House Numbers

rtbarton · 24-03-2009, 20:00

Over the years houses may have been renumbered, for example Whalley Road, Accrington; possibly in 1958. This can cause a lot of confusion when researching census forms.

Is there any documentation anywhere setting out house renumbering?

Thanks,

Roger

Retlaw · 25-03-2009, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtbarton

Over the years houses may have been renumbered, for example Whalley Road, Accrington; possibly in 1958. This can cause a lot of confusion when researching census forms.

Is there any documentation anywhere setting out house renumbering?

Thanks,

Roger

Warner St in Accrington changed it numbers from top to bottom, then from bottom to top. Abbey St used to be the main shopping St back in the 1800's, it was'nt till the Warner St, Cross St junction was built over the river, that the numbers changed.

Retlaw.

MargaretR · 25-03-2009, 22:38

Am I right in thinking that door numbering didn't catch on until there was a door to door postal delivery?
The reason I say that is because I have dabbled a little lately tracing the ancestors of my maternal grandmother, and found that addressess were a bit obscure.
By that I mean - I found an address which was 'Busk', which turns out to be the stretch of Union Rd between St Pauls school and Haworth St.
Other addresses in the list I looked at didn't show door numbers either - just 'so and so Buildings'

rtbarton · 25-03-2009, 22:55

I think there was a bit of snobbery too. Some of the big houses on Queens Road are referred to by name in the 1911 census, but ordinary houses have numbers.

MargaretR · 25-03-2009, 22:59

I am a novice in this searching lark and did notice that on this link there were no door numbers
Oswaldtwistle and Church 1861 Census Data

MargaretR · 25-03-2009, 23:14

ps -I have just explored that link again - there ARE some door numbers near the end

Retlaw · 26-03-2009, 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

Am I right in thinking that door numbering didn't catch on until there was a door to door postal delivery?
The reason I say that is because I have dabbled a little lately tracing the ancestors of my maternal grandmother, and found that addressess were a bit obscure.
By that I mean - I found an address which was 'Busk', which turns out to be the stretch of Union Rd between St Pauls school and Haworth St.
Other addresses in the list I looked at didn't show door numbers either - just 'so and so Buildings'

In the 1841 census there were practically no door numbers, some people think the number in the left hand columm is the door number, but thats just the enuerators number. In the 1851 census about 85% of doors were numbered in a separate columm to the enumerators number, by 1861 all houses had numbers, except the posh ones. If you check the preamble at the start of each section in the 1841/51 census it shows the enumerators route, from that with a street plan, it is possible to find the exact house.

Retlaw.

MargaretR · 26-03-2009, 00:02

Thanks for that useful info

rtbarton · 26-03-2009, 08:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

........ If you check the preamble at the start of each section in the 1841/51 census it shows the enumerators route, from that with a street plan, it is possible to find the exact house.

Retlaw.

I had the situation where there were 2 blocks of houses, Victoria Villas and Major Villas, with no numbers. The enumerator went Victoria, Major, Victoria and then Major. There were no numbers and no way of knowing the order in which the enumerator visited them.

Does the Land Registry hold historical records?

Retlaw · 26-03-2009, 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtbarton

I had the situation where there were 2 blocks of houses, Victoria Villas and Major Villas, with no numbers. The enumerator went Victoria, Major, Victoria and then Major. There were no numbers and no way of knowing the order in which the enumerator visited them.

Does the Land Registry hold historical records?

I've had similar situations with the 1841/51/61 census returns for Accrington, it means there was no one at home when the enumarator called, if you follow his route on a street plan you should be able to sort it.

What makes it easier for me, I have the 1841/51/61 Census's for Accrington in my computer, I can split screen and view two census's together to see if people are still at the same address.

Retlaw

rtbarton · 26-03-2009, 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

I've had similar situations with the 1841/51/61 census returns for Accrington, it means there was no one at home when the enumarator called, if you follow his route on a street plan you should be able to sort it.

What makes it easier for me, I have the 1841/51/61 Census's for Accrington in my computer, I can split screen and view two census's together to see if people are still at the same address.

Retlaw

That doesn't help identify the house within (say) Victoria Villas though.

I've transcribed relevant cenus data into Lotus 1-2-3, it automatically calculates ages from DOB and any gaps where children may have left home or died are obvious. The split-screen facility is very useful on that too. I've also set up hyperlinks between spreadsheets and JPEGS of scans of the original docs for confirmation.

Retlaw · 26-03-2009, 22:31

[quote=rtbarton;696904]That doesn't help identify the house within (say) Victoria Villas though.

The Burgess Rolls would.

Where's Victoria Villas.

Retlaw.

rtbarton · 26-03-2009, 22:37

Burgess Rolls? I remember Energen Rolls

Todmorden

Retlaw · 26-03-2009, 22:57

[quote=rtbarton;697138]Burgess Rolls? I remember Energen Rolls

Daft begger.
Burgess Rolls were the forerunners of todays register of electors.

Todmorden
Hoody Blell, fancy having to live in pudding land,
thas getten mi sympathy.
Retlaw.

rtbarton · 26-03-2009, 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Todmorden
Hoody Blell, fancy having to live in pudding land,
thas getten mi sympathy.
Retlaw.

It's worse than that - I live in Sheffield

How does one get access to the Burgess Rolls ?