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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Cambridgeshire => England => Cambridgeshire Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Carolynxyz on Thursday 31 May 18 22:20 BST (UK)
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Hello,
My ancestor, Robert Giddings, whose obituary says he was a "well-known navigator," died in December 1831, residence said to be Fish Street, Whittlesey. I can't find this street, even on the 1841 tithe map. Can anyone advise where it was situated, please?
Thanks, Carolyn
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Hi Carolyn,
How old was Robert when he passed away.
WhiskyMac
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Thanks for your interest, whiskeymac. He was 75, putting his birthdate at around 1756, though that is currently elusive. His son, John, was also an excavator, and he is said to be on Fish Street when he died in 1826. I am sure I have the correct Robert, although there are several born around this time. I did some research in my Whittlesey transcripts, looking for others names who are associated with Fish Street, and a strange pattern began to emerge. Many of the entries suggest that Fish Street and Baunce were used interchangeably.
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I can't see any references to Fish St Whittlesea, though there is this advertisement for an Inn at Baunce Lane in 1834
"Lot 4. All that Public-house or Inn, situate, standing, and being in or near Baunce-lane, in the town of Whittlesey afforesaid, and called or known by the name or sign of the "Wind Mill", together with the Brewhouse, Cellars, Barn, Stables, Out-houses and other Buildings, Yards, Garden, Right of Common, and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, now in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Merrill."
Stamford Mercury, Friday, January 10, 1834, p.1
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I cannot find Baunce Lane. Do we have any idea where that is.
I have found burial details:
Name GIDDINGS Robert
Age: 72
Year: 1831
Place: Whittlesey, St. Mary
Address: Briggate
Briggate is a road running East (south of) and West (north of) alongside Kings Dyke.
WhiskyMac
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Thanks Maddy and Whiskeymac. Maddy, I've started to check the transcripts for the Merrill name in that advertisement, and so far I have found Alice Merrill who died 1833. She is described as being of Baunce, not Fish Street, so maybe my theory is wrong! Whiskeymac, Baunce is in the northern part of the town, running north from Whitmore Street. Gracious Street runs off it to the right, at right angles. The Robert Giddings on Briggate is another Robert. Confusingly, two Robert Giddings of similar ages died within a few months of each other, but mine is definitely the one on Fish Street.
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Whiskeymac, I think Baunce is now Windmill Street
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Perhaps someone with a subscription to FindMyPast could do an address search of the 1841 census for Fish Street? If that street can be found, you could then check the enumerator's walk to try to locate it on a map using nearby streets as reference points.
Something else I wondered is that although the obituary said Fish Street was in Whittlesey, perhaps they got that wrong, or perhaps boundaries changed? Is there a Fish Street elsewhere? A neighbouring village perhaps?
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Excellent suggestions, Ruskie. I do have a subscription to FindMyPast and an address search on "Whittlesey, Fish" yields no hits. Nor does "Whittlesey, Baunce." However, "Whittlesey, Windmill" yields 133 hits, including names such as Charles Campion, the blacksmith, whose name appears in the parish registers associated with Fish St and Baunce Lane! Windmill St also yields Robert and Mary Bedford, Mary Bedford nee Giddings being my ancestor's older sister. Yet on the 1841 tithe map for Whittlesey, Robert Bedford is shown on Baunce Lane, occupying property owned by an Ann Giddings, who I suspect is the second wife of my Robert Giddings. The tithe map does not show a Fish Street or Windmill Street. Modern maps clearly show that Baunce Lane is now Windmill St. But where does Fish St tie in? My gut feeling is telling me that Fish St is the original name for the road leading off Whitmore St, that it changed its name to Baunce Lane, with some people continuing to call it Fish St, and that this then became Windmill St. I suspect further research in the parish registers will perhaps indicate when the names Fish and Baunce died out.
Fish Street came from the parish registers and is associated with quite a few names, eg Campion, Farr, Merrill, so I think it was in Whittlesey and not an adjoining town or village.
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May I suggest you search for "Fish Street" and possibly "Cambridgeshire" or even "Peterborough" rather than adding Wittlesey? It may not yield anything useful, but may be worth a try? :-\
Apart from new street names as the area has been developed, looking on an old map, there have too many name changes in the area - I don't know if it makes sense that they would have changed the name of one street from Fish Street to Baunce Lane and then to Windmill Street. Also, a "lane" would generally be smaller (shorter/narrower) than a road or a street, wouldn't it?
On maps I have looked at there are many streets which are unnamed, which makes it difficult ....
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The oldest map I have of Whittlesey is the 1841 tithe map. Baunce Lane is certainly not as narrow as Ivy Lane and in part, just beyond Gracious St, it is quite wide, as wide as Whitmore Street, for example, and wider than part of Gracious Street. The road leading from Whitmore Street to Gracious Street is unnamed. Beyond the turn into Gracious Street, the road continues to the north ,where it is wider and is called Baunce Lane. It's possible that this unnamed part was originally called Fish Street and that what is called Baunce Lane was a later extension to it, and then the whole street became called Windmill Street, which is what it is definitely now called.
I believe there are too many entries in the parish registers pertaining to Fish Street, which seem to tie in with Baunce and Baunce Lane, for these to actually be anywhere other than Whittlesey. The families associated with Fish Street in the registers also appear on the 1841 census for Whittlesey, which they wouldn't if this was a Fish Street in Peterborough, for example. These families all appear to be on Windmill Street too. There are quite a few Whittlesey street names that have changed since 1841. These include the following: Crab End is written as such in the 1841 census, yet on the tithe map of the same year it is called Crab Tree Corner. Old Tavern St is now Broad Street; Old Whittlesey is now Queens Street; White Horse Lane is now Horsegate Lane and Almshouse Street is now Market Street.
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This site lists the name changes, including Baunce Lane to Windmill Street, but there is no mention of Fish Street - https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=215620655273400&id=211461672355965
David
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A very useful list, David. Thanks. It's interesting for another reason too, and that is that there are other names as well as Fish Street that do not appear on it. I've just had a quick browse of the burials for St Andrews 1813-1841 and St Marys 1813-1830. Street names that do not appear on this list include Market Hill, Watsons Lane, Balls Lane and Beaumont's Corner. I don't see these on a modern map either. In the burial registers, there are no references to Beehive Street at all, but plenty to Barrs Lane, as early as 1827. The 1841 map shows Bullards Town End as "Bullards Town End or Stamp Lane." Parkinsons Lane is shown on the map but not named. Fish St is also called Fish Lane, both of which are completed with the addition of Whittlesea. There is a reference to the burial of a John Gibson of Fish Street, aged 85 in 1839, only two years before the tithe map and census. It sounds to me as if addresses were pretty loosely applied in the 1820s and 30s. Perhaps they became more standardized in the 1840s with the expansion of the post office and use of stamps, but I'm only guessing at that.