yeovil people
Honeycombe & Symes Families
Three generations of Yeovil Shopkeepers
Many thanks to Chris Symes for most of the following.
William Honeycombe was born on 5 September 1870, at St Cleer, Cornwall. He was the second of the eight children of carpenter William Henry Honeycombe (1849-1914) and Louisa née Olver (1849-1904). William and Louisa had ten children (see Gallery); Albert Henry (b1868), William, Lucy Ellen (b1873), Harry (b1876), Fred (b1877), Winifred Annie, known as "Winnie" (b1880), Amy Ethel, known as Ethel (b1883), Lottie (b1885), Charlie (b1888) and George Olver (b1890).
William worked as a gardener and on 23 January 1894, at St Barnabas church, Queen Camel, he married Eliza Bowden. Eliza was born on 3 July 1859, at Bridgehampton, the daughter of agricultural labourer George Bowden (1829-1902) and his wife Sarah Ann née Moors. William and Eliza had a daughter, May, born at Doublebois, Cornwall, on 17 April 1895.
William and Eliza moved to Yeovil at the end of the 1890s. They bought the shop at newly-built 61 West Hendford, on the corner of Manor Road, around 1900. William, however, was extremely ill and was recorded in the 1901 census as a patient at the District Metropolitan Convalescent Institution, Walton on Thames, Surrey, where he gave his occupation as an insurance agent - so we can safely assume that Eliza was running the grocery shop. William returned home, but sadly died at 61 West Hendford, on 23 March 1902. He was aged 31.
Following William's death, Eliza continued to run the shop on her own and lived above it with May. Her mother came to help her - and that is her mother, Sarah Ann Bowden, in the doorway of the West Hendford grocery shop below, in a colourised photograph of around 1905.
Around 1909, Eliza, May and Sarah were living in Sparkford's Post Office, (by 1910, 61 West Hendford was being run as a "Dairy & Grocery Business" by Harry and Eva Burrows). In the 1911 census, 51-year-old Eliza gave her occupation as a grocery shop keeper and 15-year-old May gave hers as an apprentice dressmaker. 74-year-old Sarah gave her occupation as 'old age pensioner'. Sarah died in Yeovil during 1913, aged 77.
Eliza, May and Sarah soon returned to live in Yeovil, briefly running a shop in Sherborne Road and then a shop in Park Street. They next occupied the shop on the corner at 1 Queen Street.
May Honeycombe met Yeovil-born Ernest Frank Symes, known as Frank (1894-1932), a scale-maker, when they both played violins to accompany the silent movies at the Central Cinema. On 9 September 1920, May married Frank at Yeovil. They had a son Thomas William, known as Tom, in the spring of 1926, but sadly Frank died in Yeovil during 1932, aged 38.
In 1936, Eliza and May bought the shop premises at 51 Seaton Road (see Gallery). The 1939 England a Wales Register recorded Eliza and May at 51 Seaton Road, both were listed as widows. May gave her occupation as a grocery dealer and Eliza gave hers as 'unpaid domestic duties'.
After Eliza retired, May carried on running the shop in Seaton Road, initially under the name 'M Symes' but later changed to 'Symes & Son' as Tom joined his mother in the business. Around 1949, Tom married Ivy Salisbury at Yeovil.
Eliza died in 1952, in Yeovil, and May died on 5 March 1972 at Seaton Road. In 1973, Tom and Ivy purchased Child's Dairy Delicatessen in Wine Street (see Gallery). They renovated the floors above as their flat to live in.
Then, in 1977, Tom and Ivy sold the Wine Street shop to H Samuel Jewellers, who incorporated it into their existing premises (which it adjoined) in Middle Street. Tom and Ivy purchased the property at 51 Princes Street (see Gallery) which was repurposed as a delicatessen and renaming it Symes Delicatessen.
They retired in 1984/5. After their retirement Princes Street continued as a deli/grocery shop for some years before it was changed to it's current business, Café 50.
gallery
The Honeycombe
family, in a
colourised
photograph of
around 1892.
Back row:
William, Lucy,
Harry, Fred.
Middle row:
Winnie, William
Henry (with
George on his
lap), Louisa
(née Olver),
Albert.
Front row:
Lottie, Charlie,
Ethel.
The record of the 23 January 1894 marriage of William and Eliza from St Barnabas, Queen Camel, parish register.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
William and Eliza Honeycombe's shop at 61 West Hendford, on the corner of Manor Road. That is Eliza's mother, Sarah Ann Bowden, née Moors, in the doorway above, in a colourised photograph of around 1905.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
A colourised view of the shop on the corner at 1 Queen Street - taken around 1912. Most of the building had been (and would later become again) the Victoria Inn. The entrance door seen in this photograph, left of centre, was the entrance to the Victoria Inn, the entrance door to the shop was off-photo to the right, in Queen Street (see next photo).
From their brief stay in Sparkford, Eliza, May and Sarah returned to live in Yeovil. It is likely that they occupied the shop on the corner of Queen Street at this time. Sarah died in Yeovil, presumably above the shop, during 1913, aged 77.
From the Cave
Collection
(colourised),
Courtesy of South Somerset Heritage Collection
The Victoria Inn and the small shop on the corner of Queen Street. Photographed in the 1960s from Huish.
May Symes and her mother, Eliza Honeycombe, pose for a (colourised) photograph of 1937.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
The grocery shop premises at 51 Seaton Road. This colourised photograph probably dates to the 1940s as May Symes' name is above the door.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
Still at 51 Seaton Road, this colourised photograph probably dates to the early 1950s as the name above the door is 'Symes & Son'. May's son, Thomas, stands in the doorway with a young Chris in front.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
A colourised 1960s photograph showing part of the interior of the Seaton Road shop. You don't see many bacon slicers these days.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
A colourised photograph Thomas Symes, serving in the shop during the 1960s.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
In 1973, Tom and Ivy purchased Child's Dairy Delicatessen in Wine Street and opened The Delicatessen in Wine Street, in a colourised photograph of around 1974 (the beige building in the background is the Wine Vaults).
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
The frontage of Symes Delicatessen at 50 Princes Street. Photographed in the 1980s.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
The interior of Symes Delicatessen, with Tom Symes serving customers, in a colourised photograph of the 1980s.
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
Courtesy of
Chris Symes
The interior of Symes Delicatessen, looking towards the back of the shop.
