Interested in Bedminster history? Have a look at the old photos of Bedminster in the photo galleries...

By Hannah2009 at 17:23 on 13/11/09

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Interested in Bedminster history? Have a look at the old photos of Bedminster in the photo galleries...

By Hannah2009 at 17:23 on 13/11/09
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I love the local history of Bedminster, once in the county of Somerset. In the mid 1800's it had reading rooms and coffee houses being built for the working classes, it had a refuge for fallen women, new churches being built, it had a work house.

The areas around Bedminster, ie Knowle, bishopworth etc, were known as tythes of Bedminster, they had to pay to the churches in Bedminster via animals, wheat, coal etc , guess in was a type of council tax ?

Coddger

By coddger at 21:31 on 16/11/09
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It's fascinating. I didn't realise Bedminster had a refuge for fallen women, or coffee houses! It would be interesting to know more about that. I think if I remember rightly from my history lessons that tythes were a tenth of your income. Back then, I thought that was a lot; now I'm a taxpayer, just 10% doesn't sound like much at all!

By Hannah2009 at 16:26 on 17/11/09
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Some interesting pictures there. However, the one labeled 'East St in the 1900s?' is of particular interest. The picture is actually 'Brightbow Cottages' which stood on the site that ASDA currently occupies. The photograph was taken sometime around 1887-1889 as these cottages were demolished in 1890 and the building next to them is WD&HO Wills No.1 Factory which was built around 1886. The cottages were built on an area of land which at that time was often flooded by the Malago river leading to some pretty unsanitary conditions. The cottages were demolished in 1890 after an outbreak of either cholera or smallpox (reports vary).

The two figures in the picture are of even greater interest as the male figure is most likely to be my great great uncle and the woman, most likely to be my great great aunt who lived there up until 1889. My grandmother had a copy of this photo with notes as to who lived in each of the neighbouring cottages, written in beautiful copperplate handwriting by my great great uncle. Sadly it was lost in the 1980s having been loaned to a distant family member who was researching their family tree.

By Kaptain_Von at 11:12 on 18/11/09
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Hi Kaptain_Von, thank you so much for your information. It's great to know the story behind the photo! I will amend the caption. A cholera outbreak sounds quite likely - I imagine the sanitary conditions must have been terrible at times, if the cottages were liable to flooding from the Malago.

By Hannah2009 at 12:37 on 18/11/09
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I love these old photos Hannah, well done and your input Kaptain-von it always makes it more interesting when there is a personal input

By Susie710 at 18:58 on 19/11/09
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Hi all Im pleased you like the pictures I posted especially as they have generated interest and debate. Hope to continue with more to keep interest and maybe resolve some history from the past.

By coddger at 21:26 on 10/12/09
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Cheers Coddger, look forward to it.

By Hannah2009 at 15:12 on 11/12/09
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yes more photos please!

By LittleBlue1 at 17:28 on 11/12/09
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Hi LittleBlue1, Im reseaching for more and will post, great site for making friends too.

By coddger at 21:42 on 12/12/09
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I like the photos, Coddger. It looks like the Vicky Park one was taken from up by the Lodge, you can see Richmond Street in the background, I think. And East Street looks thriving in that picture, I suppose it was back then. The old map was very interesting too, does anyone know if Redcliffe in the Bedminster boundaries then?

By Mrs_W2009 at 10:42 on 14/12/09
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more great pix Coddger! Does anyone know when Vicky park opened? I was just thinking how small/young all the trees look and it all looks very neat with the minature fencing!

By LittleBlue1 at 14:07 on 14/12/09
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Mrs_W2009 wrote:

"The old map was very interesting too, does anyone know if Redcliffe in the Bedminster boundaries then?"

Up until the early 1830s Bedminster was a separate town from both Bristol and Redcliffe. Earlier than that Bedminster came under the manor of Robert Fitzharding who went on to found the Berkeley manor. The Berkeley family also considered that Redcliffe came under their manor and this led to a fairly major feud in the 1300s with the burgesses of Bristol who considered it their land. There were apparently quite a few 'bloody' encounters and enmity between the people of Redcliffe and Bedminster remained for a number of years afterwards. Apparently men from Redcliffe and men from Bristol would frequently fight each other in the vicinity of Redcliffe Bridge (a bit like a Saturday night on the centre nowadays really) and this may have been the cause of one of the wooden structures being destroyed.

In the early 17th century the ownership of the manor of Bedminster was taken over by the Smythe family.

So, whilst owned by the same family, Bedminster and Redcliffe were quite separate entities.

By Kaptain_Von at 14:00 on 15/12/09
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My father was born in redcliff and my grandparents ran a pub in bedminster in the early 1940s (Edward Hopkins-edna Jones). near the wills factory where mum worked for a time. All have died, Im working to find my family history and i wonder if any , pictures maps, (1920S -50s) map of bedminster or redcliffe or any memorys of the pub still survive. as im not even sure of its name, I remember the small child in the 1950s ,the stale beer smell and the buzz of trafic in the street below. My family were some how involved with Jerry Cottles Circus ?

By jeanho at 08:06 on 22/12/11
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In reply to Mrs_W2009 ... Some time ago I put a link on these pages that will be of assistance to anyone interested in maps of old and present day Bristol.. They can be a great help re the parish and county boundaries and how they have changed down through the centuries. You can for instance click on to the present day map of the city and drag to an area that you are interested in,then zoom in and then click back through several centuries. It really is fabulous. If you have any trouble with the link that I shall now give here, no worries just Google " BRISTOLKNOWYOURPLACE" But here is the link, enjoy! http://tinyurl.com/4rla5ru

By ejcole at 00:08 on 23/12/11
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Hi jeanho, there were Wills factories in and around both East Street and North Street, and quite a lot of pubs close by - do you know which number Wills factory your mum worked in?

By Hannah2009 at 15:03 on 24/12/11
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Ejcole, I had a look at those maps and they were very intersting, thankyou.

By Mrs_W2009 at 19:12 on 29/12/11
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Mrs_W2009 You may notice if you zoom onto where the Malago is on those old maps, that the boundary line tween Bristol and Somerset used to run straight down the middle ...Parson street being in the city and Lynton rd (where I live ) was in Somerset.

By ejcole at 23:34 on 29/12/11
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Thanks ejcole, I hadn't realised it was so close. I remember seeing an old map of the west country and Bedminster was described as a parish of Somerset and it was surprisingly big!

By Mrs_W2009 at 20:07 on 31/12/11
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