Who lived in your home 100 years ago?

[Cloo]

If it was around then, obvs.

You can look it up for £2.50 now that the 1921 census is available at Trace your Family Tree Online | Genealogy & Ancestry from Findmypast

Our house was built in 1911, so been able to look this up - had to pay twice as there were two entries. Ours was lived in by Stanley Ford (Counting Book Keeper Wholesale Hosiery, G & T Morley Hosiery Manufacturer) and his wife Marion ('Home duties), both 37, with a 2 year old daughter Barbara. Unusual to have a child so 'late' in those days, but of course WWI and Spanish flu were only a few years past which may have disrupted things for many, and either of them may have lost children and/or a partner one way or another.

They had two guests at the time, Mrs Mary Ford (65) , presumably Mr Ford's mother and Mr Jonathan Lancester, both of Lincolnshire, so my guess would be the older Mrs Ford was widowed and Mr Lancester (Retired farmer) was a 'gentleman friend' visiting with her.

The second entry is Frances Jane Hearle (57) of whom it says 'Domestic duties', so presumably housekeeper/maid, which fits my thinking that the smallest bedroom was intended for 'The Help' - by head of household's job and general area we know this is firmly middle class territory, but still people who'd have live-in help in those days.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

"...paupers, idiots, tramps, seniles, imbeciles and lunatics" as the building was a workhouse. It's a bit nicer now...

 

[mx wcfc]

"...paupers, idiots, tramps, seniles, imbeciles and lunatics" as the building was a workhouse. It's a bit nicer now...

Yep. Winchester’s workhouse is now luxury flats.

 

[Steel Icarus]

It's not 100 years old

 

[moose]

Horace and Annie Sefton, and their 4 year old son, Harold, lived here in 1921. Like almost everyone else in this town, they worked in the silk industry - he was a dyer, she was a tie finisher, working within 5 minutes' walk of home.

I also have a copy of the 1901 census, which shows there were Seftons living here then - 5 adults in this tiny 2 bed terrace, which shared an outside toilet with 4 other houses. The father, John, was a bread baker, everyone else worked in silk, as machinists, power loom weavers and warehouse workers.

 

[Elpenor]

Can you look up people as opposed to addresses? My Nanna was born in 1919 so will be interested in finding her but no idea where she lived at that point, other than the village?

 

[spanglechick]

No one. It was opposite a signal box on the railway line just outside Crystal Palace.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Can you look up people as opposed to addresses? My Nanna was born in 1919 so will be interested in finding her but no idea where she lived at that point, other than the village?

with previous censuses, on 'ancestry' (my local library offers access at branches, and during lockdown, at home) yes, you can search by name. Ancestry also have some electoral records, and there was a sort of census in 1939 (for issue of ration books) - this is public domain although anyone under a certain age at the time (so potentially still living) is blanked out.

not sure if they have got the 1921 census (although if her parents were settled then you might find them in earlier records.)

unfortunately the home access here stopped at the end of december and I can't quite face paying for it.

from past experience, you need to be a bit broad brush with searches, as names can be transcribed / digitised wrong (the cursive lower case r often gets mistaken for n for example) and spelling could vary from one census to the next. and if you have smith / jones or similar in the family, then forget it... (mum-tat has one branch of the family who were smith.)

1921 census appears to have worked on basis of householders completing their own forms - don't think that was often the case before, as many people would not have been able to write, and most pages i've seen look like one person has written up all the households in that street.

Alternative may be to approach it from the parents' angle with earlier records - Leicester University have local directories digitised, but only ones from 100+ years ago (presume due to copyright) - some private householders were listed, not just businesses, although I get the impression it was more home owners, so may or may not help.

And in answer to the original question, where I live was only developed in the 1970s.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

When I was bored of marking scripts the other year I started looking up occupants of my 1880 something 2 up 2 down. In 1901 there were 10 people living here. 7 kids. Mum dad and gran! I constantly marvel at where they must have slept. There would have been a small living room and a back kitchen with no bathroom. Outside privy at the end of the garden

I discovered a family lost their son in the first world war using the tool that came out in the centenary year

What struck me was that until the 1940s the occupants changed every census And they were coming in to south london from kent and Sussex. Then from 1940 onwards the same family lived here for decades

 

[dessiato]

Easy question. My wife's family have lived in the same house for four (?) generations.

 

[JimW]

Hard to say as the current building is only about twenty or thirty years old at most and while village patterns did follow tradition when the land was divided houses got built on what had formerly been farm land. Fair chance they were called Zhao though as villages used to be mainly one clan and the name of this one means West Zhao Clan Village. By the Nationalist period that might already have been breaking down with incomers to the outskirts of the capital mind, but think we're rural and remote enough for that not to be the case.

 

[contadino]

This house was built in 1921, and occupied from 12th June. When we picked up the deeds from the solicitor a load of original documents were bundled with them which was a nice surprise. The house was bought from the builder by two fellas and a lady (which was good to know, as I expected that at that time women would rarely own property) but I can't work out if it was a couple and a 'sleeping partner' or a ménage a trois.

 

[platinumsage]

It was a plant nursery until the developers came along fifteen years later and started building houses. The builders just managed to complete our house, the last one on the road, before they went off to war.

 

[rubbershoes]

Yep. Winchester’s workhouse is now luxury flats.

Where is/was the workhouse?

 

[maomao]

William, 54, a fruiterer's dealer (so connected to the market presumably), and Annie Maud, 46, who is described as being on 'home duties'. And their seven children, aged 27, 18, 10, 9, 6, 4 and 2! It seems more likely that the gaps are due to childhood deaths than them deciding to intensify the child-rearing in their forties. Though I suppose there may have been other children who'd married and left home between the eldest two (and it might be worth having a look at the war memorial at the end of the road for others). The eldest worked for his dad and would have fought in the war or had a good reason not to.

The second youngest girl has the same first name as my daughter's best friend from three doors down.

ETA: I've just checked the 1911 census (14 day free trial on findmypast) and there were four(!) more daughters between the eldest two boys. The youngest of these was nine and past the most dangerous part of childhood so presumably all flown the nest.

 

[Pickman's model]

Be aware your road may have been renumbered since then

 

[SpookyFrank]

This was farmland 100 years ago, so probably a sheep.

 

[bimble]

Brilliant . Just had a go and found an ada kipping lived here a hundred years ago, alone, a widow aged 74. Looking up her name led to a local parish church records war remembrance website with loads of info on her husband, William, who left school at 11 years and 2 months and began work as a bricklayer.
Interesting that she seems to have used her maiden name for the census.

 

[planetgeli]

Not brilliant. Seemingly handicapped by not having a street name. It only brings up one house in my village, and I reckon there were about 10 (maybe a couple less).

 

[hiccup]

Agnes Stansfield (61, a widow, occupation described as "Household Duties" but no place of work so I guess in her own house).

As well as her two daughters:

Agnes (35, single, works in domestic service)
Mabel (29, single, works in a laundry)

And a granddaughter:

Annie (7, "Father dead", in "whole time" education).

I guess its likely that Annie's dad died in the war, or of flu. Neither daughter is described as a widow though.

Might go and see if there's a Stansfield on the local war memorial later today.

The house would have been a two up two down with a toilet in the garden back then. Probably backing on to sand dunes, rather than the park that we do now.

 

[weepiper]

My block was built in 1927 and I'm in Scotland anyway so can't play. I did fall down a Googlehole in trying to find out when it was built though that revealed that my scheme was designed by the same architect that designed Edinburgh's police boxes
...and Portobello Power Station

...and that his name was Ebenezer MacRae, which amuses me.

 

[gentlegreen]

I may have a go later - and not just my house.
In 2020 I discovered that old maps showed several "grocers" in my street of terraced houses...

 

[Elpenor]

with previous censuses, on 'ancestry' (my local library offers access at branches, and during lockdown, at home) yes, you can search by name. Ancestry also have some electoral records, and there was a sort of census in 1939 (for issue of ration books) - this is public domain although anyone under a certain age at the time (so potentially still living) is blanked out.

not sure if they have got the 1921 census (although if her parents were settled then you might find them in earlier records.)

unfortunately the home access here stopped at the end of december and I can't quite face paying for it.

from past experience, you need to be a bit broad brush with searches, as names can be transcribed / digitised wrong (the cursive lower case r often gets mistaken for n for example) and spelling could vary from one census to the next. and if you have smith / jones or similar in the family, then forget it... (mum-tat has one branch of the family who were smith.)

1921 census appears to have worked on basis of householders completing their own forms - don't think that was often the case before, as many people would not have been able to write, and most pages i've seen look like one person has written up all the households in that street.

Alternative may be to approach it from the parents' angle with earlier records - Leicester University have local directories digitised, but only ones from 100+ years ago (presume due to copyright) - some private householders were listed, not just businesses, although I get the impression it was more home owners, so may or may not help.

And in answer to the original question, where I live was only developed in the 1970s.

Thanks - I can do that. I know her parents names and they were both alive in 1921 and were probably married by 1911 - her Mum was called “Sydney” which is quite unusually - and died in 1925. She had older brothers I think so someone should be on the 1911 census. Will put it on my list. Another consequence of my mum passing is that she was my link to the random Welsh relatives on that side of the family.

 

[hegley]

Also in Scotland so nothing online, but live in a converted maltings so these are some of the men that might have been working in my living room.

 

[Cloo]

Can you look up people as opposed to addresses? My Nanna was born in 1919 so will be interested in finding her but no idea where she lived at that point, other than the village?

Yes, you can look up names on that site as well.

 

[Elpenor]

On the original question, I will find out. Pretty sure this house is old enough.

 

[pinkmonkey]

No one would live here. My dad built this house in a disused limestone quarry, in the 60’s, the quarrying happened before the canal was built in this town, the area of the town where we are is called The Holes for obvious reasons. He told me the limestone wall at the bottom of the garden is 50 foot tall ( it’s only got 5 feet visible)

 

[Miss-Shelf]

Also in Scotland so nothing online, but live in a converted maltings so these are some of the men that might have been working in my living room.

View attachment 305018

Exciting

 

[Poot]

A Royal Navy engineer (51), his wife (40) and their two year old son. I think there is another older child who is either elsewhere or dead. I'll do some research.

When we had some electric work carried out a couple of years ago, the electrician said he could see a ladies' shoe buried under the lounge floor. I wonder about that more than anything else tbh.

 

[bellaozzydog]

52 year old newsagent and bookseller and his auld mum, wife and niece