BROCKWAY
The BROCKWAYS were only in Trunch for about 20 years but were an interesting family. Their Trunch life began when John Rose BROCKWAY (1828-1871) moved here from Leyton in Essex to work as a market gardener living at Osborne House. His father William was a carpenter who had moved to Essex from Wiltshire. They were obviously a family who were prepared to travel as John's brother Thomas became a Congregational minister in South Africa and his sister Emma died in India.
John Rose married Anne Blackwell in 1851 and they had 2 children in Essex before their daughter Emily was born in Trunch in 1857, with 2 more daughters following. He ran the nursery and his displays at the horticultural shows were mentioned in the newspapers. Unfortunately he died at the young age of 43 as the result of an accident - as the newspaper reported.
Norfolk Chronicle 22nd. April 1871. The deceased in company with Mr. Steward, blacksmith, was returning from Cromer, to which place they had been sworn in as special constables. When in Northrepps they alighted the cart which was driven by Mr. Brockway and he being the first to get in again was adjusting a rug when the pony suddenly started and the seat of the cart slipping caused him to fall backwards into the road. He was conveyed home and Mr. Lake surgeon of North Walsham was called in when it was found that the unfortunate man had sustained a fracture of the spine and other hurt and that human aid was of no avail. He died in the middle of the following day. The deceased who remained conscious almost to the end wished it to be distinctly understood that no blame was attached to Mr. Steward. The deceased man was a most repectable, industrious man and greatly respected by all who knew him.
Norfolk Chronicle 22nd. April 1871. The deceased in company with Mr. Steward, blacksmith, was returning from Cromer, to which place they had been sworn in as special constables. When in Northrepps they alighted the cart which was driven by Mr. Brockway and he being the first to get in again was adjusting a rug when the pony suddenly started and the seat of the cart slipping caused him to fall backwards into the road. He was conveyed home and Mr. Lake surgeon of North Walsham was called in when it was found that the unfortunate man had sustained a fracture of the spine and other hurt and that human aid was of no avail. He died in the middle of the following day. The deceased who remained conscious almost to the end wished it to be distinctly understood that no blame was attached to Mr. Steward. The deceased man was a most repectable, industrious man and greatly respected by all who knew him.
After John Rose's tragic death his son John Shadwell (1852 - 1935) took over the nursery. At first he seemed to be doing well but after his marriage to Mary Chambers in 1874 he was declared bankrupt and the household furniture and the stock of the nursery were sold. One daughter had been born in Trunch, two more children were then born in Norwich and son Ronald was born in Hautbois near Coltishall. By 1891 John Shadwell was working as a nurseryman again and living in The Beeches, Coltishall until his death in 1935.
John Shadwell's son Ronald Shadwell (1882 - 1954) worked with his father growing fruit and tomatoes in Coltishall. He married Winifred Boyce in 1916 and their son Jack Boyce Shadwell was born in 1917. Ronald served in the London Regiment in World War One and lived at the Beeches in Coltishall until his death, when the probate record shows that he was quite comfortably off; so happily the family had recovered from the earlier tragedy and bankruptcy.