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Eli & Harriet Gardner

of Grove House,

at the bottom of Frenchay Hill,

are seen in this studio portrait dated 1862.

Eli lived in Frenchay from the 1860s until he died in 1889, aged 52. He is variously described in local records as a labourer, a warehouseman and a mechanic. His wife Harriet was for a time a laundress.

Their children, Albert, Fanny, Annie, Alfred, Frank, Ellen and Edith, all went to the Frenchay National School. Albert’s teacher referred to him as "the most intelligent lad in school", whereas Annie was "not very bright". On 6 July 1883, Alfred was punished "for calling a stranger names etc".

 Grove House 1890

 

Grove House 1996

In front of

Grove House – c1895

The Gardner family lived at Grove House, next to the iron works at the bottom of Frenchay Hill.

In the wagonette are four of the children of Eli & Harriet Gardner,

left to right:

Mary Ann, baptised Frenchay 16 June 1867;

Edith Elizabeth, baptised Frenchay 27 October 1878;

Alfred Eli, baptised Frenchay 12 June 1870;

Frances Amy, baptised Frenchay 8 January 1865.

 

Mary married John Gilbert Beese, confectioner of Frenchay, on 29 May 1898.

Alfred, a clicker in the boot trade, married Sarah Ann, daughter of Simon Newman, shopkeeper of Frenchay, on 17 June 1901.

Frances married Albert Breddy, market gardener of Frenchay, on 2 April 1900.

The couple in front are Albert, also a clicker in the boot trade and oldest son of Eli & Harriett Gardner of Grove house, Frenchay; and Albert’s wife Hannah, daughter of William Yeoman of Mangotsfield, seen here with the dog, whose name is not recorded. The couple were married at Frenchay on 16 June 1888.

Hannah is holding her daughter Ivy, while daughter Nellie is on dad’s knee.

The older boy is Hannah’s brother Harry, seen here in his Boer War uniform, and the younger boy is brother George, in Harry’s spare uniform.
This delightful snap is either Albert or Alfred Gardner, taken possibly in the rear garden of Grove House, Frenchay.

 

 

Photographs and names kindly supplied by Keith Gardner, grandson of Albert Gardner, Alfred’s older brother.