Kelly's Directory, 1916

Meldreth is a parish and straggling village on a branch of the river Rhea, with a station on the Hitchin and Cambridge line of the Great Northern railway, 4 miles, north-by-east from Royston, 9 1/2 south-west from Cambridge and 42 from London, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Armingford, petty sessional of Arrington and Melbourn, union and county court district of Royston, rural deanery of Shingay and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely.  The church of Holy Trinity is a building of stone and clunch in the Perpendicular style , consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 5 bells:  in the church is a monument to George Pike, esq., who died 1658 and the family vault of the Mortlock family:  there is a memorial window erected by the Rev. E.W.Cory, a former vicar, to the memory of his wife: another by friends of the Rev. E.W. Cory, previously mentioned and a third was presented by J. G. Mortlock, esq. in 1885.  The church was restored in  1898 at a cost of £1,200 and has 300 sittings.  The register of baptisms and burials dates from 1681: marriages 1692.  The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £270 arising from 124 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Ely, and held since 1894 by the Rev. Percy Harvey, M.A. of Cavendish College, Cambridge.  There is a Congregational Chapel erected in 1852 having sittings for 100 persons, and a Wesleyan chapel.  Charities producing £10 yearly are distributed in fuel.  St. Thomas’ Hospital, London are lords of the manor of Topcliffes, Christs College, Cambridge, Alfred Russell Fordham, esq. J.P., Capt. Hubert Oslar Shepherd Ellis, B.A., LL.B., Mrs. S.D. Bowman, John George Mortlock, esq., and Mrs. Agnes Egg, lady of the manor of Sheen, are the principal landowners.  The soil is strong clay; subsoil chalk.  The chief crops are fruit, wheat, barley, beans and peas.  The area is 2,513 acres; rateable value £5,189;  the population in 1911 was 596 in the civil and 544 in the ecclesiastical parish.

Under the provisions of the “Divided Parishes Act”, a part of Meldreth was in 1882 added to Melbourn.

Parish Clerk, Herbert Hale

Clerk to the Parish Council and Assistant Overseer, Miss M. Elbourn.

Post & T. Office, Miss Elizabeth Hale, sub-postmistress.

Letters arrive from Royston (Herts) at 6 and 11.20 a.m.: dispatched at 8.35 a.m. & 1.35 & 8 p.m.; on Sundays, dispatched at 8 p.m.  Shepreth is the nearest money order office.

Wall letter boxes, North End, cleared at 8.30 a.m. & 8 p.m.; near the station, cleared at 8.45 & 10.45 a.m. & 8.10 p.m.

Council school, mixed, erected in 1909 [opened in 1910], for 120 children; Frederick Aldridge, master.

Railway Station, Arthur McEllroy, station master

Carriers, Henry Billett & Joseph Hall, from Bassingbourn, pass through to Cambridge on sat. & Fredk. R.E. Handscombe, to Royston daily.

Private Residents

Bowman, Mrs., The Laurels
Chamberlain, Miss, The Gables
Elbourn, Miss
Ellis, Capt. Hubert Osler Shepherd, B.A., LL.B.,
Farnham, Charles, Brewery House
Farnham, Mrs. Blenheim House
Harvey , Rev. Percy M.A., Vicarage
Hope, Edwin, The Limes [Longmead]
Jenkins, Mrs., The Warren
Johnston, Samuel Logan, The Grove
Kent, Alfred
Mortlock, John George, Meldreth Court
Palmer, Miss, Elmcroft
Parlow, Mrs, Homestead
Williams, John Sydney, The Manor House

Commercial

Adcock, J. & Sons, millers (water) [Topcliffe Mill]
Adcock, Edwin, miller (water)
Adcock, Harriet (Mrs), baker
Adcock, Harry, farmer
Barclay, Perkins & Co. Ltd., brewers (stores)
Bowman, S.D. (Mrs) farmer & landowner, The Laurels
Cam Blue Lias Lime & Cement Co. Limited, (Fred G. Russell, sec. & managing director)
Coningsby, A.R. & Son, coal merchants, Station yard
Conservative Club (Capt. H.O.S. Ellis, president)
Course, Emily (Mrs), shopkeeper
Course, Jonathan (Mrs), farmer
East, William, farmer
Elbourn, Percy E., machinist & farmer
French, Eustace E., coal merchant, Station yard
Gipson, Herbert, carpenter & joiner
Gregor & Williams, physician & surgeons
Hale Bros., wheelwrights & blacksmiths
Harrup, Charles, beer retailer
Howard, Alwyn, farmer
Howard, Andrew, farmer & fruit grower
Jacklin, Martha Jane (Mrs) Queen Adelaide P.H. (letters addressed Whaddon)
Kirby Benjamin, Railway Tavern
Lambeth, William, horse dealer, Orchard Deene [Orchard Dene]
Liddiard, Charles, grocer
Medlock, Geo. farmer & hay straw dealer
Meldreth Cement Co.
Meldreth & Melbourn Gas Works (Edwin M. Hope, proprietor)
Miller, Charles, beer retailer [Sailor’s Return]
Nodder, Alexander, fruit grower
Nodder, John, carpenter
Palmer, George, farmer
Pepper, Samuel, farmer
Stockbridge, Joseph, jun., farmer St. John’s Cottage
Taylor, Moses (Mrs.) farmer
Thurley, Charlotte (Mrs.), beer retailer, British Queen
Warren Charles, baker
Wedd, Walter Jas., farmer, College Farm
Williams, John Sydney, L.R.C.P., London, M.R.C.S., Eng. Physician & Surgeon  (firm Gregor & Williams), The Manor House

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