Kidds house

[Mrs funkyg]

Hi looking through my family tree and we have found ancestors that lived in kidds house in the 1920s does anyone know where this would have been or have any information they could tell me, genealogy is a wormhole and far too addictive haha

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Welcome to the group @Mrs funkyg. Can't recall ever seeing the name Kidds House get a memntion on any of the Bedlington group

Do you have any other info eg. the area of Bedlington your ancesters were living in?

[Canny lass]

@Mrs funkyg

[Canny lass]

Welcome to the forum @Mrs funkyg. I don't know how well you know Bedlington but Kidds House was at the western end of the front street on the north side of the road. It's not possible to say exactly which house it was but I can narrow it down to three or four buildings for you. The map below is from 1860 but not much changed there for many years. The layout was pretty much the same in 1920. However, it's a map that's much clearer than any other that I have. I can say with certainty that Kidds house was located within the blue square and with a fair degree of certainty that it was one of the buildings facing the front street which I've underlined in green.

In 1921, the first house, on the corner of Front Street West and Glebe Road belonged to a grocer and provision merchant called Robert Beadnell. The Beadnell family owned that building and shop until at least 1965 (I used to shop there). Next door but one to Robert Beadnell was a 42 year old widower, Llewelyn Kidd, who was a general dealer. Both were self employed and running their own business and living above the shop. Llewellyn owned property there, hence the name Kidds House. He also owned property in Kidds Yard which was located directly behind the buildings facing Front Street. I've marked the entrance to Kidds Yard with a red spot.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@Canny lass & @Mrs funkyg - as normal it was many hours after I had read this post about the Kidd family when it popped out of my memory that @John Fox (foxy) had posted an old photo of a pub,  the Travellers Rest, when we were looking to find 'Then & Now' images of the old pubs. (  Foxy was after us trying to identify where the pub was ) The other think Ithat flashed out this old memory was a shop next to the pub with the name KIDD and the shop next door to it was owned by ROBERT KIDD - I remember that as we thought it might have a connection to @Ovalteeny = Jack Kidd .

This is the photo that Foxy posted :-

At the time we didn't know exactly position of the building at the top end of Front Street West but I did find an old painting that included the Travellers Rest :- 

I haven't kept a note of who originally posted the painting so at the moment can't give them the credit.

Filed away on my PC is a compilation, Then & Now images, that includes the painting but I can't remember why I did it and you can see by the text (from the British genealogy site) I have added down the side of the compilation there isn't a reference to the Kidd family, just info on owners of the pub :-  

In Foxy's photo of the Travellers rest it does look like the name on the pub sign is 'HENRY KIDD'.

 

[Canny lass]

I think that later may have become the Blue Bell Inn. In 1921 it was just a few doors down from Llewelyn Kidd:

Llewelyn Kidd followed by:

Kidds House - 2 families Elliot and Coyles (miners)

West End Front Street - 3 families: Pringle (dairyman),Taylor and Redpath (miners)

Front Steet - 4 business premises: House painter,  Cycle Agent, Baker/Confectioner and Blue Bell Inn.

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

2 hours ago, Canny lass said:

I think that later may have become the Blue Bell Inn. In 1921 it was just a few doors down from Llewelyn Kidd:

Llewelyn Kidd followed by:

Kidds House - 2 families Elliot and Coyles (miners)

West End Front Street - 3 families: Pringle (dairyman),Taylor and Redpath (miners)

Front Steet - 4 business premises: House painter,  Cycle Agent, Baker/Confectioner and Blue Bell Inn.

Don't really know - the artist has what appears to be the island in the middle of the road, where Trotters Monument was first placed, opposite the Travellers Rest and that would put Robert Kidd - musical instrument dealer etc (extract from the 1905 Bennett's Buisness Directory) - and the Travellers Rest close to the very end of Front Street West.

But it might just be artsitic licence.

 

[Canny lass]

You are quite right Eggy. I've had a wander around the first three buildings on Front Street West End between 1861 and 1921 and the Travellers Rest is always the second house. The first is always a Grocer's shop owned by various people up until Robert Beadnell in 1921 and the Beadnell family still had it in the early sixties.

In 1871 the second building is named the Travellers Rest  (Beer House) but the occupier is an engineer. However, a side-line in beer-making, and selling thereof, wasn't uncommon. Guess who is running the Travellers Rest , 10 years later in 1881? Henry Kidd and his wife Phyllis! 

Next door is Robert Kidd running his drapery business and next door to hm is another Kidd, Thomas - a saddle maker. They must be related.

Henry dies before the next census in 1891 but his wife continues to run the Beer House. Robert's drapery business has diversified to include dealing in musical instruments and Thomas is still working with leather goods.

By 1901 the Travellers Rest isn't mentioned anymore but something interesting crops up. Next door to Robert's business is a hairdresser (male). Did you notice the barber's pole in the painting? It looks like the beer house is now part of Robert's house.

 

Edited October 28 by Canny lass

[Canny lass]

I've just noticed that there is a vacant place between the grocer's shop and Henry. That would have become the hairdressers which dates the painting to between 1891 and 1901.