streets in towns 100+ years ago - useful websites

[Keith_history_buff]

I have been working my way through a list of fatalities, which has addresses associated with it. The question I have been asking is this: does the street still exist in London today? Does it have a postcode? If not, can I find associated streets, and then tie back with an antiquated map as to its location?

A similar question has been asked on here before:
 

The following have been useful for me; both based on the 1891 Census

London Census 1891 Transcription
http://www.census1891.com/streets-a.php

1891 census registration districts, crowdsourced in 2012

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121224094757/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Category:1891_census_registration_districts

Some background on the above info, populated under the Historical Streets Project
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121224091931/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Your_Archives:Historical_Streets_Project
 

[Keith_history_buff]

The following sites have also been of use too:

London Street name changes that occurred between 1857-1929
https://www.maps.thehunthouse.com/Streets/New_to_Old_Abolished_London_Street_Names.htm

Interestingly, Tower Block records the names of some of the former London streets that were replaced by tower blocks
http://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/eastman-street

Two websites, both created by the same man:

One particular pub I was looking at:

https://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/BethnalGreen/BricklayersCollingwood.shtml

1921 directory listing for a street I was interested in, with links on the right hand side to all sorts of interesting stuff
https://london18.co.uk/streets/JamesStreet-BG.shtml

With regard to maps, I did find the following selection to be useful for the 1891 Census
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=51.5290&lon=-0.0537&layers=168&right=BingHyb

I did find the following useful for places built after 1891, such as the Boundary Estate
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=51.5262&lon=-0.0747&layers=193&right=BingHyb
 

[Keith_history_buff]

The postcode search that I performed was simply google searches to start with. I then discovered this site, so I simply did a ctrl-F search for the district concerned:
https://checkmypostcode.uk/greater-london/hackney#.XPg8U4hKjIU

If nothing came up, I assumed the street had been demolished or renamed in the intervening 100+ years.

 

[keithmroberts]

Street name changes can be a problem even without redevelopment.  I discovered a T shaped street in Portsmouth that was split sometime around 1930 or so.  It confused me for a while when I was tracking the original homes of two Pompey pals, church bellringers,  who joined up together until eventually separated by death, one being killed some months before his friend.

 

 

[Guest]

    Street name changes are small beer compared with changes of numbering  in a street,whether or not it changes it's name.   For London, there are some other publications that help:

i)  Some boroughs have their own guides, usually published by the pre-1964-65 councils. Poplar,for instance,published a guide that not only listed street names but gave their origins as well as former names and  even the  names of parts of streets ("terraces",etc). Usually,the relevant Local Studies of the modern borough will prove very helpful.

ii) The pub history site is most useful (Compiled by enthusiasts keen on,er,how can we put this politely-sampling the wares first-hand

      A useful supplement for London pubs is :

 

London Theatres and Music Halls, 1850-1950

Howard, D.

Published by Library Association Publishing (1970)

 

    As the vast majority of licensed places of entertainment were pubs, then this is mostly a listing of pubs-  with lists of the licence holders at various dates-useful when researching casualties whose families were in the licensed trade.

 

ii)  Many modern streets in London are amlagams of bits and bobs- if a street name cannot be tracked for today, then I find Bacon's Atlas of Greater London very useful- reprinted by the London Topographical Society,so fairly easily found. As it maps Edwardian London, then often it is easier to find where the street was in  Bacon (Indexed) and simply find the same physical place on a modern map.

 

   By far the greatest aid for me with problem addresses is simply to walk down the road concerned and keep your eyes open-  Victorian and Edwardian builders  frequently put names of a row of  buildings  above the ground-floor layer and these were often used as the postal address- so, in the manner of Police Five, when walking down an old road, look upwards and "keep 'em peeled". It can be a revelation

[Keith_history_buff]

 For London, there are some other publications that help:

i)  Some boroughs have their own guides, usually published by the pre-1964-65 councils. Poplar,for instance,published a guide that not only listed street names but gave their origins as well as former names and  even the  names of parts of streets ("terraces",etc).

Would you happen to know if said guide has appeared online, please, Mike?

 

Usually,the relevant Local Studies of the modern borough will prove very helpful.

Is that the information that a local history society or local borough archive may have put together?

I have found the following to be an interesting read, which puts the development of a given district in context:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp117-119

Thanks, 
Keith

[Guest]

   Alas, No- the standard guide to London directories is  Peter Atkins " Directories of London 1677-1977" which is comprehensive-and with library holdings listed as well.  It has a thumpingly large number of ephemeral trade directories which can be very useful for Great War casualties, if they did something unusual.

  (Nationally, there is a similar bibliography of directories by Gareth Shaw and Alsion Tipper- Second edition- but Atkins rules supreme for London)

   If you get stuck on a look-up, let me know.

 

1 hour ago, Keith_history_buff said:

Is that the information that a local history society or local borough archive may have put together?

 

   Yes-   experience and local knowledge is all.  Many boroughs still have large collections of building  plans filed by street- and there has been a move in the last 20 years to get London local archives listed online-with external funding - to get a union catalogue up and running eg Barking and Dagenham funded by Sainsbury and Hackney by Heritage Lottery.   Online catalogues for Local Studies now exist for the majority of London boroughs and open up sorts of delights for stuff about the Great War.

[Keith_history_buff]

Many thanks Mike, it was lovely to come back to this after a long weekend away.