Dockland Settlement - City Road Bristol

[JonOfWilts]

Hi - I was wondering if anyone had info on the Dockland Settlement at City Road in Bristol in the early 1960s. I know what the Dockland Settlements were etc... but my interest is whether the one at City Road in Bristol had residential accommodation or not ? I have reason to believe it did - but according to the Bristol Poll Registers no one did register to vote except for two people who I suspect may have been wardens ? The entries for the 1970s talk about "Wardens Flat Dockland Settlement". I know the person I am tracking was eligible to vote - but didn't. So I am wondering who was staying there in the early 1960s ? Any info or hints and tips gratefully received.

[KGarrad]

Presumably this is a different City Road to that in St Paul's?
Which runs from Stokes Croft to Ashley Road; and therefore nowhere near the Docks?

[StintonLomas]

Hi
I found this on a Blog

I was born in Bristol and grew up in St Paul’s. As a teenager living there in the late 70’s early 80’s I was submerged in a West Indian Community, rich in culture, vibrant in music, and of course good Jamaican food.  Jamaica, the birthplace of my parents who came to the UK in the late 1950’s. I grew up listening to family stories about Jamaica based around my heritage and at the same time listening to the sounds on the streets which, for me at that time, was a mixture of soul, funk and reggae music.
 
At that time Dockland Settlement in St Paul’s was the local Youth Centre, a place for young people to get together listen to music, play table tennis, five a side football down stairs on the court or just hang out with friends eating two pence Jammy Dodgers and drinking orange squash from the Tuck Shop.

I just Googled for Dockland Settlement Bristol

[KGarrad]

Aha!  It's a charity!

See: http://www.docklandsettlements.org.uk/#/what-we-do/4547607417

Started in Canning Town in London.
Then Settlement No. 2 on the Isle of Dogs, London (1923).
Settlement No. 3 in Bristol, 1924

[Jaydown]

Hi I came upon this site when searching for the postcode of Dockland Settlement and I am hoping that the original poster might see this. Docklands as it's known around here has been used as a youth centre for a long time and there was definitely a flat on the upper floors here at one point as I have met someone who lived here in the 70s.

The building currently has offices on two floors and a youth facility still exists in the basement and is managed by a charity called Full Circle http://fullcircleproject.org.uk/

I have one of the offices in what would have been the wardens flat before conversion and happy to answer further questions as I've done some research into it's history.

[JonOfWilts]

Hi JayDown

Thank you for your post - I was the original poster.  I was trying to track down two possible residents (Mary Teresa BOYLE and Josephine NEALON) who may have lived there in the 1960s / 1970s.  I did some research at the Bristol Library going thru' the Bristol Poll Registers along City Road around the early 1960s and found that numbers 73 to 81 (inc) had a gap in the registers and just one or two names registered.  In the 1970s the last name I have a record of is Trevor & Mary WADE (Wardens Flat Dockland Settlement).  So I think this property may have acted as a hostel - because I was originally tracking down who was living at 77 City Road.  The women probably did not register to vote.  The two women I was researching had Irish origins and in at least one case had had a difficult time in the UK.  If you come across any register of residents in this time period especially with these names (Mary BOYLE, Josephine NEALON) that would be of interest.

[Jaydown]

I'm glad you've replied as I realised it's been a while since you made the post. Number 77 City Road is opposite Dockland Settlement and in fact I can see it from my office window. However our address is 74-80 City Road and I am not aware of any previous use as a hostel as it's usage was as a youth centre back then but then it's possible that other houses opposite may have been used as hostels. The person I knew who was living here at some point in the 70's was called Rose Richards who was a youth worker at the centre and lived here with her children. The houses on City Road at the time however were quite often divided into flats (a lot still are) and housed a lot of newly arrived immigrant families from Ireland and Jamaica (including my own family at one point). As the properties were known as being quite over-crowded and often in disrepair they probably had quite a high turnover of tenants which might explain the low numbers registered to vote. There was also a hostel around the corner in Brighton Street which was for women escaping domestic violence which I believe was run by Social Services although it would be pretty impossible to find out who stayed there. I hope this helps and if can be of any other assistance please let me know.

[JonOfWilts]

Many thanks JayDown.  I should return to this case I think as many more Irish records have gone onto the Internet than when I first did this project - but my problem may be tracking down the person I did the work for back then.  Your background info on the Dockland Settlement and 77 being separate and opposite starts to build a better picture. Cheers Jonathan.