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| Interior of St Thomas a Becket's Church, Thorverton, Devon cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Voller - geograph.org.uk/p/4038111 |
William Henry Bridle (b. 1844 in Rockbeare, Devon), son of Thomas Parsons Bridle and Elizabeth Wills, married Emma Lucas (bap. 2 Sep 1849 in Thorverton, Devon), daughter of William Lucas and Eliza Bamsey, at St Thomas a Becket's Church, Thorverton, on 14 Aug 1870.
They had five sons:
- William Bridle b. 1871 M Quarter in SAINT THOMAS Volume 05B Page 71 in Brampford Speke
- James Bridle b. 1873 M Quarter in CREDITON Volume 05B Page 427. Died 1873 J Quarter in CREDITON Volume 05B Page 285
- Mark Bridle b. 9 Jan 1876 (1876 M Quarter in CREDITON Volume 05B Page 428) in Newton St Cyres
- John Lucas Bridle b. 11 Jun 1879 (1879 S Quarter in CREDITON Volume 05B Page 411) in Newton St Cyres
- Harry Bridle b. 7 Aug 1887 (1887 S Quarter in SAINT THOMAS Volume 05B Page 57) in Stoke Canon
In 1871, Henry Bridle (26), Agricultural Labourer, Emma Bridle (21) and William Bridle (1) were living at Pound Cottage, Brampford Speke.
In 1881, in Lilly Road, Newton St Cyres, were Henry Bridle (36) Railway Labourer; Emma Bridle (31), William (10), Mark (5) and John (1).
In 1891, at Barrow Cottages, 4, Barrow Road, Rewe, Stoke Canon, were William Henry Bridle (45) Agricultural Labourer; Emma Bridle (40), with Mark Bridle (14), John L Bridle (11) and Harry Bridle (3). William Bridle (20), Horse Driver, was a boarder in a household in Westexe South, Tiverton.
In 1901, at Hill Cottages, Netherene Village, Nether Exe (24 households in 1086), were Henry Bridle (56), Emma Bridle (51), and Harry Bridle (13).
In 1911, in Stoke Canon, William Henry Bridle (66), Farm Labourer, and his wife, Emma Bridle (62), were living in the household of their son Mark Bridle and his wife, Maud Lucy Medcalf (who he married in St Pancras, London in 1905); with Harry Bridle (3) Nephew (son of Harry Bridle and Adeline Martha Coome) and Elizabeth Deroney (72), Boarder.
[William] Henry Bridle died, aged 84, on 22 Dec 1928 (1928 D Qtr in EXETER Vol 05B 114) and is buried at St Mary Magdalene, Stoke Canon.
Emma Bridle died, aged 88, on 21 Jul 1937 (1937 S Quarter in EXETER Vol 05B Page 73) and was buried at St Mary Magdalene, Stoke Canon.
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| Victoria Street, Exeter cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/293678 |
Mark Bridle (b. 9 Jan 1876), son of Henry Bridle and Emma Lucas, married Maud Lucy Medcalf (b. 20 Mar 1882 in Peckham, London), daughter of Arthur Charles Medcalf and Eliza Dale, in St Pancras, London, in 1905. Wonder how they met? Maud's father was from Ballingdon, then in Essex (now a suburb of Sudbury in Suffolk) and her mother from Kensington.
In 1911, Mark Bridle (35) Blacksmith, Maud Lucy (29); Mark's parents, William Henry (66), Emma (62); nephew, Harry (3) and Elizabeth Deroney (72), were living in Stoke Canon, Devon. Could it be that they also moved away from Stoke Canon as a consequence of the strike at the paper mill, in which his brother John had been caught up in, in 1915?
Their only child, Arthur Albert Mark Bridle, was born on 18 Mar 1917.
In 1921, Mark Bridle (46) Motor Driver; Maud Lucy Bridle (38) and Arthur Albert Mark Bridle (5), were living at 68 Victoria Street, Exeter, Devon.
In 1939, Mark Bridle, Chauffer / Gardener, wife Maud Lucy and son Arthur Albert Mark Bridle, Electrician, were still at 68 Victoria Street, Exeter.
Maud Lucy Bridle died in Exeter, in 1957, aged 75.
Mark Bridle of 49 West Grove Road, Exeter died on 25 Feb 1958, aged 82, at 200 Woodwater Lane, Exeter, leaving his effects to Arthur Albert Mark Bridle.
Arthur Albert Mark Bridle died on 19 Jun 2005, also in Exeter.
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| Stoke Canon Post Office & Stores cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Bill Boaden - geograph.org.uk/p/4054054 |
John Lucas Bridle (b. 11 Jun 1879), son of Henry Bridle and Emma Lucas, married Alice Brewer, in Exeter in early 1899. Alice, born in Newton St Cyres, on 29 Jul 1881 and baptised there on 2 Oct 1881, was the daughter of Thomas Brewer from Morchard Bishop and Sarah Heywood.
John and Alice had five children:
- Emma Bridle b. 29 Apr 1899, bap. 18 Jun 1899 in Stoke Canon
- Frances Annie Bridle b. 12 Dec 1900, bap. 6 Feb 1901 in Stoke Canon
- William Henry Bridle b. 1902 (Died aged 2, and was buried on 14 Apr 1904 in Stoke Canon. Curiously, the burial record specifies that the child was "unbaptised" and that "Burial Service not used".)
- George Henry Bridle b. 6 Jan 1906, bap. 18 Mar 1906 in Stoke Canon
- Frederick John Bridle b. 18 Dec 1912, bap. 22 Feb 1913 in Stoke Canon
All of the children's baptisms list John as a Paper Maker.
In 1901, John Lucas Bridle (21) Paper mill labourer, Alice (19), Emma (1) and Frances Anne (0) were living at Channings Court, Stoke Canon.
And in 1911, in The Square, Stoke Canon, were John Bridle (30) Paper millhand, Alice (30) Paper sorter, Emma (12), Annie (11) and George (5).
In 1915 the village of Stoke Canon, just north of Exeter, was the centre of a bitter strike. [...] Workers were in dispute over a pay claim and recognition of the National Union of Printing and Paper Workers. Charles Tremlett, Managing Director of the Stoke Canon Paper Mill, responded by sacking the workers and evicting them from their tied cottages. With nowhere else to go, the union bought the families tents and they were forced to camp in a local field. The strikers won widespread support from around the area. The village schoolteachers took up the cause and funds were raised to support them.
Among the strikers (pictured here) were John Bridle and family, who lived at The Square. They must have moved on, as there's a note on George Henry's school record, dated 15 Oct 1915, which says "Left the Place".
In 1921, John Lucas Bridle (42) Paper Maker at Smith Stone & Knight Avon Side Paper Works, Bristol, was living at 117, Philip Street, Bristol, Gloucestershire with Alice Bridle (40), George Henry Bridle (15) General Factory Hand at Smith Stone & Knight and Frederick John Bridle (8),
In 1939, John Bridle, Incapacitated and Alice, were at 17 Philip Street, Bristol.
John Lucas Bridle died in 1956, aged 77; Alice Bridle died in 1964, aged 83.
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| Medjez-El-Bab Memorial Verity Cridland, CC BY 2.0 |
Frederick John Bridle, youngest child of John Lucas Bridle and Alice Brewer, married Florence Melita Louisa Coleman, in Bristol, in 1934.
They had a daughter in 1935. And in 1939, we find them in Wells Road [Totterdown], Bristol, with Frederick working as a "Labourer Arp Shelters".
Frederick John Bridle (30), Driver, Royal Army Service Corps, son of J. and Alice Bridle; husband of Florence Melitia Bridle, of Totterdown, Bristol, died on 9 Feb 1943. He is buried at Medjez-El-Bab War Cemetery, Plot 15. G. 7., near Majaz al Bab, Tunisia. (Tunisia was the scene of Operation Torch (8 Nov 1942 – 13 May 1943), the Allied invasion of North Africa. CWGC Commonwealth War Graves in Béja & Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia, North Africa.)
Frederick's widow, Florence M L Bridle, died in 1988, at 78, in Bristol.