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Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Something About Bellairs in Bristol: A Pimm and Proper Residence

For refuge straight to Bristol!

Several years ago, Bellairsia began retracing John Bellairs's footsteps in England. From June 1967 to January 1968, Bellairs moved to England to write and made Bristol his base of operations for most, if not all, of this time. Bristol is England's sixth and the United Kingdom's eighth most-populous city, and the most populous city in Southern England after London.

The second Bristol clue came from Priscilla Bellairs herself, telling the admins John “rented a room from Miss Pym in Bristol.” That’s not much but apparently enough to keep the Bellairsia admins going.

The archives show the city of Bristol was emailed and their response suggested we check with the Bristol Record Office Archives. Sarah Taylor answered this second email:
We have an incomplete series of Trade/Street Directories with the most recent being dated 1973. Through consulting the directories, I can tell you that Miss Marjorie Pimm lived at number 13 Cotham Gardens (the properties on this street were numbered from 6 - 13 only).
Ms. Taylor provided the following list of directories (by year) and who either lived or owned the property:
  • 1938: Mrs Elizabeth Pimm
  • 1940: Mrs Elizabeth Pimm
  • 1950: Mrs Elizabeth Pimm
  • 1956: Miss Marjorie Pimm
  • 1960: Miss Marjorie Pimm
  • 1966: Miss Marjorie Pimm
  • 1968/69: Miss Marjorie Pimm
  • 1973: Miss Marjorie Pimm
Thus, Ms. Taylor:
In the 1934, which is the next available Directory, Mrs Elizabeth Pimm is living at 3, Apsley Villas, Kingsdown. I think it is fair to assume that Mrs Elizabeth Pimm is the mother of Marjorie, so that she probably lived at 13 Cotham Gardens for at least 35 years. I looked them up in the 1901 census. At that time they were living in Upper Belmont Road and the head of the household was George Pimm, a company accountant. Marjorie was aged 7 at the time of this census and had been born in Bristol so I have been able to find out (via the General Register Office index of Births) that her birth was registered during the September Quarter of 1893. I have not however been able to discover the date of her death.
Based on this we believe we know where Bellairs lived and the residence pictured above is indeed 13 Cotham Gardens 

Another dig into the archives and something about who Bellairs met in Bristol, still ahead.

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