A stroll down New Road - Odds 1 to 27
Map Data: Purple - Early Cottage Names / Blue - Current Cottage Names / Green - Buildings on 1880 OS Map / Pink - Buildings since 1914 OS Map
Odd numbers between The Green and Barton Way
Southview in 2006
Standing on The Green, looking East down New Road towards Watford Road, the odd numbers are on the left side, the same side as the Library.
The very first house, called “South View”, now actually only has access direct from The Green, although it clearly faces New Road and the hedge on this boundary looks as if it might, at some time, have allowed access from New Road.
It has been suggested that this building was the very first Post Office in the area, letters being posted through a slot in the wall, long since bricked up. Its garden also doubled as the village pound – presumably a safe haven for stray animals.
|
Numbers 1, 3 and 5 are not present on the 1871 Ordnance Survey map of the area but appear on the 1896 version, so must have been built in the intervening years.
It is, however, unsafe to use these maps too rigidly as reliable dating information, because it sometimes took (and still takes) quite a number of years for new developments and changes to be added. A case in point is No. 17, a few doors down, which also is not shown on the 1880 map although one of my sources states, with apparent certainty, that it was constructed in 1863. The advert alongside from the 1914 Peacocks Directory shows “Wallis & Sons, Builders, Decorators and Plumbers” to be resident at Nos 3, 5 and 230 New Road. In the 1906 Kelly’s Directory No. 5 was listed as being owned by “Edward Revell, Builder” and later, in the 1913, 1920 and 1940 Kelly’s, it was listed as “Wallis and Sons, Builders”. The 1910/11 Kelly’s Directory also listed Miss Courtney, a nurse, as resident at No 3. It could well be that she was a lodger. The presence of the Revell business at this address is confirmed by adverts in the 1906 and 1907 All Saints’ magazines, one of which is shown alongside. |
The Revell family have a number of other connections with the area. As set out later, No. 27 was, in the 1891 census, shown as being occupied by Henry Revell, a builder. He was also a member of the Methodist church and is commemorated on one of the plaques on the front as laying a foundation stone in December, 1892. (See the first entry on the “evens” side later on.)
Next door, at No. 29 was Harry Revell (probably Henry’s son) with his wife and large family.Jas and John Revell are also commemorated on the war memorial on The Green, both having been killed in the 1914~1918 war. No further details are known, but Harry Revell had sons, James, aged 6 and John, aged 4, at the date of the 1891 census, so they would probably have been of an appropriate age. |
|
Petit Roque in 2006
No. 5a was occupied by “Petit Roque” described as “Fireplace makers and sellers” in the 1968 Kelly’s Directory but closed in 2010.
No 7, which we believe was called “Ivy Cottage” was shown to be present on the 1871 O.S. map.
No. 17 is “The Hawthorns”, a large house which is said to have been built in 1863, although it doesn’t appear on the 1880 Ordnance Survey map. Both the 1890 Kelly’s and 1891 census both show the house to be occupied by a Susanna Warwick, who was “living on her own means” with her young servant Alice Chilton.
John Theodore Tussaud, the great-grandson of Madame Tussaud, occupied The Hawthorns from 1902 to 1947 and in the 1930s it was used as a base for the family business run by her great-great-grandchildren, “The Tussaud Brothers”, who organised “Exhibitions, Tableaux and Scenic Effects”.
No 7, which we believe was called “Ivy Cottage” was shown to be present on the 1871 O.S. map.
No. 17 is “The Hawthorns”, a large house which is said to have been built in 1863, although it doesn’t appear on the 1880 Ordnance Survey map. Both the 1890 Kelly’s and 1891 census both show the house to be occupied by a Susanna Warwick, who was “living on her own means” with her young servant Alice Chilton.
John Theodore Tussaud, the great-grandson of Madame Tussaud, occupied The Hawthorns from 1902 to 1947 and in the 1930s it was used as a base for the family business run by her great-great-grandchildren, “The Tussaud Brothers”, who organised “Exhibitions, Tableaux and Scenic Effects”.
Hawthorns in 2006
Madame Tussaud was born Marie Grosholz in Strasbourg in 1761. Her mother worked for a Dr Phillipe Curtius, who ran an exhibition of waxwork figures and, from a very early age she learnt the art of wax modelling, becoming very proficient at it.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 she helped Curtius to model the death masks of the guillotine victims, and in 1794 she inherited the collection of masks from Curtius. In 1795 she married a French engineer, François Tussaud, but left him eight years later to tour Britain with her waxwork exhibition.
In 1835 the exhibition settled into its first permanent home in The Bazaar, Baker Street. She died in 1850 and, in 1884, her grandsons moved the exhibition to its present site in Marylebone Road.
Since “The Hawthorns” seems to have been built after her death there can be no substance in the suggestions that she actually lived there at some time.
In the 1891 census, No. 25 was occupied by George Ricketts, a Tortoiseshell worker. By 1913, 1920 and again in 1930 it was listed as occupied by Dr Richard Evans, although it is not clear whether this was his private house or his surgery or, as was often the case in those days, both.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 she helped Curtius to model the death masks of the guillotine victims, and in 1794 she inherited the collection of masks from Curtius. In 1795 she married a French engineer, François Tussaud, but left him eight years later to tour Britain with her waxwork exhibition.
In 1835 the exhibition settled into its first permanent home in The Bazaar, Baker Street. She died in 1850 and, in 1884, her grandsons moved the exhibition to its present site in Marylebone Road.
Since “The Hawthorns” seems to have been built after her death there can be no substance in the suggestions that she actually lived there at some time.
In the 1891 census, No. 25 was occupied by George Ricketts, a Tortoiseshell worker. By 1913, 1920 and again in 1930 it was listed as occupied by Dr Richard Evans, although it is not clear whether this was his private house or his surgery or, as was often the case in those days, both.
Mrs Hurst’s Croxley Green Laundry c1900
From 1890 (and possibly before) until at least 1901, No. 27 was listed in the Local Directories and the 1891 census as occupied by Henry Revell, firstly as a bricklayer and later as a builder. As mentioned earlier, this surname crops up a lot within this small area so it would seem likely that the family had lived close by for some time.
By 1904, however, “Mrs Hurst’s Croxley Green Laundry” was then resident and this certainly continued through to 1930 and possibly later. At some time around 1935 it relocated to the foot of Scots Hill in Rickmansworth.
By 1904, however, “Mrs Hurst’s Croxley Green Laundry” was then resident and this certainly continued through to 1930 and possibly later. At some time around 1935 it relocated to the foot of Scots Hill in Rickmansworth.
