Street not full in 1851 census - Newcastle

[mazzie74]

Hi,

I have been unable to find my wife's family in the 1851 Newcastle census (although I have them in every other census).

They are the Lamb family from the Westgate area of Newcastle.

The family would probably consist of:-

William Lamb - Head - b.c.1819 Newcastle;
Mary Lamb - Wife - b.c.1822 Newcastle;
Ann Lamb - dau - b.1841 Newcastle;
John Lamb - son - b.1842 Earsdon, NBL;
Elizabeth Lamb - dau - b.1845 Newcastle;
Thomas Lamb - son - b.1847 Newcastle;
Edward Lamb - son - b.1849 Newcastle.


I have the birth certificate of another son called Matthew Ridley Lamb from 1854, who was born at 38 Seaham Street, Westgate, Newcastle.

However, I have searched Seaham Street in the 1851 census on Ancestry, and the street ends before no.38, so it seems that it may be missing.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Darin.

[stanmapstone]

The rest of Seaham Street could be in another registration district.

Stan

[behindthefrogs]

You need to be very careful about house numbers in the early censuses.  Often the numbers are just those allocated by the enumerator.  If you have found the street I would suggest that you need to look at all the entries.

David

[stanmapstone]

Enumerators were given very clear instructions with regard to the provision of address data. In 1841 it was only necessary to give the name, if any, of the house, part of the town, village or hamlet in which it stood. From 1851 onwards they were specifically instructed to give the number of the house as well, of course this depended on the existence of proper addresses in the first place. The Town Improvement Clauses Act of 1847 provided that local authorities should from time to time renumber houses and
buildings, however street numbering was often shambolic well into the Victorian period.

The numerical sequence of houses could be erractic, as some street had upto four separate sequences of house numbers. Also House numbers do not necessarily appear in sequence as the enumerator probably took the shortest route through his district. One side of a street could be in one enumeration district, and the other side in the next district, or even split between several enumeration districts where the boundaries of a district occur at crossroads.

Stan

[behindthefrogs]

I agree Stan.  I wasn't intending to imply that the enumerators would ignore house numbers but that the number on a transcribed census entry was an enumerators number.

The other thing to recognise is that in the 19th century house numbers were frequently reallocated.  This often happened as the short rows of houses which had their own numbering within a street, allocated by the builder allong with there own name (e.g. XYZ Villas) were incorporated into the street.

I have an example in my own family where a cottage which was owned by the family changed its street name twice and only had its own number twice over five censuses.  The effect of this was that you would think that the family had moved between each census whereas other evidence completely refutes this.

The house I currently live in didn't have a number thirty years ago when one was allocated.  Within the next year it will move to a different street as a result of new house building.  This is not the same situation as my son's house in Canada which over a period of fifty years was physically moved to a different town twice.

David

[stanmapstone]

However, I have searched Seaham Street in the 1851 census on Ancestry, and the street ends before no.38, so it seems that it may be missing.
Darin.

Hi Darin,
Could you give the reference to Seaham Street in the 1851 census so that we can have a look at it?

Stan

[mazzie74]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your help.

It was a few months ago when I attempted to search for the Lambs' in Seaham Street, and since then my ancestry subscription has lapsed.

I was waiting for more records (particularly military ones) to be put online before I re-subscribed.

When I attempt to search for the Lambs, however, there are no names that are close that match, so I am convinced that they are still not there.

What I did was I went to the bottom of the 1851 census search page and chose Northumberland, and searched the enumeration districts from there. It was there that I noticed Seaham Street stopped before No.38.

Thanks for your help,

Darin.

[Helen K]

Hi Darin

From an 1851 Census Street Index:
Seaham Street HO107/2404  Folios 146-150

Seaham Street ends at number 17.

Wellington Street (your family in 1841) was enumerated folios 124-144 before Seaham Street, so they didn't move very far.

The NDFHS have produced 1851 Census Surname Indexes in booklet form - take a look at their website, it may be worth buying a copy.

I see you belong Newcastle - why not pop into Bolbec Hall and look at those indexes yourself?

Regards

Helen K