Does this photo of Auchendinny show where family lived in 1851?

[Les de B]

I'm trying to establish where my wife's BENSON family lived in the small village of Auchendinny during the 1851 Census.

In that Census the entries are given a household number, then the actual addresses start as "1 Auchendinny" through to "28 Auchendinny". As Auchendinny is basically one street, would it be probable that the Census people just walked up one side of the street, reached the end, crossed over the road, and walked down the other side giving addresses 1 to 28?

Francis BENSON and his family are given the address of "5 Auchendinny", next to "6 Auchendinny" which is owned by an Innkeeper, presumably No.6 being an inn? The only inn that I can find in Auchendilly is The Victoria Inn, but I cannot find any history on it.

So, if you look at the photos, they roughly show the same view but one c.1920's(?) and one 2015. I've circled the Victoria Inn in both photos.

Now, my theory is, as there are roughly 5 houses on the left going up to the Victoria Inn (some changes over the years), do you think one of those houses on the left could be "5 Auchendinny", the house of the BENSON's.

Or, does somebody else have a more practical suggestion on how to work out which house it could be? My wife and I are visiting the town later this year, and it would be nice to know which one it was, or at least might be?

Thanks, Les.

[DonM]

LOL...one thing I have learned is never believe the enumerator walked down one side of the street then the other.

That being said each of the dwellings are marked "The Brae" with different numbers just below the roof line; 5-17 is the one that has the white first floor.  Was it always this number?  I have no idea.

Do a Google drive by.

Don

[Hibee]

I would say the white cottage marked in your top pic has gone, and there is a piece of open ground with something like a garage in its place.  Note that this (white cottage) site is in front of the row of three houses which run at an angle to the main road, whereas the building marked in your lower pic is past these houses.

Hibee

[Hibee]

Here is a link to a zoomable map of the village in 1894....

https://maps.nls.uk/view/82878390#zoom=4&lat=2642&lon=14464&layers=BT

Hibee

[Forfarian]

You want to start with a map closer to 1851. Try this one
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=55.8452&lon=-3.1926&layers=5&b=1

In most streets, the odd numbers are on one side and the even numbers are on the other, rather than going along one side and then back along the other, though there are exceptions to this (Findhorn and Tomintoul are two that spring to mind, but they're nowhere near Auchendinny).

[KitCarson]

Hi Les de B, I'm only a 5 minute drive away from Auchendinny.  If it would help, I could explore/take photos?  Unfortunately, being an 'in comer' of 30 years standing, I don't know the full history of the area.

Kit

[Hibee]

Since Path Head House and Dalmore immediately precede 1 Auchendinny on the Census Roll, it is likely that 1 Auchendinny is at the southern end of the village.  It follows that 5 Auchendinny is on the left, as you go northwards, and is either the 3rd or 5th household, depending on the numbering system.

Hibee

[Forfarian]

Reasonable deduction, Hibee.

I took a virtual walk up and down. Several of the houses on the brae are too recent to be the one the Bensons lived in. However there are three blocks of what look like early 19th century houses on the left as you look uphill. The second and third blocks are labelled with numbers I can't read, except for the second number of the second block which looks like 17. If so, it suggests that there are 8 houses in the two blocks, four in each block, two up and two down. If so, and assuming that the numbering system hasn't changed, which is a big 'if', the Bensons would have been in either the upper or the lower house at the upper end of the first block.

On the other hand, the oldest map seems to show a building below/south of the first of those three bloacks. In which case my hypothesis above is blown out of the water.

Maybe KitCarson will be able to find the answer by going there!

[isobelw]

This is the current 5 The Brae from sale particulars in 2016 (Rightmove)
Isobel