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Hornblower & Griffin Families

HI Lesno ;
It may not be connected but there was a very old lady whom lived in stour street many years ago back in the fortys and fiftys
and been in the war years her husband died many ; many years back in the early 1900s her name was mrs griffin;
she lived at the top end of stour street a couple of doors from a family called the memorys ; and a corner shop on the corner as a family called whitehouse
a grocery shop ; [ stour street birmingham 18 ; ] Astonian;;
 
Hello Astonian- Thank you ver much for your info re the Griffin surname. Yes a few of my ancestors were grocers etc. I will keep the info you have given me in mind & get back to you if I can find a link
Regards Les Noffke
 
In the last will and testament of my ancestor John Child, Frame Maker and Stamper, dated 1833, he left a number of leasehold "messuages", aka dwellings, to his eight surviving children. At the time such places were often both dwellings and workplaces for cottage industry.
These comprised a number of dwellings located in two court areas on the South side of Cheapside on both sides of the parish boundary. One was Court 8 Cheapside, just West of the boundary, where he had his own business from 1812 to 1834.
The other was a group of 13 messuages located in Deritend, East of the boundary. Some of his family lived and or worked at 24 Court, Cheapside.
If you can find it on the 1:500 map you will find a row of thirteen back-to-backs between 24 and 25 courts on the South side of Cheapside. [Instructions here: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-i-find-old-street-maps.34337/ ]
John Child described the property in part as occupied by a few named tenants. Among these, he stated that one of the Deritend messuages was formerly occupied by William Hornblower.
I was able to find the 1830 directory listing for:
William Hornblower 301 Cheapside Printers roller mkr.
So it would appear that he was located at the terraced back-to-backs at 24 or 25 Court at some time before 1830, but after 1812. My guess is that John Child could not buy the leaseholds until his business was on a solid footing, say some time after 1816, or even as late as 1820.
I have no information on the particular dwelling Hornblower occupied, nor any information on the rents charged for the individual dwellings. I have seen only the will, not any property documents. Nor was I able to find any earlier directory listings for William Hornblower


.Courts 24 & 25 Cheapside.jpg
 
It looks like he maybe died in 1860 at the Globe, Gt Barr St , which was run by his son

ARIS BIRM GAZETTE.  13.2.1860.jpg
 
Assuming this is the same one, which I think probable, in the 1851 census he is living at 178 Cheapside, with wife Lucy and is then listed (it looks like) a printers's compositor
 
I agree it is almost certainly the same man. Putting the pieces together, it looks like he had his own successful business going by the time he was in his mid-20s. Allowing for apprenticeship and work as a journeyman, he does not appear to have wasted any time. And it looks like his own business may have been started in a back-to-back in one of the courts.
 
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