Behind every front door there is a story of lives long-forgotten, of secrets never told. Unlocking those stories enables us to to open a window on the past and to build a fascinating picture of the people who lived and worked behind those doors.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was very little development of the Hoe. The area in which Elliot Street stands today was still covered in fields, known as West Hoe Fields, an area of grazing for cows and sheep and populated by a small number of families living in cottages. Further across, towards Millbay, there was a fair bit of quarrying and there was some industrial activity on the shores of Millbay itself. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the celebrated railway engineer, was partly responsible for the development of Millbay Docks in the mid-late 1840s and the first great terrace of houses – Grand Parade – was built at West Hoe just a few years later.
When first built, the houses were numbered 2, 3 and 4 Hoe Villas. By 1901, the addresses had become 7, 9 and 11 Elliot Street. According to early plans of the street, Lot 10 – on the opposite site of the road to The Grosvenor and the first property after The Grand Hotel – was owned by Mr May. Next door was Liffitons House (marked as ‘existing’) and next to this was Lot 9, belonging to Mr. H. Rogers.
