Malt Shovel)

Lydia and John are the widow and son of Mr John Davis, who died in April 1840 and who was the owner of the property, which is entitled' a house, garden and premises formerly called The Crown situate in the Parish of Ruardean'.

Prior to its sale, the house and outbuildings and barn/stabling were rented to a John Brain, a shoemaker, and previous to this to a Jonathan Hale, and in 1861, they were sold for £100 to Thompson.

Thomas Thompson had a son called Edward Thompson, who is I believe the same Edward Thompson who was the owner of the Malt Shovel in 1903. (Update - yes, he is)

I hope this all helps and as I find more, I shall update you with the history - but it is possible that the building had been purchased by Thompson perhaps to stop it being used as a pub again, as it is less than 250 feet from the Malt Shovel (Update: staggering distance - hic).

I've spoken to Neil already (I've known him for some two decades) and he thinks he may have an image of the Square which shows our house. Because it is set up the Square a bit from the High Street due to the garden, it doesn't feature in the way the Bakery opposite does.

Humphrey Phelps I have spoken to and I work for the publisher which publishes a few of his books. Ditto Geoff Sandles' Pubs books. I've already a shelf of FoD books at home and have lived in the county for the past fourteen years and always loved the Forest.

The Victoria County History has a reference to a deed in the GRO, which I need to visit one afternoon and look at. This obviously predates the indenture I currently have and is when the Crown was operational as a public house.

Interestingly, during renovations to the property in the 1990s, a 1737 penny was found in the house and a Civil War period cannonball was found in the garden. This must be from when the manor or castle was being shelled during the war.

I've spoken to Ian at Forest Prints and sent him some views he didn't have of the Forest - have already sent one of these for upload to this site and will add more as I get time. He doesn't have anything that specifically shows anything more than the wall of the garden but what he did have was interesting.

I hope the further selection of names above may help.

Surprisingly, despite the bus stops direcly outisde and the fact that the village was a terminus and the buses turned here, I have yet to find an image of a bus at the Square, beyond one of Cottrell's buses outside the bakery.

Also, I would be interested in finding a view of one of May Hales' ice cream vans anywhere in the Forest. I'm going to try find some ice cream van enthusiasts (yes, they do exist) and see if there are any views of the ice cream vans extant, whether coachbuilders' photos when they were new or in service in the Forest. I know there were up to seven parked at the Dairy every night.

Thanks all for the help so far.

Campbell

'Lydia and John are the widow and son of Mr John DAVIS who died in April 1840'

FoD Records

Burial

John DAVIS - 25 April 1840 Ruardean aged 84

Lydia DAVIS - 7 January 1867 Ruardean aged 77

?

1861 Wales Census

Civil Parish Cwmcarvan, Monmouthshire

Lidea DAVIS - age 71, Farmer of 266 acres employing 3 labourers/3 boys - born Buardean, Gloucestershire
George DAVIS - grandson aged 14 - born Cwmcarvan
John DAVIS - grandson - aged 12 - ditto
3 servantrs

Kagia DOWLER - 19
James BURT - 24
Thomas JAMES - 14

---

1851 Wales Census, Cwmcarvan, Monmouthshire

John DAVIS 27 - Farmer of 50 acres born Ruardean
Mary DAVIS - 27 - born Cwmcarvan
George - 4
John - 9

next door is John's brother Thomas DAVIS aged 24 from Ruardean, along with his family (farming 250 acres)

-----

Here's a previous thread on John & Lydia DAVIS

www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?mode=thread&id=8726

yes, that's the correct Davis family as it mentions on the indenture that they come from Cwmcarvan parish.

Good afternoon Campbell,
thanks so much for your interesting reply, very informative indeed. As a lifelong lover of books and more recently local history I must say it sounds like you have my idea of a dream job, especially meeting so many interesting characters. Thanks too for being so kind to me when I was so clearly teaching you to suck eggs, apologies for foolishly assuming you were totally new to the area.
As you say, at least these posts have collected together various suggestions for reference sources which other readers may find helpfull. After posting I realised I had ommitted the Heritage Museum as a possible source of information, but no doubt you'll have tried that one too.

I'm afraid despite being born a Forester in 62 my knowledge of the area is not great as I moved from Cinderford to West London in the early 1980s, long before I got hooked by local history just three years back. So sadly I very much doubt I can help you further, in fact quite the opposite I suspect. My father was a son of Joys Green stretching back many generations, so he knew the local people & places very well indeed, I still have relatives in Ruardean altho sadly we've never been close. Hence my knowledge of the village is merely passing thro' enroute to my gran's home at Moorwood until about 1981. Dad spent most his working life at Edwards of Lydbrook, so I've started hunting for snippetts about local buses just as you appear to be for Hales icecreams. This led me to find another book at Cinderford library that might interest you, it has a few photos of Meek's buses in the Square at Ruardean, see this prior thread.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=36698

I can happily email you the relevant scans of my own copy of the above book ? That said I can't help thinking you'll already know the book possibly thro it's publishers ?. I've found there's a huge interest in old buses and I've found some very helpfull speciallist online forums, as you know there's undoubtedly going to be similar helpful websites and groups about ice cream vans. Re the above mentioned Bus Book by Colin Martin, I haven't yet read his book "Glostershire Goods Vehicles", I wonder if it includes icecream vans although if it does I suspect they'll be from the Gloster/Stroud area, may be worth visiting the library for tho ?.
https://prism.talis.com/gloucestershire/items/636669?query=colin+martin&resultsUri=...

I also wonder if the excellent Hale Family website will be any help ?.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=38690

Again thanks for the chat, very pleasant indeed while listening to the online commentary of Gloster County Cricket, I just wish I had a decent pub a short stroll away like you !!.

Jeff.

'Prior to the sale, the house and outbuildings and barn/stabling were rented to a John BRAIN, a shoemaker, and previous to this to a Jonathan HALE, and in 1861, they were sold for £100 to Thompson'

1851 Census, Ruardean

John BRAIN - 46 - Cordwainer, born Glos. Ruardean - christened 1805 - John & Esther
Sarah BRAIN - 46 - born Mitcheldean
John BRAIN - father - 79 - Retired Cordwainer, born Ruardean

1841 Census, Ruardean

John BRAIN - 70 Cordwainer, born in County -
Sarah BRAIN - 30 - christened 1810 Ruardean - John & Esther or Hester (John married Esther/Hester EVANS 23 Feb 1802)
Susan BRAIN - 20 - (BRAINE) christened 1819 - ditto
Jas GILLETT - 9 - not born in County

----

Jeff

I've been in the Gloucester area since 1998 so know it well. I'm glad you mentioned Colin Martin's excellent books, which are currently packed away I think in one of the many boxes still to be opened after the move. I haven't spoken to Colin for about three years and you're right - I had a hand in publishing those two as I commissioned Colin to write them.

I had seriously totally forgotten about them and I'll drop Colin an email and ask what he has at the Square.Interestingly, only one bus now reverses at the Square to head back Gloucester way and that is the Hartpury College bus, which obviously has a single student in the village.

I've accumulated a few postcards of the village from c. 1902 to the 1950s (but that's because I have always had a passion for old postcards) but none show the house. Thankfully, when we purchased it, we were given a pack with the title deeds back to 1861 (which take the story back to about 1800). There are copies of the last three sales particulars too, taking us to when the house was sold after May Hale died, its sale after renovation and the current particulars, so we can see the changes in the past thirty years too.

I've searched for ice cream forums and the world is rather short of them. There's a trade forum with tumbleweed blowing past and a flickr group. Bus forums, however, are easy to find and I think I may need to visit a bus show to buy some photos of Forest buses.

My main task is to visit the GRO and go through the deeds there to find the one that specifically mentions our house as the Crown Inn.

Although I know it's a different approach, in that I am not interested in the family history per se, the knowledge of who lived in the house is fascinating. Our deed refers to Mr Brain as a shoemaker but a cordwainer is technically a step up from a mere cobbler.

I shall get through our Indenture and sort out some details for the John & Lydia Davis thread as we obviously have the name of the farm they worked in Cwmcarvan.I think for most of the nineteenth century the house was rented out rather than lived in by the owners.

I'll sift through the information and produce a timeline/house tree showing who owned it and who lived in it, which I think will be of interest here. Certainly, we will take a wander around our village's beautiful churchyard trying to spot the gravestones of those who once lived in the Old Dairy.

Thank you to all of you who have helped with suggestions and information. Long may this thread continue.

In terms of information and useful resources, is everyone aware of the University of Leicester's very useful site for trades directories. It is a very useful source of information, although it is difficult at times to work out where in a village tradesmen lived and worked, you do find mention of them in there.

http://www.historicaldirectories.org

I shall start uploading some nice Forest images onto the site shortly, if I don't overload it. I've a few hundred of the area from old postcards and photos.

Campbell

thank you very much for this. Does the census mention a location/house other than just plain old Ruardean.

On the 1841 Census for Ruardean, District 9

John BRAIN is on page 11 of 13

The family before them listed as Ruardean is Jon Thompson Collier

then the BRAIN family, next house address is MORSE with John MEEK

Page 11 has these address:

Lydbrook
Lydbrook
Morse
Park
? can't make out
? can't make out
Ruardean
Ruardean
Morse
Catshill

----

On the 1851 census, Ruardean, District 7 - page 11 of 56

Page 10 - says End of Morse Lane.

---

I've run these off and can scan and send if you click on my envelope

Not sure how far your house is from the Malt Shovel Inn Ruardean in 1911, but here's the family living there

Living in 6 rooms

DREW

Charles - 29 - born Cinderford
Eva - 32
Gladys - 5
Ivy - 4
Betram WOOD - b-i-l - single
Frank CHARRET - 19 - Butcher, born Drybrook

next door is

Frederick KNIGHT, The Square, Grocer and Baker - living in 9 rooms

and then

Aubrey BENNETT

Hillside, The Square, Butcher

---

I've run off the 1911 Enumerator's Summary Sheet for Ruardean - which lists the houses and Heads

Ruardean Congregational Chapel
No. 41 Private House, Mr Duberley
No. 42 on Schedule is the Square is Mr Bennett
Ruardean - Bakerhouse
No. 44 - Foley House, Mr Hale
No. 43 is Mr Knight
No 45 - Ye Olde male Shovel Inn

List page goes from No 18 on the Schedule to No. 59 - also can scan and send.

Basically, we're opposite Knight's the Bakers on the other side of the Square so although Mr Brain is correct for our house and I have no doubt he's the right one, if he is in Morse Lane this is the lane leading down to Drybrook Halt and the Cross, Drybrook, and is quite a distance away. Thanks for the copies. I was wondering too how to message directly on this forum.

Sent the 1911 census (are we back to the THOMPSON family?)

Lydia Thompson
The Square
Ruardean Glos

Living in 4 rooms

Lydia THOMPSON - Head 70 - Widow, born Lydbrook, Glos
Herbert John WATKINS - son-in-low - 41 - married, Coal Miner, Hewer, born Ruardean
Rose WATKINS, daughter - 36 - married 7 years, 3 childrenn born alive, 3 living, Shopkeeper
Elise G WATKINS, grandchild - 6
Helen WATKINS, grandchild - 5
Stanley WATKINS - grandchild - 3

---

FoD records

Marriage at Ruardean 19 October 1903

Herbert John WATKINS, age 34, Bachelor, Miner, father: John WATKINS, Miner
married
Rose THOMPSON, age 29, Spinster, father: John THOMPSON, Drayman

witnesses; Joseph & Gertrude THOMPSON

Memoranda: bride's father deceased

---

1901 Census, Ruardean, Herefordshire

Pales House - Edward WILCE + wife

next door

The Square

Lydia THOMPSON - Widow - 60 - Grocer & Shopkeeper, born Lydbrook
Ellen BALDWIN - Widow - 64 - living on own means
Joseph Bennett THOMPSON, son 24 - Asst. born Ruardean
Miram Burdock THOMPSON, daughter 28 - Asst. born Ruardean

Lydia Thompson owned our house and lived in Pales House directly opposite, according to the deeds. Interestingly, according to the 1914 Kelly's she is a shopkeeper and I think may have operated a shop from the front of the premises. This shop front in the small front room survived until the 1985-90 renovations of the property when it was swept away to make way for a 'not as nice' doorway and window.

We found it strange that she lived in a smaller property. In 1901 there was a blacksmith's on site, as noted on the OS Map of the village and (as far as I can tell) mentioned in the VCH too.

One of the last blacksmiths worked a smithy, built by the Lydbrook-Ross road in the mid 19th century (fn. 85) and occupied by a joiner and furniture maker in 1990. Glos. R.O., P 275/VE 2/1, min. 29 Apr. 1859; D 1251/A/1.

and getting the hang of all of this - I assume this is Lydia's death - she is the only one in the parish records!

Record_ID: 43255
Entry_Number: 6945
Year: 1922
Month: Mar
Day: 5
Surname: THOMPSON
Forenames: Lydia
Residence: Ruardean
Age_at_death: 81 years
Officiating_Minister: Edward Parnell Rector
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P275 IN 1/14
Page_No: 70
Parish_Chapel: Ruardean
Soundex: T512

here's where I stand at the moment.

This is the information I currently have with all of the names mentioned of those who owned or lived in the Old Dairy/Dean Dairy/The Crown Inn, Ruardean

The Crown Inn

Owners and tenants. 1800-2013

in the village Caudle Lane had the Crown in 1756 - VCH
Ref: Glos. R.O., D 543, misc. deeds 1694-1876

Owner. John Davis (1) – until April 1840
Owner: Lydia & John Davis (2) from April 1840 to 31 May 1860 (when John Davis (2)), her husband died intestate)

31 November 1861, sold for £100.
Owner: Thomas Thompson, farmer (owner of Malt Shovel public house) buys the property formerly known as The Crown Inn. His wife is Jane Hannah Thompson, d. 7 May 1892.

Tenant at time of sale was John Brain (shoemaker). Previous tenant was John Hale.

Sellers
Lydia Davis of Cwmcarvan widow and relict of John Davis (2) of Cwmcarvan and her son John Davis (3). In 1892, mention is made of Thos Davis, a younger son of the sais testator.

Father, John Davis (1) was late of Great Llanthomas Farm, Cwmcarvan and died on 25 April 1840. He had died in Ruardean.

Neighbours in 1861
Bounded by a messe herefore in the occupation of Wm Okey and subsequently of John Harper but then of Mrs Jane Hannah Thompson (wife of the said Thomas Thompson) on the North a lane leading from Ruardean Street to a place called Caldwell on the west a barn formerly in the tenure of occupn of Mary Wilding and subsequently of the said John Hale but then in the occupn of Geo Watkins on the south and premises belonging to the said Geo Watkins and to the Repres(entatives) of the late John Stratford Collins Esq respively and then in the occupn of the said Geo Watkins on all other parts and sides thereof.

25 July 1892 Sold for £120
From the estate of Jane Hannah Thompson, late of The Pales, Ruardean , sold by executor James Evans of Ruardean, Gentleman, (Evans James, Bell Public House) to Mary Jones, wife of James Jones of Upper Lydbrook, and Elizabeth Bickerton of Sussex Villa, Elmers End Road, Beckenham, Kent.

Tenant: Richard Gibbs, Blacksmith – operating as such from the premises

Boundaries:
Bounded by the following: towards the North by the street , west by the Lane (Caudle Lane) and on all other parts and sides by a barn and premises belonging to George Watkins, by land formerly of John Stratford Collins and now by the said George Watkins.

Thomas Thompson’s will (13 October 1887) mentions:
All my freehold messe or dwelling house situate at Ruardean and then in the occupn of Richard Gibbs as my tenant and myself called and known as Mr Davis’s House. Together with the blacksmiths shop, stable, garden and apports thereunto adjoining and belonging and occupied therewith.

Property is mortgaged by Edwin Evans Yearsley, lawyer of Mitcheldean to Evans and Jones for £40. Mortgage witnessed by Thomas Burdock, Miller Lydbrook (Burdock Thomas, miller & shopkeeper, Waterloo mill)

Thomas Thompson died on 5 May 1891.
Jane Hannah Thompson died 7 May 1892

Jane Hannah Thompson is the niece of spinster Hannah Davis of Mitcheldean (died 6 December 1860), who leaves her all that freehold house and premises situate in the Parish of Ruardean (Pales House?)

6 December 1907 – Sold to Aubrey Bennett for £150
Sold by Mary Jones of Lydbrook and Elizabeth Bickerton of No.6 Wickham Road, Beckenham, Kent of the first part Edwin Evans Yearsley of Mitcheldean , Solicitor of the second part and Aubrey Bennett of Ruardean Woodside, butcher, of the third part for £150. (£110 split between Jones and Bickerton and £40 to Yearsley – all interest paid).

Deed signed by Jones, Bickerton, Yearsley and witnessed by Frank Sleeman, clerk to Yearsley.

Tenant Richard Gibbs, Blacksmith

Boundaries:
Property bounded by the street and Caudle lane and by a barn and premises late of George Watkins and now of William Bennett and by land formerly of Geo Watkins and now of Mrs Weaver and Tom Duberley.

6 March 1926 – Sold to Charles Edmund Knight for £650
Conveyance of a dwellinghouse and butcher’s shop in the Square, Ruardean.
Bennett’s address is given as Retired Butcher, Hill View, West End, Ruardean.
Knight’s address as Smithers Cross Farm, Ruardean, farmer and dealer.

Tenant: Richard E. Olliff.

Boundaries:
Property bounded by premises formerly of William Bennett but nor or late of John Knight and by land now or late of Mrs Weaver and Tom Duberley.

Mortgaged via Lloyds Bank ,Ross.

31 July 1931 – property sold by Lloyds Bank to Jonathan Hale for £300
Jonathan Hale, Collier, resides at New House, The Pludds, near Ruardean.
… the purchaser has paid to Frank R Sleeman (the same Frank Sleeman who acted as witness in 1907 as Yearsley,s clerk) agent for the bank £30.
Frank Sleeman, Auctioneer and Valuer, House and Estate Agent, 90 Weston Road, Gloucester, attendance at Mitcheldean offices 10am to 3pm except Saturdays
Mortgage satisfied 20 August 1941.

Address changes to Dean Dairy.

11.6.1971 Application for erection of dwelling (F.7439) refused.
9.3.73 Application for erection of dwelling (F.7439/A) refused.

Jonathan Hale dies 14 November 1973, May Hale (nee Grifiths) wife and executrix. Estate valued at £8,655.47

May Hale inherits the property, used as a dairy, ice cream shop and manufacturer.

Repairs Grant No.1021 for £4,320 granted on 2 Nov 1983.

22 February 1984 May Hale dies. Executors Robert Okell and Peter Stewart, both of Ross. Estate valued at £47,161.

February 1984, MG Davies, Cinderford, General Builder , receipt for roof repair work with guarantee for five years.

29 March 1985 - Property sold by Okell & Stewart to John Lionel Gough and Rita Winifred Gough for £24,500.
John & Rita Gough of 9 Church Road, Cinderford.
Gough is a cabinet maker and k i tchen fitter.

Estate agents: Coles, Knapp & Kennedy, Tudor House, High Street, Ross.

Perfect for Builder or Studio Potter
Old World Township
A valuable block of Property – an old Georgian House and former shop – excellent large garage and Dairy barn with walled garden.

On the opposite of the Square there is a shop with properties of similar character.

For many years the Square had a local history as a butcher’s shop and then well known for making ice cream and more recently a private home.

Mortgage with Lloyds Bank for £15,001 payable at £172.95 per month. Paid off on 8 November 1991.

July 1991, planning application by F Fidler to convert garage into a light industrial workshop for the repair of brass and woodwind musical instruments. Granted Ref DF.9620

VCH - One of the last blacksmiths worked a smithy, built by the Lydbrook-Ross road in the mid 19th century (fn. 85) and occupied by a joiner and furniture maker in 1990. Glos. R.O., P 275/VE 2/1, min. 29 Apr. 1859; D 1251/A/1.

8 November 1991 – property sold by John & Rita Gough to Frank & Maureen Fidler for £93,500.
Estate Agent Tony Netting , 65 High Street, Cinderford
High Above the Wye. A spacious and versatile detached 4 bedroomed village house. Fine walled English garden, large garage proferring conversion potential. Plenty of Parking.

Dean Dairy is detatched, stone built, rendered and painted white beneath a principally reslated roof (Feb 85 by Davies). The accommodation has been tastefully updated and appointed by the vendor, a skilled kitc hen and bathroom fitter to trade.

20 August 1991, search details refer to The Old Dairy so name changed from Dean Dairy sometime around this period.

6 February 2013, house sold.

What would be nice would be to fill in the census information from the early 1800s, showing the various tenants.

I'm going to visit the Records Office and search the two large files that reference the property and do some searches of the Tithe Map and the Rates books, etc.

This is such a useful forum - I thought I'd dig about for Elizabeth Bickerton and found her on this thread. And it obviously explains the Lydbrook-Kent connection.
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=26718

Year: 1837
Month: May
Day: 14
Parents_Surname: BURDOCK
Child_Forenames: Elizabeth Bennett
Fathers_Forenames: Thomas
Mothers_Forenames: Mary
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Lydbrook
Occupation: Miller
Officiating_Minister: T. D. Fosbroke
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: daughter of
Notes:
Register_Reference: P275 IN 1/7
Page_Number: 97
Parish_Chapel: Ruardean

1851
Thomas Burdock abt 1801 Upleadon, Gloucestershire, England Head West Dean, Gloucestershire
Mary Burdock abt 1807 Ruardean, Gloucestershire, England Wife West Dean, Gloucestershire
Thomas Burdock abt 1832 Flaxley, Gloucestershire, England Son West Dean, Gloucestershire
Mary Burdock abt 1834 Bicknor, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire
Elizabeth Burdock abt 1838 West Dean, Gloucestershire, England Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire
Lydia Burdock abt 1841 West Dean Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire
Ann Burdock abt 1844 West Dean Daughter West Dean, Gloucestershire

Name: Elizabeth Burdock
Name: Alfred Bickerton
Year of Registration: 1858
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Gloucester (1837-1937)
County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 386

Year: 1858
Month: Jul
Day: 25
Parents_Surname: BICKERTON
Child_Forenames: Rose Ella
Fathers_Forenames: Alfred
Mothers_Forenames: Elizabeth
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Newland Bridge
Occupation: Cabinet Maker
Officiating_Minister: Robert Smythe Hopkins
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: 20811
Page_Number: 24
Parish_Chapel: Lydbrook

1861 in BENNETT household
John Bennett abt 1794 Ruardean, Gloucestershire, England Head Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Lydia Bennett abt 1799 Upleadon, Gloucestershire, England Wife Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Elizabeth Bickerton abt 1838 West Dean, Gloucestershire, England Niece Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Rosilie Bickerton abt 1859 West Dean, Gloucestershire, England Niece Ruardean, Gloucestershire

1861 ( with his mother !)
Margaret Davies abt 1799 Mathow, Monmouthshire, Wales Head Ross, Herefordshire
Sarah Bickerton abt 1835 Ross, Herefordshire, England Daughter Ross, Herefordshire
Alfred Bickerton abt 1836 Ross, Herefordshire, England Son Ross, Herefordshire

1871 Ruardean
Elizabeth Bryerton 33
Ann Bryerton 8

1881
Elizabeth B. Bickerton abt 1838 Sidbrook, Gloucestershire, England Servant Marylebone, London
Rosalie Bickerton abt 1859 Sidbrook, Gloucestershire, England Servant Marylebone, London
Annie Bickerton abt 1861 Ross, Hereford, England Servant Marylebone, London

1891 with William & Ann MEEK
Elizabeth B Bickerton abt 1838 Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England Mother-in-law Meopham, Kent

1901
Elizabeth Beckerton abt 1837 Lydhork, Gloucestershire, England Head Beckenham, Kent
Marie Insland abt 1894 Westminster, London, England Boarder Beckenham, Kent
Thomas Insland abt 1900 Clapham, London, England Boarder Beckenham, Kent

1911
BRADLEY CHARLES LEONARD M 1892 19 Bromley Kent
BRADLEY FRANCES ELIZABETH BENNETT F 1892 19 Bromley Kent
BRADLEY PHILLIP GEORGE MAYNARD M 1911 1 MONTH Bromley Kent
BICKERTON ELIZABETH BENNETT F 1838 73 Bromley Kent