Plymouth
May 13, 2012
May 13, 2012
Ancestry research
It seemed unlikely that I would find anything else astounding at Ford Park Cemetery on this visit so I stopped in at the office on my way out and picked up a search form.
Since I was already north of the city, and the Mannamead area was probably only about a mile to the east, it was easier to walk than trying to find a bus.
I think Mannamead took off as a residential area in the mid 1800's.
My great-great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Mary Stevens, (I'll call him Mayor Thomas to differentiate him from his son, Thomas Jones Stevens who was also married to a Mary) may have been the first in the family to move up to Mannamead from the Barbican (3 Parade). But where? Sometimes houses had names not street addresses. Street names can change over time, or disappear entirely if, say, the road got bombed out during the war. The 1861 census shows them living in Mannamead. Would that be Mannamead Road, Avenue, or just the general area? Probably one of the first two, judging by the census form. A probate record for then widowed Mary in 1876 states that she was living at Sunny Bank, Mannamead.
Next, my great-great-grandparents, Thomas Jones & Mary Stevens (he being the one who looked like a sea captain) lived in Mannamead, along with their son, John, among others, in 1871. The 1881 census shows them living at Woodbine Villa, Mannamead. This address is also mentioned in London Gazettes in 1874 and 1879. They must have liked living there because they later named their house in Oxford 'Mannamead.'
My great-grandparents, John and Eliza Stevens, lived at 12 Seymour Terrace in the 1881 census (This is also mentioned elsewhere in 1879). Seymour Terrace was the only address in Plymouth that I remember Dad taking about. The trouble is, there doesn't seem to be such a terrace. There is a Seymour Road, Drive, Park. Even on old maps I haven't found a Seymour Terrace.
My great-great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Mary Stevens, (I'll call him Mayor Thomas to differentiate him from his son, Thomas Jones Stevens who was also married to a Mary) may have been the first in the family to move up to Mannamead from the Barbican (3 Parade). But where? Sometimes houses had names not street addresses. Street names can change over time, or disappear entirely if, say, the road got bombed out during the war. The 1861 census shows them living in Mannamead. Would that be Mannamead Road, Avenue, or just the general area? Probably one of the first two, judging by the census form. A probate record for then widowed Mary in 1876 states that she was living at Sunny Bank, Mannamead.
Next, my great-great-grandparents, Thomas Jones & Mary Stevens (he being the one who looked like a sea captain) lived in Mannamead, along with their son, John, among others, in 1871. The 1881 census shows them living at Woodbine Villa, Mannamead. This address is also mentioned in London Gazettes in 1874 and 1879. They must have liked living there because they later named their house in Oxford 'Mannamead.'
My great-grandparents, John and Eliza Stevens, lived at 12 Seymour Terrace in the 1881 census (This is also mentioned elsewhere in 1879). Seymour Terrace was the only address in Plymouth that I remember Dad taking about. The trouble is, there doesn't seem to be such a terrace. There is a Seymour Road, Drive, Park. Even on old maps I haven't found a Seymour Terrace.
And here is where I realized I didn't know what I was looking for. It was confusing then and it still is.
It just now occurred to me that I should have walked the length of the larger Mannamead Road, but I was probably getting tired. Instead, I walked to Seymour Road next door.
The neighbourhood was quiet and lacking people. I'm sure it was nice in its day but I felt it was a bit run down and even slightly seedy.
I suppose the only way to find out who lived at these properties would be to see a list of former owners like the sheet of information I was given by the owner of their house in Oxford. I don't know where one gets such a thing. Until then, this is really only speculation - this road could have nothing at all to do with our family.
Property details for Woodbine, Seymour Road, Mannamead
Semi-detached, Freehold, 7 Beds, 3 Baths, 4 Receps
Estimate: £810,839
Woodbine and Bryntirion, Plymouth
Description: Woodbine and Bryntirion
Grade: II
Date Listed: 19 November 1997
Listing Text
Grade: II
Date Listed: 19 November 1997
Listing Text
PLYMOUTH
SX4856SE SEYMOUR ROAD, Mannamead
740-1/38/336 (South side)
19/11/97 Woodbine and Bryntirion
GV II
Unequal pair of villas. Mid C19. Stucco with stucco detail;
dry slate hipped roofs with moulded eaves cornices, the
cornices to front blocks with modillions; stuccoed end stacks
with moulded cornices. Double-depth overall U-shaped plan.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; entrance fronts at left and right-hand
returns the front blocks with central porches. Original sashes
with glazing bars within moulded architraves on bracketed
sills to right-hand entrance front of Bryntirion; pilastered
porch with moulded entablature; pilastered openings left and
right of doorway with moulded hoods on brackets. Woodbine has
larger porch with balustraded parapet. Garden front is 4 bays
with triple round-arched windows at left and paired sashes at
right over canted pilastered bays with moulded cornices; other
windows within moulded architraves with sill brackets above
pilastered doorways with moulded hoods on brackets. Road front
is rear of the house with 2:2:0 window range.
INTERIOR: not inspected but likely to be of interest.
Part of a good group of villas in Mannamead which was
developed after 1851.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
669).
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