This cottage used to be situated at 12 Cooper's Bank, Gornal Wood. It was probably built sometime in the late 1840s. It was affected by subsidence as the coal from the Earl of Dudley's mines was dug from underneath the area. The house has been moved brick by brick and carefully reconstructed at the Museum so that all the tilts and leans within the structure are retained exactly as they were. From the beginning of the last century up to 1984 the house was occupied by the Bradley family. Joseph Bradley was described as a 'colliery clerk'. His wife was called Seneh, and they had two children, Rose (born 1901) and Jack (born 1905). Jack Bradley married Jerushah in the 1940s and the couple lived in the house with Seneh until here death in 1951, Joseph Bradley having died in 1939. John Bradley died in 1960, and Jerushah lived alone in the house until her death in 1984.
Mary and Cyril Aspery bought the house and they decided to name it after Jerushah Bradley. They donated the house to the Museum on the condition that it retain its name.
Rose Bradley, now called Joinson died in 1992 and lived in Malvern. She had been contacted and her memories of the house have been recorded by the Museum. The house has been fitted out as it was in 1910, and as you will see if you go inside, the family were obviously comfortably off. Rose remembered that the living room was wall-papered and that the family had a piano on which she was taught to play. Cooking was done on the range in the brewus to the left of the building, and the room on the right was a pantry. The family kept two pigs and had a large plot of land where they grew vegetables. The lavatory is a bucket-closet type similar to the one at the Toll-house.
The house was opened on March 13th, 1990, by His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester.
Rollover the captions in the box to see the available images in thumbnail format, click the caption to see the full-size image
| Reference: | 515 |
| Keywords: | 1840 Bradley Joseph Rose Kack Seneh Aspery BCLM |
| Archive Ref: | Marketing Photograph Collection |
| Updated: | 6/9/2001 11:45:14 |