Littleover Mystery

Littleover Mystery

The naming of Sydney House on Church Street in Littleover, is a bit of a mystery, why is it so named?

What is known about Sydney House, but where did its name come from. It has had two spellings with Sydney being the most commonly used, but with Sidney used occasionally. At one stage the name of the house gave its name erroneously to Sidney Road on an issue of the Ordnance Survey Map, the road we know as Church Street.

Sydney House was built on freehold land that was formerly the garden and orchard of Church Street Farm. The farm, which was in the occupation of Mr Thomas Lowe, was sold by auction, by Messrs. Oliver and Newbold on the 3rd of October 1871. The sale was following their advertisement in the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal on the 29th of September. The house was built sometime after that, as was the row of terraced houses on the opposite side of Church Street.

Joseph Swingler, a retired publican and his wife Jane appear to be the first occupants of Sydney House. He was living on Church Street at the time of the 1881 Census, the houses were not always identified in the censuses. It will later be identified that this house was his home. Jane died in 1890.

Before moving to Littleover, Joseph who was born in Ockbrook, was the publican at the Locomotive Inn, London Road, Derby at the time of the 1871 Census. They were at the inn until January 1878 when Joseph transferred the license at the Derby Borough Police Court.

By the 1891 Census, Joseph was joined by his son Harry and his wife Annie A. Swingler and their family. In June 1906 Joseph died, and in a notice to creditors in the Derby Daily Telegraph on the 6th of November 1906 it was confirmed that he lived at Sydney House, Littleover.

Harry was the head of the household in the 1911 and 1921 Censuses where he was listed as a retired farmer. Harry Swingler died in February 1927. It is not known if Sydney House continued to be occupied by other members of the Swingler family after his death.

Sydney House was put up for sale by auction, by John German & Son as shown in an advertisement in the Derbyshire Advertiser & Journal on the 11th of April 1930. The advert read as follows :- To close a trust. Littleover (near Derby, “Sydney House”, Church Street & Thornhill Road – Moderate-Sized Detached Residence with outbuildings, garden and paddock, containing an area of almost one acre (With Vacant Possession). … …. at the Royal Hotel, Derby, on Friday, 25th April 1930 at 7.0 pm. Who the buyer was is not known or if it was actually occupied. For at the time of the 1939 National Registration Day, which was on the 29th of September, it was recorded that ‘Nobody lived in this house’.

However in the Situations Vacant column in the Derby Daily Telegraph on the 28th of August 1939 an advert was placed as follows:- Wanted. Junior Secretarial Post : speeds 110-45, knowledge bookkeeping. – Barrett, Sydney House, Littleover. Was Sydney House being used for offices.

A further advert was placed in the Situations Vacant column in the Derby Daily Telegraph on the 7th of March 1944 as follows:- Domestic. Help wtd., 3 mornings weekly. – Apply Sydney House, Church St., Littleover. Had Sydney House remained a residential house or was the domestic help needed to clean an office.

Sydney House has at some time, with extensions added, been converted to flats. When this was is not Known.

The residents known to have lived in Sydney House, the Swingler’s, had no connection as far as it can be found with the Swingler’s of Eastwood, Swingler and Co. iron founders. Whose foundry was in Osmaston, Derby. The Eastwood family lived in The Grange, Littleover.