The Sorrell family were shopkeepers in Little Baddow since at least the early 19th century, when Sarah Sorrell appeared as at witness at the inquest of Edward Campion. She was still managing the store at the time of the 1841 and 1851 censuses, assisted by her son Hyram. After her death in 1860, her sons took over the business. In the 1861 census, her elder son Stephen is described as a miller and a grocer and Hyram as a grocer’s assistant. Stephen died in 1863 and his widow Julia remarried. By 1871 the store was being run by Julia’s new husband, Samuel Campion.
Little Baddow Post Office was set up in in the 1850s in the National School House (now St Andrews Hall), with the schoolmaster acting as the official receiver of post. However, by 1891, the post office had moved to the Sorrell’s shop and Julia Campion was the postmistress while her husband was still working as a grocer. After being widowed again in 1892, Julia ran both the shop and the post office, assisted by her granddaughter, Elizabeth (Lily), who at the age of 15 was described as a letter carrier and post office assistant in the 1891 census.
Following Julia’s death in 1906, Elizabeth became the postmistress and grocer, assisted by her sister Alice (Tots). When Alice married the local postman, Frank Ager, her younger sister Julia took over her role. Elizabeth resigned as postmistress in 1930, when the post office was transferred to a new site on North Hill, but continued running the shop, by now was known as Hilltop Stores. Elizabeth died in 1951, after which the shop was run by Julia until it closed down in 1970.