Another plea for electoral reg look up please

[B17_Fan]

I would be so so grateful if someone can look up: 99 Newtown Road in Newbury and 2 Nursery Cottages in Speen. The years would be about 1924 +/-

I really do hope someone can help me

[newburychap]

1928 - Blacket's Directory of Newbury & District

2 Nursery Cottages, Speen - C Marfell

There is no 99 Newtown Road in the directory.

[B17_Fan]

Thankyou. I know that my great grandmother lived at 2 nursery cottages in 1924. I don't know if she would have moved by 1928. My late granddad was born in 99 newtown road, but his mother lived over at speen. I wanted to find out why he was born there in 1924.

[newburychap]

99 Newtown Road doesn't seem to have existed - so I suspect it is a nice way of saying Newbury Union Workhouse. I guess that the workhouse was still an address to be avoided.  Newbury did have a Cottage Hospital by 1924 - but it may have cost too much to give birth there. The workhouse was also part hospital (later completely so) so my guess would be that there was some concern with your great grandmother's pregnancy and birth at home was viewed as too risky so she went 'up the hill' for the birth.

[B17_Fan]

But there is a Newtown Road in Newbury. I've seen it on google earth. And if you type it in a search engine, it comes up with someone wanting planning permission to build something rather. I wonder actually when newtown road was built? Was the workhouse along newtown road?

[newburychap]

But there is a Newtown Road in Newbury.

Yes there is - and has been for a long time. The workhouse was on Newtown Road close to the edge of the Borough. As it was uphill from town locals refered to going into the workhouse as going 'up the hill'.

There was no 99 in the street directories - if it existed it would have been on the other side of the road from the workhouse (later Sandleford Hospital) which was at 214 Newtown Road.

My workhouse theory was just a idea that would explain being born in a non-existant place.

[B17_Fan]

I see what you're saying. Do you know if there are any records for the workhouse?

[newburychap]

What records exist will be in the BRO - you can check workhouse record holdings at www.workhouses.org.uk and the BRO holdings via the National Archives' website (National Register of Archives).

From the workhouses site Newbury records include:
Guardians' minute books (1835-1930); Admissions and discharges (1866-1947); Births (1836-1947); Deaths (1868-1909, 1914-1943); Punishment register (1915-34); Assessment Committee minutes (1862-1927); etc.