ROW ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE ‑ MORLING'S ROW (Palmer)
Grosse's
Row, 1590
May the Baker's Row, 1630
Woodroffe the Grocer's Row, 1652
Morlings
Row, 1829 (Johnson)
Mission
Row, 1939 (E.Wilson)
Row One Hundred and Forty Three map
From South Quay to Middlegate:
“A house at the south‑west corner was for
many years the residence of the Grosse family. John Grosse was bailiff in 1616.
In 1927, some brick and flint buildings
existed in this row. It was paved with granite setts, in consequence of cart
traffic during the fishing season to the fish‑houses. King George V, when
Duke of York, opened the Mission to Seamen at the north‑west corner”.[1]
“Called Morling's Row, the house at the south‑west
corner having been for many years occupied by Daniel Morling, grocer. In the 16th.century, the house then
standing was in possession of a family called Grosse, and in 1616 was purchased
of Sampson Cawson, baker, who died in 1675, and whose widow married Nicholas
Turner. She in 1630 with the concurrence of the Rev.Nicholas Felton of
Boardham, son and heir of Dr.Nicholas Felton, then late Bishop of Ely, sold the
house to Joseph Maye, baker, who in 1652 conveyed it to Gabriel Woodroffe,
grocer, an Alderman in the charter of Charles II.
Some fish houses on the south side of this row,
formerly the property of John Andrews (Row 103), were in 1837 conveyed to
J.D.Palmer.”[2]
The 1936 Row Survey says ‑ "A great
deal of old property has been demolished.
(There are) Several ancient walls with arches in brick and timber
framing. Nos. 5, 7, and 8, are or could be made again into good houses if their
courts were cleared".
David Robert Bensley and Elizabeth Laura his
wife, came here from Bartram's row
(119) with their two girls, Eileen and Mollie,
in 1939. Robert was a fisherman all year round. He fished locally in the
season and after in Scotland and further afield. The Bensley's house was no. 5,
referred to above, it had a fairly large yard, two ground floor rooms, side by
side, kitchen on the right and living-room on the left. A range was in the
kitchen. Upstairs were two bedrooms on the first floor, and no attic. A small
winding staircase led directly into the girls bedroom, and the parents room led
off, so probably this was originally one room that was divided. A wash-house
with tap was outside. This house had electricity throughout.
In the row, Mr.Ebbage ran horse drawn cabs.
People near this row would throw coins to the children. People going from pub
to pub or on the river boats on a Sunday would hire a horse-drawn carriage.
Fred Duck's Daughter Margaret went to St.George's school with Eileen Bensley.
The Ducks also had an older daughter Rene. The Fish's House was opposite Bensley's.
Mrs.Fish was a "little old" widow, who had a daughter who married
Green and had a daughter June, who lived in the row house together. Mr.Green
was killed during the war. The Gays had two daughters and a son who was killed
whilst driving a tractor on the beach (at Caister) clearing mines. Another son,
Harold, now lives at Caister. The
Bensleys and Gays both moved from here to Caister, and this row was destroyed
by a bomb as described with row 142. The Postle family had one daughter,
Phyllis, now living out of town. The Postles were in a larger three story house
at no.1. Alfred Wolston had a son at no.3, who in the air-raid shelter would
put his hands over his head and scream. A youth of about 19 years of age, he
had evidently been invalided from the army with shell-shock. Dobson at no.6 had
two daughters, one was Ivy. On the corner of Middlegate the old lady's shop had
a wooden platform outside, a board-walk, with small windows at either end.
Inside were oil lamps. This was a grocery with fruit and sweets. The old lady
had her hair pulled back, and wore a white apron down to her ankles. This
appears to have been Mrs.La Port. (88-89 Middlegate) General grocery bought
there included sugar, weighed out in a
blue bag, and butter by the pat.
In an open space opposite this row was a
concrete air-raid shelter, destroyed along with the houses here and in row 142
by a direct hit. There were thought to be fish-houses demolished here, allowing
space for the air-raid shelter. The Bensleys moved out to Caister just two days
before the bombs fell on that fateful night. Another family had moved in
immediately, only to be killed. There was an Anderson shelter in the yard
outside no. 5, but although the family slept in it every night, it would have
been no use whatever in the circumstances.
Queenie Reynolds was born to John Oscar and his
wife Victoria (nee Royal) in this row in 1923, one of three daughters. Oscar
had a carting business, with a stable in Apsley Road, and later, he and Ernest
Bean ran coaches on the sea-front, and from St.Peter's Road. Oscar drank
heavily, and he and his wife split up. Mrs Royal, whose widow of a fisherman,
then bought her daughter a house. Victoria went gutting for Sutton and Nichols
in the season, and charring in the summer. Victoria was unmarried when the
eldest daughter was born, something frowned upon then, but she married Oscar at
21, when the baby was a year old.
The Occupants, Row One Hundred and forty three, 1886
( from
Middlegate Street to South Quay)
Staff, Mrs.
Graver, E., smacksman
Thomas, T., ransacker
Turner, Mrs.
Goodchild, H., smacksman
Brightea, J.
Hickling, J., labourer
Cox, T., labourer
Stolliday, T.
George, T, fisherman
Atkins, Mrs
George, J.
Brighten, J., smacksman
Chilvers, A., labourer
Boydon, W., labourer
Dobson, W., mariner
Riches, Mrs.
The Occupants, Row One Hundred and forty three, 1913
( from
Middlegate Street to South Quay)
north side
4. Luff, Thomas
4a. Hazell, Thomas
4b. Woolston, Mrs.
5. Godbold, Mark
5a. Twitchett, Robert George
6. Cobb, Mrs.
7. Kersey, Mrs.
8.Blyth, Thomas
south side
11. Dodson, William
Coombes,
James, smith
The Occupants, Row One Hundred and forty three, 1927
( from
Middlegate Street to South Quay)
north side
1. Woolston, Mrs.
2. Woolton, Miss
3. Lovatt, Thomas
4a. Hazell, Thomas
4b. Durent, Robert John
4. Boulton, Mrs.
5. Farrow, Mrs.
5a. Farman, Frederick
6. Dodson, George
7. Hewitt, Albert Joseph
8. Twitchett, Robert George
south side
11. Dodson, Mrs.
Combes,
James, smith
(all as per directory- some spelling errors?)