Thomas short
Ironstone worker and builder
Thomas Short and Cleeve Villa Thomas Short was born in Beckington, Somerset in 1834 to John and Amelia Short (nee Clare). John Short was a carpenter. On 24 December 1857 Thomas married Louisa Akerman at the Church of England Chapel in Seend, in the Parish of Melksham in Wiltshire. The couple set up home in the nearby hamlet of Seend Cleeve. The couple had seven children born in this village with one further child being born in Woodford.
Tom’s grandson (Wilf Bunning), in his
memoirs recalls his grandfather started work as a farm labourer but
wanted to be involved in heavy industry and left agriculture behind to
work at local Ironworks. He also recalls being told that Thomas was
involved in laying some of the first rails in St Pancras Station which
opened in 1868.
Between 1871 and 1876 with the advent of major ironstone mining to the north of Woodford to provide raw materials for the newly constructed Islip Ironstone Furnaces (where Primark warehouse is now) about 20 families from Wiltshire, moved to Woodford. Initially living in lodgings, a terrace of houses was built by the company to accommodate many of these workers and their families (at the west end of Mill Road), but Tom Short and his family lived in Mill Cottage. (The cottage still exists and can be seen on the right when entering Woodford along Mill Road).
Wilf Bunning takes up his grandfather’s story “He was a good worker who became pit foreman and manager and later was general manager over all the ironstone quarries at Twywell, Cranford, Slipton and Lowick…. He was very strict but fair in his dealings with his men… At one time he was a fairly heavy drinker, and the story goes that he was walking up to Mill Terrace with a friend, and his companion put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a number of gold sovereigns. He said “Look Tom, I can save these because I don’t drink”. My grandfather took notice…. and life became a little easier for the Short family.
By the time he died in 1915, he had his own house
Cleeve Villa (named after the village where many of his children had
been born), he also owned a number of cottages in Woodford and Twywell.
The wage for a Pit Manager was forty-five shillings a week (£2.25).
When he died aged 81 he had been retired just six months.”
In a separate entry Wilf Bunning talks of his father, John Bunning (married
to Tom’s daughter Elizabeth) “My father built Grandfather Short’s
house. He made all the doors and windows by hand, carried most of them
up the High Street on his shoulder. Uncle Herbert (Bunning) who had
just started in business in Kettering under the name of Smith and
Bunning did the brickwork. 
The actual bricklayer was Joe Eaton of
Kettering. Grandfather Short (Thomas) finished the groundworks himself
and laid the drains and tarmacked the yard.”
Thomas Short died on 17th February 1915 at the age of 81 years and is buried in Woodford Churchyard, He left effects to the value of £3,186 (about £230,000 today). His wife Louisa, died at the age of 78 on 18th December 1916.
Others who have occupied Cleeve Villa For many years it was the home of Peter Dewing and his wife. He was the village Betting Agent. More latterly, a local retired builder by the name of Fritz Munkelt from Little Addington. In memory of his wife Amelia, he gave a substantial sum to the school for the construction of new offices and entrance area which was completed in 2007.