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234 Bath Road (formerly Elmstone House)
In the early years of the 20th century this large property on the corner of Francis Street was in the ownership of the Scudamore family, who were millers and hay merchants.
Albert Scudamore was born in the Forest of Dean in about 1863 and started in business at the Island Flour Mills in Gloucester. He and his wife Caroline had three children but she sadly died in 1902, at the young age of 36. Albert remarried and had a further two children with his second wife Ada Louise. Albert was a staunch churchman and was widely respected, including by his fellow tradesmen. A quiet man by nature, his family was of the utmost importance to him.
The brothers were forced to relocate the business to the Bath Road, where they stayed for about six years.
During the last days of 1911 Albert became ill and died of double pneumonia on January 12th 1912, at the age of 49. He was buried near to his birthplace. The business was sold and Ada emigrated to Australia, together with her two young children. However the older children of Albert’s first marriage stayed in Britain. The sale details included stabling for horses and a bakery with large and small ovens.
These premises, together with the adjoining property, then became part of the Webb Brothers pork butcher’s shop. However their use of this property can only have been temporary, as by the outbreak of the First World War the building accommodated the Wilts and Dorset Bank, which was taken over in April 1914 by Lloyds Bank. The first manager here in 1914 was Mr Lush and the last one, in 1939, was Mr R B Seaton. The sub branch closed in September that year, as part of the rationalisation of Lloyds in preparation for World War II.
In August 1963 the Worsfolds sold the business to Mr Robert Webley, who traded here for more than 50 years. Sadly, Robert Webley passed away on 9th September 2022, aged 90.
See the Local Memories page for this property.
