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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Yorkshire (West Riding) => England => Yorkshire (West Riding) Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Karjoy on Tuesday 16 November 04 04:57 GMT (UK)
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Hi,
Australian needs help. I have on a birth certificate as place of birth "Heads" or "Steads" Yard, Castleford in the 1850s; very hard to read which it could be. Would anyone be able to clarify?
Also I am unfarmiliar with "Yard" in this context. Can anyone explain the term for me in relation to a place of birth, please.
All help appreciated.
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Hiya Karjoy,
There isn't a street index for Castleford on the 1861 Census ( which is the one i have) so i can't help you with the street name at all. If you can scan that little bit of the cert in and post it here maybe we can give you a better idea of what it says.
As for the " yards".
Yards came in all shapes and sizes...some were long narrow passage ways with houses on either side. Some were set on 3 sides around a Cobbled or Dirt square. This is where the middens were. A Midden is a rubbish dump. Some Yards existed into the 60's and 70's although the sanitary conditions had improved by then. ;)
They were pretty grim places in the 1850's but cheap. The toilets were usually outside and shared by the others who live in the street or yard.
This is an excellent website showing what conditions were like in the late 1800's early 1900's
http://www.leodis.net (http://www.leodis.net) New link 2015
It's mainly Leeds and surrounding area's but it should give you an idea what life was like in Cas.
Fitty