Tithe Maps & Census comparison

[Lady Di]

Thanks to The Genealogist I have a copy of the 1842 Tithe Apportionment map (brilliant source )
I also have the 1841 & 1851 census for the same town in Herts and therefore comparing the two in an attempt to pinpoint an exact address.

Has anyone been successful in locating an exact location as per Tithe Map AND that location matching the census ... eg between 2 pubs/ next to a school or whatever.

I'm not expecting specific help re my lot - just would like to know if Tithe Maps are "usually" spot-on with their drawings/locations of key features.

Thanks

Di

[stanmapstone]

The 1837 Act allowed maps of varying standards to be submitted to the Tithe Commissioners which meant that the Tithe Commissioners were not able to certify they were all accurate as the 1836 Act required them to do. An amendment to the 1837 Act resolved this dilemma by allowing the commissioners to certify only those maps with whose accuracy they were satisfied. The amendment provided for two classes of maps. 'First-class maps' were those which the commissioners considered sufficiently accurate to serve as legal evidence of boundaries and land plots; there are 1,900 of these maps, only about 16% of the total. These maps can be identified by the fact that they bear the seal of the Tithe Commissioners and a certificate of accuracy signed by two commissioners. The 'second-class maps', as the remaining maps are called vary in accuracy from those which narrowly missed a first-class seal, to those which are patently unreliable.
From "Maps for Family and Local History" published by the National Archives.   

Stan

[stanmapstone]

See 7.3 Scale and accuracy of maps
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/tithes/

Stan

[Jomot]

I've just been doing the very same thing using the tithe maps for Wales, which are freely available online. 

Fortunately the address I was searching was a row of houses in a semi-rural location with very little immediately surrounding them, and so easily identified on the tithe map.  I had also found reference to a lease document that said there were 16 houses in the row, which matched exactly with the 1841 & 1851 census.  Better still, I also found a photograph taken before they were demolished and was also able to identify the row on a map published in 1901, which confirmed their location in relation to some major landmarks that were present on both the tithe and the later map.  It wasn't 100% accurate, but close enough.

[Lady Di]

Thanks Stan - I'll check the map I was using to see if it had any certification on it but good to know that not all were quite as accurate as maybe we'd like.

Well done Jomot. Thanks for your reply. It's satisfying when you can finally pinpoint the exact location. I also have the details of the specific lease doc's where owner's name matches the Tithe Map but the census places the residence in a different street. Rather odd 

Appreciate the news and views   

[Top-of-the-hill]

  I have tried comparing tithe maps and census for two villages I know well with very little success. There are very few addresses on village censuses - just "village" or "street", and although the tithe schedules say "occupier", it seems most of the cottages are actually lived in by someone further down the social scale! Few of the names in the census appear on the tithe schedule.
    The 1851 for one of the villages baffled me at first as there seemed to be no sense in it, then I realised that it had been written up in alphabetical order, rather than street order!