Google Maps

[Yasmina4]

I am sure that other members are aware of this but I am so happy to have foundthis asset in conjunction with my searches that I feel I must say something.

Armed with vague family recollections of an Aged aunt I looked up the census and electoral returns regarding family members. Found addresses of the two shops and the house they lived in and then to Google Maps where I found myself looking at both the residences and the shops invoved.  It was so exciting.

On behalf of a friend  who has long thought that her Great great grandfather had a Drapers shop in Croydon, I looked at the Census for 1861 ,found the gentleman concerned ,discovered that he had lived at 12 High Street Croydon. Went on Google Maps and was bemused.  Its an Emporium built on the site of 5 shop fronts.  He retired and  sold when he was 30 and invested a very large sum of money in his new life.  She is mega impressed.

Sandra

[Guy Etchells]

Yes Google Maps may be a useful help in finding/viewing addresses from the past.

However it must be born in mind addresses do change.
Streets get re-numbered, houses and other buildings may be demolished, replaced or combined with others.

As with many other internet offerings it is a good starting point but not necessarily accurate.
Cheers
Guy

[Nick29]

Google Maps are also not entirely accurate.  Many 'features' are overlaid in the wrong place.  For example, near to my house is a local government facility which looks after the local rivers.  Not only does the Google satellite view not show this building at all, despite it being there for more than 2 years, but the overlay puts a dot on the map for its location in the wrong place, about 400 metres from where it actually is.

[KGarrad]

Google maps never claim to be up-to-date!
So I can see how any changes within the last 2 or 3 years might not be shown.

OTOH, putting in my postcode, shows me living in the Irish Sea! Some 100 metres off the coast of Douglas, IoM!

[mshrmh]

As with many other internet offerings it is a good starting point but not necessarily accurate.
Cheers
Guy

Sandra - you're right the Google maps (and Bing which does something similar - bird's eye view I think) are useful, but Guy's warning is relevant. If you can read the numbers on the image (often blurred out) you can see the property with that number at the time the image was created, which as Guy indicates may not be the same property as bore that number in the past. If you use a trade directory or the census enumerator's books you may be able to follow the pattern of buildings along a road - if that's the case you may be able to confirm location in relation to a landmark that is still there, such as a church or other public building.

According to Google's StreetView looking at my home I live at a number that's not only several higher than the case but in reality is on the other side of the road - so near but not accurate.

[Nick29]

Google maps never claim to be up-to-date!
So I can see how any changes within the last 2 or 3 years might not be shown.

OTOH, putting in my postcode, shows me living in the Irish Sea! Some 100 metres off the coast of Douglas, IoM!

I can understand Google not visiting to photograph this area very often, because it is rather rural.   So I can also understand why the government building is not shown on their photographs.  What is annoying is that there is a dot on the map where the government building is supposed to be, and it's nowhere near where it actually is ! 

[Yasmina4]

I have been plain lucky then with using this facility.

I was at a loss until I realised that by double clicking on the photo of the locality I could get the manoeverable image and work down the road.

The Croydon building was there in 1861 and I knew it was a Drapers, it was easy to find the whole building and find from the stone carving how big the property was and the bonus was that it gave the name London House and the
items sold.  It worked for me.

Sandra

[mshrmh]

Sandra - having the name on the building is probably about as good as it gets 

There are websites that have old photos of areas. One is the Francis Frith company which produced postcards that include views of many "high streets". They list 125 pictures of Croydon starting in 1890 - it is a commercial site with pictures for sale, but there are small versions viewable on the site
http://www.francisfrith.com/

Local studies & county archives often have collections of old photos & drawings that may also turn up pictures of where ancestors lived. This is a link to Croydon's local collection in case you've not come across it:
http://artondemand.museumofcroydon.com/category/croydon-art

[Yasmina4]

many thanks for the links.  sandra