Notes on the history of Little Thetford

Compiled by Pat and Mike Petty : February 1981, revised May 2009

Contents

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Early settlement and Place names
Page 3: Buildings and infrastructure
Page 4: Newspaper clippings: 1778 – 1799
Page 5: Newspaper clippings: 1801 -1899
Page 6: Newspaper clippings: 1900 -1940
Page 7: Ely Deanery Magazine Extracts: 1895 -1896
Page 8: Village people: 19th & early 20th century

Village people: 19th & early 20th century

Villages are more than buildings and events, they are people too.Lt. Thetford has never been a very large village as these population figures show:
Year
 Population
1801
 119
1811
 147
1821
 229
1831
 257
1841
 250
1851
 366 : this figure is inflated because the day the count was taken was during the village Feast, it is proof that Feast time was a time for everybody to return to their old home.
1861
 306
1871
 317
1881
 242
1891
 221
1901
 204
1911
 209
1921
 150 ; quite whether this reflects the appalling loss of life and disruption caused by the Great War is open to speculation.
1931
 191
1941
 —- : no census taken because of the second world war
1951
 263
1961
 283
1971
 290
1978
 385 : a mini census revealing considerable growth, the population having doubled in just over 40 years but getting back to what it was when the village school first opened.
Trades
People need jobs and a century ago most villages were self sufficient in tradesmen and with the majority of the inhabitants working in or near their home. Today only few are lucky enough to have employment on their doorstep.
Kelly’s County Directory: 1933
In 1933 Lt. Thetford had the following tradesmen and employers:

  • Farmers: John and William Cranwell, Walter Driver, Herbert Kisby, Ralph Kisby, Markwell brothers, Ernest Taylor and William Utteridge
  • Shopkeepers: Mrs Emma Roberts, tobacconist; Johnathan Utteridge shopkeeper and post office
  • Beer Sellers: James Cocklin ; George Scarrow at the ‘Halfway House’; Frederick Yarrow at the ‘Three Horse Shoes’.

The village also boasted a police station.
Kelly’s County Directory: 1900
  • Farmers: Walter Driver, William Driver, George Farby, Thomas Hinkin, Benjamin Pope, James Yarrow, Sidney Yarrow
  • Shopkeepers: William Cranwell; James Yarrow
  • Beer sellers: Robert Hinkin, John Martin, Benjamin Pope, Thomas Roberts, George Scarrow at the ‘Three Horse Shoes’.
Kelly’s County Directory: 1883
  • Farmers: Robert Driver, Robert Driver, jnr., George Farby, Jeremiah Hinkin, James Markwell, Benjamin Pope, James Yarrow, Owen Yarrow
  • Shopkeepers: William Cranwell (also a shoemaker); James Yarrow (dairyman & post office); James Yarrow (grocer)
  • Beer Sellers: Robert Hinkin, Thomas Roberts, George Sennit, Yarrow (Three Horse Shoes)
Kelly’s County Directory 1864
  • Farmers: John Charles, William Dewesbury, Jermiah Hinkin, John Lister, James Markwell, Richard Pope, Ellis Stedman, Mrs Charlotte Yarrow, Mrs Frances Yarrow, John Yarrow, Owen Yarrow
  • Shopkeepers: John Lister (postmaster); James Saddler; Joseph Sharp (shoemaker);Mrs Elizabeth Yarrow
  • Beer Sellers: John Charles, John Hinkins, Thomas Roberts, Owen Yarrow ( Three Horse Shoes), William Yarrow

Note how people combined trades – farmer and beer retailer, etc.

—
Pat and Mike Petty, February, 1981.

Postscript

These notes were compiled 28 years ago and since then much more information has become accessible. None of this has been included in this reissue of the original pamphlet.

See my website www.cambridgeshirehistory.com/MikePetty for advice and guidance

Mike Petty, June 2009.