As part of our research into the Musgrave and Le Butt families who lived and worked in Folkestone from around 1840, we visited the town for a research trip from 3rd to 5th April 2013. From our records, we know that both the Musgraves and the LeButts lived in a number of properties. Unfortunately, many of these are now gone but some are still there and, from some old photographs of others that we found in the Heritage Centre, we managed to solve a couple of address riddles.
1. We assumed that the LeButt properties at 5 Broad Street and 5 Broadmead Terrace may have been the same following a change of street name. Well, the street names did change ... but not how we thought. In fact Broad Street disappeared and became part of High Street in the late 1860s - then the whole lot was renamed as The Old High Street when large parts of Folkestone were rebuilt after the war bombings. And what may be even more interesting for us is that J J Musgrave Drapers was at No 7 High St in 1871, right next door to Thomas LeButt's business at No 5. J J Musgrave and Sarah Anne LeButt were married at this time but I wonder whether they might have met and gazed lovingly into each others' eyes over a shop counter ??
[note: I am aware that this is most probably a totally unrealistic, romantic notion and it is far more likely that following the death of his first wife, Grace Button, the previous year, J J Musgrave needed a new mother for his children and a re-affirmation of his status as a businessman, family man and pillar of society ... and Sarah Anna just happened to be around]
2. There has been some confusion about No. 12 The Leas regarding who lived there and when .. and about the 1891 census mix-up regarding William Robinson and Catherine Grace Musgrave being listed as son and daughter of John Moore who lived at No. 11. (see: Why You Shouldn't Trust Census Returns) Well, it turns out that this was not as silly as it might sound because, as in (1) above, some of the streets were renamed in the 1860s. Probably more relevant, though, is that No 11 The Leas was a hotel and, architecturally, it had absorbed part of No 12. In the attached photos you will see that there is a connecting lobby (single storey) between the two properties and in fact, the hotel (No 11) included the right hand half of the adjacent building (No 12). The LeButt and Musgrave residence at No 12 was in the left hand half of the house as you look at the Moores Hotel image .. and it is the first building on the left (with the 3-storey flat roofed extension) in the image entitled 12 The Leas
1. We assumed that the LeButt properties at 5 Broad Street and 5 Broadmead Terrace may have been the same following a change of street name. Well, the street names did change ... but not how we thought. In fact Broad Street disappeared and became part of High Street in the late 1860s - then the whole lot was renamed as The Old High Street when large parts of Folkestone were rebuilt after the war bombings. And what may be even more interesting for us is that J J Musgrave Drapers was at No 7 High St in 1871, right next door to Thomas LeButt's business at No 5. J J Musgrave and Sarah Anne LeButt were married at this time but I wonder whether they might have met and gazed lovingly into each others' eyes over a shop counter ??
[note: I am aware that this is most probably a totally unrealistic, romantic notion and it is far more likely that following the death of his first wife, Grace Button, the previous year, J J Musgrave needed a new mother for his children and a re-affirmation of his status as a businessman, family man and pillar of society ... and Sarah Anna just happened to be around]
2. There has been some confusion about No. 12 The Leas regarding who lived there and when .. and about the 1891 census mix-up regarding William Robinson and Catherine Grace Musgrave being listed as son and daughter of John Moore who lived at No. 11. (see: Why You Shouldn't Trust Census Returns) Well, it turns out that this was not as silly as it might sound because, as in (1) above, some of the streets were renamed in the 1860s. Probably more relevant, though, is that No 11 The Leas was a hotel and, architecturally, it had absorbed part of No 12. In the attached photos you will see that there is a connecting lobby (single storey) between the two properties and in fact, the hotel (No 11) included the right hand half of the adjacent building (No 12). The LeButt and Musgrave residence at No 12 was in the left hand half of the house as you look at the Moores Hotel image .. and it is the first building on the left (with the 3-storey flat roofed extension) in the image entitled 12 The Leas
12 The Leas
12 The Leas and Moores Hotel
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