The Plot and Builder

Thomas Brindle

In 1898, when Dole Fields was put up for sale, our plot was bought by a furniture dealer from Chorley called Thomas Brindle who subsequently sold the leasehold to a local builder/joiner called John Richard Lucas on 5th August 1902.

Thomas Brindle was a Chorley man and born in 1865, his father James working as a builder and ironmonger in the town. 

Baptism: 4 Oct 1865 St George, Chorley, Lancashire, England
Thomas Brindle - [Child] of James Brindle & Ann
Abode: Market St
Occupation: Ironmonger
Baptised by: A. A. O'Neill
    Register: Baptisms 1850 - 1866

Throughout his formative years he lived in the town centre and by 1901 he too was a builder by trade so one wonders if he originally bought the plot intending to build the houses himself but later had a change of heart.

John Richard Lucas (builder)

John Richard Lucas was the son of a glazier, Robert Lucas and was Chorley born and bred, living on Cleveland Street, Water Street, Market Street, Crown Street, St Thomas' Square and finally West Bank House, West Bank, Chorley.

In 1902 our home was built by John, coinciding with the opening of the Coronation Pleasure Ground on Devonshire Road, which was opened on 26th June 1902 by King Edward VII. 

Following completion of the building work the house was then sold by John Richard Lucas to our first resident, Mrs. Ellen Balshaw on 7th November 1902. The 1909 OS map below shows that the terraced row had been completed prior to publication.

c.1909