Blossom Street York

[kath davis]

I am trying to identify where my 2xGreat Grandparents were living in 1841.  They were married in 1815, and I think they may have lived in this same place since then, all the children being baptised locally.

Edith Exelby was born in Yorkshire in 1781.  By 1841 she was a widow, Francis died in 1837, with 4 of her 5 children living with her - Ann, 22; Joshua, 21; George, 20; and Thomas 18.  They lived in Blossom Street. The next but one entry to theirs is St Thomas Hospital, so they are quite near the Bar.

Any thoughts.  This is hardly a brick wall - just a little puzzle!  By the following census they had moved to Dale Street nearby, so no help there.

Looking forward to your thoughts
Kath

[CaroleW]

The only way of determining whether they were in Blossom St pre 1841 is to look up the baptisms of their children & see if any address is shown on the entry

[kath davis]

Many thanks.  Strangely I did this last week - looking for father's occupation, must have only looked on Anc, FindMyPast had the information.  Not sure it helped greatly, it gave Holgate, which is much further from the church than Blossom Street, however it is possible that once you passed through the Gate in that direction, you were deemed to be in Holgate! But I did verify his farmer occupation, so worth while.  The fifth child was baptised at Jubbergate Independent, so that is a bit of more thought.

[PurdeyB]

I am trying to identify where my 2xGreat Grandparents were living in 1841.  They were married in 1815, and I think they may have lived in this same place since then, all the children being baptised locally.

Edith Exelby was born in Yorkshire in 1781.  By 1841 she was a widow, Francis died in 1837, with 4 of her 5 children living with her - Ann, 22; Joshua, 21; George, 20; and Thomas 18.  They lived in Blossom Street. The next but one entry to theirs is St Thomas Hospital, so they are quite near the Bar.

Any thoughts.  This is hardly a brick wall - just a little puzzle!  By the following census they had moved to Dale Street nearby, so no help there.

Looking forward to your thoughts
Kath

Not directly related to where your family lived, but might be of interest. City of York Council did some work around the historic characterisation of areas of the city a few years ago. Blossom Street is area 23 https://www.york.gov.uk/CharacterAreasMap

[CaroleW]

It was relatively rare for people in those days to remain in the same house for 25yrs.  If he was a farmer who had his own farm - I wouldn't expect an address of Blossom St. 

[kath davis]

PurdeyB, I will look into that one, thank you.
Carole, I read somewhere, about York - mental note to make more notes! that in the area outside Mickelgate were many market gardens. This caught my attention as many of my Exelbys were gardeners, including 3 out of 4 sons of this family. I believe that farmer and gardener were a bit interchangeable at one time.  But 25 years in the same house is less likely.

[kath davis]

I think I may have sorted this one.  I have read pages, studied maps, drawings and photos.  Many thanks again Purdey - you pointed me back to the text I couldn't find again!
I compared the 1851 census with the 1841 and found 3 reasonably close neighbours to Edith who were still there - 2, 6 and 7 doors away.  They were all living in St Mary's Court, which runs parallel to South Parade, and may be have been in the grounds of Bar Convent.  I think it has been redeveloped and is now offices behind closed gates. 

If anyone knows the area and has more information, I would be pleased to hear more.

Kath

[PurdeyB]

I think I may have sorted this one.  I have read pages, studied maps, drawings and photos.  Many thanks again Purdey - you pointed me back to the text I couldn't find again!
I compared the 1851 census with the 1841 and found 3 reasonably close neighbours to Edith who were still there - 2, 6 and 7 doors away.  They were all living in St Mary's Court, which runs parallel to South Parade, and may be have been in the grounds of Bar Convent.  I think it has been redeveloped and is now offices behind closed gates. 

If anyone knows the area and has more information, I would be pleased to hear more.

Kath

St Mary's Place wouldn't have been part of the Bar Convent. Their land extends quite a way down Nunnery Lane but there are a lot of properties on Blossom Street between the convent and St Mary's Court. It was probably called St Mary's after St Mary's Abbey, the ruins of which are in the Museum Gardens.

I suspected the original properties were subject to slum clearance and there is reference to slum clearance on Blossom Street (St Mary's Court) in the Borthwick Institute https://borthcat.york.ac.uk/index.php/rfam-bsr-uoy-13-20 (see item 2 under content and structure area)

Photo 6 in the article in the local paper shows Blossom St circa 1900. I think the junction you can see to the bottom right is Moss Street, with the house corner being on South Parade. https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/16052910.little-shambles-boats-blossom-street-7-great-postcards-old-york/