Stonemason

JOHN BISHOP Stonemason 1890s – 1920s, & later estate foreman

John Bishop was born on 11th November 1866 in Walton-in-Gordano, his parents having fairly recently moved from the Rendcomb/Windrush area of the Cotswolds. By the age of 4 John had lost his young father, a farm labourer, & was living at Walton Street, Walton in Gordano with his widowed mother Mary & older sisters Fanny & Elizabeth. Mary made ends meet by taking in laundry. In 1875 Mary remarried Clevedon labourer George Plumley & the family moved to Nortons Wood where by 1881 John, aged 14, was earning money as an errand boy.

We don’t know what led John from a farming/labouring background into a career in stone masonry but by 1891 at the age of 24 he had become a mason’s labourer & was lodging at All Saints Lane with Harry Plumley, a 30-year old Stonemason – perhaps it was the family connection as Harry was seemingly a cousin once removed of John’s stepfather George or perhaps there was a local demand for Stonemasons in the 1880s to help rebuild Clevedon Court after the serious fire in November 1882? Whatever the reason, John’s career had begun & subsequent census records all refer to him as a Stonemason.

On 16th April 1892 John married Annie Maria Nash (sometimes spelt Naish) at All Saints church, East Clevedon. Originating from Kingston Seymour, Annie’s family had also settled in Norton’s Wood & in fact in 1891 they were neighbours of John’s mother & stepfather Mary & George Plumley. John & Annie enjoyed over 50 happy years together & had 5 children, Ella in 1895, Arthur John (known as Jack) in 1896, William Harry in 1900, Edith Annie in 1903 & Frank Christopher in 1907.

The exact date that John began working for Clevedon Court is not known but certainly by 1895 the family had set up their long-term home as Estate tenants at Ivy Cottage in Norton’s Wood Lane which used to stand sideways to the road near the quarry entrance, a very old property sadly now gone. John clearly became an esteemed & valued employee as the following extracts from the Western Daily Press show him being a pall bearer at the funeral of Dame Lady Agnes Elton in 1925 & being chosen to present a 21st birthday gift to Arthur Hallam Rice Elton in April 1927.

Although still a stone mason on the 1921 census, by December 1927, age 60, John – perhaps promotion, perhaps easing work towards retirement – is referred to as an estate foreman. The following extract from the Western Daily Press refers to the renovation of two windows in the porch room above the front entrance, carried out by John. Photos show the two windows in 2022:

John retired, exact date unknown but probably in the early 1930s, but he & Annie continued to live at Ivy Cottage as confirmed by the National August 1939 Register which gives his occupation as retired mason. It seems that after Annie’s death in 1946 John finally left Ivy cottage to live out the rest of his life first with his daughter Edith, married to Clevedon potter George Manley, & their family at 12 Walton Road Clevedon & later with his son Frank & family at 1 Park Cottage, Old Park Road where he died in 1959. John and Annie are buried together at All Saints Church.

July 2022  colabative work by John Bishop's grandchildren, great grandchildren & great great grandchildren