Ankerdine
The origin of the house name Ankerdine remains unclear. The house is certainly known as this in Tilleys of 1903 but I can find no earlier reference
to the name.
Ankerdine Hills are a well known beauty spot near Knightwick between Malvern and Worcester and it may well be that one of
the residents had a soft spot for that place.
William Rees lived in Ankerdine from 1836, first as occupier then as owner.
Born on July 24th 1808 in Nether Hall, (as it was known at the time, now Lower Hall), first son of William and Mary Elizabeth Reece, née Jones.
They also had: Mary Ann baptised on March 22nd 1807 with George, Eliza Fanny, John Robert and Richard all baptised together on October 30th 1819.
William senior died in 1824 in Lower Hall aged 58 ie born 1778.
In Ankerdine on the 1841 census is Elizabeth, 40, William, 30 and Richard 20 and a servant Ann King 30.
The ages on the 1841 census are +/- 5 years and all these ages should be taken with a pinch of salt. The Elizabeth here is William's mother she died in Ankerdine on Nov 30th 1850 aged 72 ie born 1778.
William married Elizabeth Gee Holah Atterbury on June 9th 1846 in Diddington, Huntingdonshire, no children found.
An extraordinary name I am not making it up as ypu can see from this newspaper extract!
Only William's new wife Elizabeth is in Ankerdine in 1851, with a servant, Ann Bowers, 60, from Colwall, and Martin O'Donnell, 18, groom, I can't find William anywhere on that census.
In Ankerdine in 1861, he and Elizabeth have one servant Jane Hartland 59 from Bosbury as Housekeeper. I cannot find William nor Elizabeth in 1871 or 1881 censuses, the Electoral Registers show that William owned Ankerdine until 1879, (this does not necessarily mean he was living in it see below under Winnall). I cannot find Elizabeth's death.
He totally disappears from 1871 until 1885 when he is shown as a lodger in Horse Lane (Worcester Road).
He died in Horse Lane on January 9th 1889 leaving just £63 13s 6d. Seemingly not a very successful business career.
There seems to be something not quite above board about the Reeces:
In April 1845 Richard Reece was in Birmingham Bankruptcy Court to be examined as an insolvent.
The insolvent, who is an articled clerk to his brother, Mr. William Reece of Ledbury, applied for his interim order....... It appears that the insolvent, being a minor, and at the same time a clerk in the brother's office, was appointed trustee under a deed of assignment..... a bill was filed against the insolvent to recover certain sums of money which it was alleged had been improperly paid by the insolvent to his brother.....the bill was reduced to £27 but the brother had never repaid....
From about 1871 to 1884 the Winnalls are in residence in Ankerdine.
Henry Winnall was born in Elmley Lovett, nr Hartlebury in Worcestershire, in 1820. By 1850 he is established in High St. Birmingham as a Bookseller and Stationer. He married Sarah Barrett in Droitwich in 1857.
Retired by 1871 when is living in Malvern Link he must have shortly moved to Ledbury as he died on December 8th 1873 in Bosbury but his will states 'late of South Parade, Ledbury' .
The memorial in the cemetery confirms this.
In 1881 Sarah is in Ankerdine where she died in September 1884.
The houses in South Parade seemed to be very popular among the local legal professional classes and in 1891 the next occupant, Harry V Smith, is no exception.
Born in the Homend in 1855 to Joseph Lambourne Smith, a solicitor, and Christian Webb he married Francis Catherine Ellen Whittenbury in Torquay on June 3rd 1884. She was the eldest daughter of Dr Edwin Collier Whittenbury of Victoria Australia.
He died in 1868 when his eldest daughter was only 10 and by 1881 his two daughters had moved to Torquay. (It is curious that I have had to search the Australian newspapers to find the Torquay marriage!)
From 'The Australian' 9 Aug 1884.
Harry and Francis must have settled in Ledbury as on August 9th in the parish church Amy Fane Goodman (Whittenbury), youngest daughter of Dr Whittenbury (deceased) married Terrill Wakeham Pearce. He was from St Austell and the likely scenario for all this is that Amy moved to Ledbury with her newly married sister and married in what was then her local church.
Probably in Ankerdine when it became available after Mrs Winnall died in 1884 the Smiths are certainly here in 1887 when a daughter Vera Grace was born 'in South Parade'. A son Mervyn Whittenbury (Smith) was born in Ledbury in 1885 but I cannot find an address for that entry and a further daughter Dorothy Gladys was born in 1888 in South Parade.
By 1901 the family are in the Homend where Francis died in 1909 aged 51 giving her Australian birth as 1858.
The house they lived in at this time is now the cafe 'Ice Bytes' and the records show he was a solicitor and 'Correspondent for the Ledbury Council Schools' Managers'.
By 1911 he has moved the other side of the road to what became the Post Office on the corner of Bank Crescent which he must have left by 1922 when A L Chapman is in the premises as a solicitor and fulfilling the same role for the Schools' Managers.
By now 67 he probably retired but I cannot find his death.
Only Vera is still with her father in 1911 and she married Stanley Woodbrock in 1918 in Ledbury.
In 1901 William E Tarbet, 31, is here as Head of Household with his mother and brother.
He and his brother, Peter, 25, were both doctors from Liverpool but had moved on by 1903 and with no Ledbury association need not concern us further.
From Tilleys in 1904 and 1905 one J P Sugden is here and in 1906 C A Burroughs but from 1908 through to 1940 a Miss Ussher Roberts is resident.
Born in 1857 in Ireland Alice Emily Ussher Roberts was the daughter of Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821-1900) and Emily Isabella Roberts nèe Forster (1829-1907).
Samuel was an architect and engineer in Ireland where he died in 1900.
An enthusiastic horesman, after his death a group of friends presented the Samuel Ussher Roberts Perpetual Challenge cup and silver medal for the best lightweight hunter classes in horse shows, a cup which is still competed for today.
For some reason after his death the family moved to Gloucester House in the Southend (qv) where they are in 1901.
Emily Isabella died there in 1907 leaving just £145 hardly enough to have enabled Alice to set herself up in Ankerdine so we have to presume that her father Samuel left her better provided for. She died in Ankerdine in 1940 leaving £8,800.
After Alice Ussher Roberts died in 1940 a Major A G Brace lived in Ankerdine until 1950, nothing known about him but from 1950 the Rev. R R Kimbrell was here until he died in 1964. He had an interesting life.
Ralph Raymond Kimbrell was born on June 12th 1884 in Boughton, Norhants to Peter, a builder, and Fanny.
In 1901 he is listed as 'Pupil Teacher Elementary'.
By 1912 he is an assistant master at Culham College near Oxford, Culham College being a Diocesan Training College for Schoolmasters. In Mar 1916 he was married in Totnes (District) to Anna Emmeline Winsor, a farmer's daughter from Paignton the event being recorded in his local paper:
From the Northampton Chronicle and Echo 1st March 1916.
Joining the Navy as a volunteer in November 1916 he was posted to Devonport where he remained for the duration of the hostilities.
Back in Northants by 1925, in April 1932 he was appointed Principal of the Sheffield City Training College for Teachers having previously been Vice Principal of Bede College, part of Durham University.
Sadly Anna died on January 20th 1946 in Bootham Park Yorkshire, a psychiatric Hospital.
He remarried to Audrey Wragg in Sep (qtr) 1949. Born in 1918 she was an assistant teacher in Sheffield in 1939 and had probably been at his college.
Ralph was 65, Audrey was 31 when they married and in the same year he was appointed assistant curate in Ledbury moving to Ankerdine where he died in 1964 aged 80 and leaving £9,500 to his wife.
She stayed in Ankerdine for a year moved on and died in 2011.
According to Tilley's it was unoccupied until 1971, (which does not mean that Mrs Kimbell did not go there from time to time) after which when one A Haggard is here until 1977 followed by G Walker from 1978 til' 1996 then J Hembury in 1997 and I Beer in 1999 until 2002,the last year Tilley's was published.
William Rees lived in Ankerdine from 1836, first as occupier then as owner.
Born on July 24th 1808 in Nether Hall, (as it was known at the time, now Lower Hall), first son of William and Mary Elizabeth Reece, née Jones.
They also had: Mary Ann baptised on March 22nd 1807 with George, Eliza Fanny, John Robert and Richard all baptised together on October 30th 1819.
William senior died in 1824 in Lower Hall aged 58 ie born 1778.
In Ankerdine on the 1841 census is Elizabeth, 40, William, 30 and Richard 20 and a servant Ann King 30.
The ages on the 1841 census are +/- 5 years and all these ages should be taken with a pinch of salt. The Elizabeth here is William's mother she died in Ankerdine on Nov 30th 1850 aged 72 ie born 1778.
William married Elizabeth Gee Holah Atterbury on June 9th 1846 in Diddington, Huntingdonshire, no children found.
An extraordinary name I am not making it up as ypu can see from this newspaper extract!
Only William's new wife Elizabeth is in Ankerdine in 1851, with a servant, Ann Bowers, 60, from Colwall, and Martin O'Donnell, 18, groom, I can't find William anywhere on that census.
In Ankerdine in 1861, he and Elizabeth have one servant Jane Hartland 59 from Bosbury as Housekeeper. I cannot find William nor Elizabeth in 1871 or 1881 censuses, the Electoral Registers show that William owned Ankerdine until 1879, (this does not necessarily mean he was living in it see below under Winnall). I cannot find Elizabeth's death.
He totally disappears from 1871 until 1885 when he is shown as a lodger in Horse Lane (Worcester Road).
He died in Horse Lane on January 9th 1889 leaving just £63 13s 6d. Seemingly not a very successful business career.
There seems to be something not quite above board about the Reeces:
In April 1845 Richard Reece was in Birmingham Bankruptcy Court to be examined as an insolvent.
The insolvent, who is an articled clerk to his brother, Mr. William Reece of Ledbury, applied for his interim order....... It appears that the insolvent, being a minor, and at the same time a clerk in the brother's office, was appointed trustee under a deed of assignment..... a bill was filed against the insolvent to recover certain sums of money which it was alleged had been improperly paid by the insolvent to his brother.....the bill was reduced to £27 but the brother had never repaid....
From about 1871 to 1884 the Winnalls are in residence in Ankerdine.
Henry Winnall was born in Elmley Lovett, nr Hartlebury in Worcestershire, in 1820. By 1850 he is established in High St. Birmingham as a Bookseller and Stationer. He married Sarah Barrett in Droitwich in 1857.
Retired by 1871 when is living in Malvern Link he must have shortly moved to Ledbury as he died on December 8th 1873 in Bosbury but his will states 'late of South Parade, Ledbury' .
The memorial in the cemetery confirms this.
In 1881 Sarah is in Ankerdine where she died in September 1884.
The houses in South Parade seemed to be very popular among the local legal professional classes and in 1891 the next occupant, Harry V Smith, is no exception.
Born in the Homend in 1855 to Joseph Lambourne Smith, a solicitor, and Christian Webb he married Francis Catherine Ellen Whittenbury in Torquay on June 3rd 1884. She was the eldest daughter of Dr Edwin Collier Whittenbury of Victoria Australia.
He died in 1868 when his eldest daughter was only 10 and by 1881 his two daughters had moved to Torquay. (It is curious that I have had to search the Australian newspapers to find the Torquay marriage!)
From 'The Australian' 9 Aug 1884.
Harry and Francis must have settled in Ledbury as on August 9th in the parish church Amy Fane Goodman (Whittenbury), youngest daughter of Dr Whittenbury (deceased) married Terrill Wakeham Pearce. He was from St Austell and the likely scenario for all this is that Amy moved to Ledbury with her newly married sister and married in what was then her local church.
Probably in Ankerdine when it became available after Mrs Winnall died in 1884 the Smiths are certainly here in 1887 when a daughter Vera Grace was born 'in South Parade'. A son Mervyn Whittenbury (Smith) was born in Ledbury in 1885 but I cannot find an address for that entry and a further daughter Dorothy Gladys was born in 1888 in South Parade.
By 1901 the family are in the Homend where Francis died in 1909 aged 51 giving her Australian birth as 1858.
The house they lived in at this time is now the cafe 'Ice Bytes' and the records show he was a solicitor and 'Correspondent for the Ledbury Council Schools' Managers'.
By 1911 he has moved the other side of the road to what became the Post Office on the corner of Bank Crescent which he must have left by 1922 when A L Chapman is in the premises as a solicitor and fulfilling the same role for the Schools' Managers.
By now 67 he probably retired but I cannot find his death.
Only Vera is still with her father in 1911 and she married Stanley Woodbrock in 1918 in Ledbury.
In 1901 William E Tarbet, 31, is here as Head of Household with his mother and brother.
He and his brother, Peter, 25, were both doctors from Liverpool but had moved on by 1903 and with no Ledbury association need not concern us further.
From Tilleys in 1904 and 1905 one J P Sugden is here and in 1906 C A Burroughs but from 1908 through to 1940 a Miss Ussher Roberts is resident.
Born in 1857 in Ireland Alice Emily Ussher Roberts was the daughter of Samuel Ussher Roberts (1821-1900) and Emily Isabella Roberts nèe Forster (1829-1907).
Samuel was an architect and engineer in Ireland where he died in 1900.
An enthusiastic horesman, after his death a group of friends presented the Samuel Ussher Roberts Perpetual Challenge cup and silver medal for the best lightweight hunter classes in horse shows, a cup which is still competed for today.
For some reason after his death the family moved to Gloucester House in the Southend (qv) where they are in 1901.
Emily Isabella died there in 1907 leaving just £145 hardly enough to have enabled Alice to set herself up in Ankerdine so we have to presume that her father Samuel left her better provided for. She died in Ankerdine in 1940 leaving £8,800.
After Alice Ussher Roberts died in 1940 a Major A G Brace lived in Ankerdine until 1950, nothing known about him but from 1950 the Rev. R R Kimbrell was here until he died in 1964. He had an interesting life.
Ralph Raymond Kimbrell was born on June 12th 1884 in Boughton, Norhants to Peter, a builder, and Fanny.
In 1901 he is listed as 'Pupil Teacher Elementary'.
By 1912 he is an assistant master at Culham College near Oxford, Culham College being a Diocesan Training College for Schoolmasters. In Mar 1916 he was married in Totnes (District) to Anna Emmeline Winsor, a farmer's daughter from Paignton the event being recorded in his local paper:
From the Northampton Chronicle and Echo 1st March 1916.
Joining the Navy as a volunteer in November 1916 he was posted to Devonport where he remained for the duration of the hostilities.
Back in Northants by 1925, in April 1932 he was appointed Principal of the Sheffield City Training College for Teachers having previously been Vice Principal of Bede College, part of Durham University.
Sadly Anna died on January 20th 1946 in Bootham Park Yorkshire, a psychiatric Hospital.
He remarried to Audrey Wragg in Sep (qtr) 1949. Born in 1918 she was an assistant teacher in Sheffield in 1939 and had probably been at his college.
Ralph was 65, Audrey was 31 when they married and in the same year he was appointed assistant curate in Ledbury moving to Ankerdine where he died in 1964 aged 80 and leaving £9,500 to his wife.
She stayed in Ankerdine for a year moved on and died in 2011.
According to Tilley's it was unoccupied until 1971, (which does not mean that Mrs Kimbell did not go there from time to time) after which when one A Haggard is here until 1977 followed by G Walker from 1978 til' 1996 then J Hembury in 1997 and I Beer in 1999 until 2002,the last year Tilley's was published.