74 and 76 Village Road Bromham

74 and 76 Village Road March 2012

74 and 76 Village Road are a pair of late 19th or early 20th century cottages. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting the pair of cottages [DV1/C3/112-113] found that they were owned by the Churchwardens of Bromham as part of a charitable endowment.

Number 74 was occupied by William Purser who had paid rent of £5 per annum since 1925. This was the village post office and also contained a living room, a kitchen, a pantry and two bedrooms. A wood and tiled barn and earth closet stood outside. Like his neighbour he had to fetch water from The Green.

Number was in the occupation of T. Wallinger whose rent had been set at £4 per annum in 1925. He had a living room, a kitchen and two bedrooms. A wood and tiled barn and earth closet stood outside along with the tenant's own wood and corrugated iron washhouse.

Directories for Bedfordshire were published every few years from the middle of the 19th century until 1940. The village postmasters and postmistresses as revealed by these directories were as follows: Samuel Stafferton is listed in directories of 1885 and 1890; Charles Edward Stafferton is listed in 1894 and 1898; John Odell appears in directories of 1903, 1906 and 1910; Sarah Odell is listed in 1914 and 1924 and Mrs. Emily Purser; in 1920 and 1924. After that the names of the people running the post office are not listed.

Church records for Bromham held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service do not record the later ownership of the two cottages.