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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => London & Middlesex Lookup Requests => London and Middlesex => England => London & Middlesex Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: kellysmith on Wednesday 03 January 07 10:15 GMT (UK)
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Hi everyone,
I'm looking for any information on Cranbrook Street and Alma Road in Bethnal Green. My line of Sayce takes me to these two roads pretty much throughout the 1800's. The whole family lived here at some point in their lives, most of their life for some of them.
After buying an A to Z I have noticed that it s no longer there but was knocked down and replaced by the Cranbrook Estate between 1959 and 1963. It kept the Cranbrook name as this was a major influencial road in the area. I believe they were all weaver's houses (i.e large top floor windows) as I have a book on Bethnal Green which shows part of the old Cranbrook Street.
If anybody knows where people from this area would have been buried I would really appreciate it.
Also, has anyone else been in a similar situation and found it really frustrating? I mean when you cannot go and even take a photograph of the place where their ancestors once lived. I feel like a part of my family history has been ripped away of which I can never regain.
Many thanks (and sorry for waffling!!)
Kelly x
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Hi Kelly,
A few years ago took my dad back to his birthplace, Hoxton, but found most of the streets gone and replaced by blocks of flats. One of his old schools was still there but the name had been changed. He took some photos of that instead!
Nanny Jan
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You can try the Booths Poverty map - this link is centred on Hoxton, just next door to Bethnal Green.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/012k/
JULIAN
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Thanks Jan & Julien. I tried looking on Booths website the other night and it was saying it wasn't there!! I'll give it another go.
Jan maybe you're right! I'll take a picture of the blocks of flats!!!! They're not as interesting though!
Oh well..........
Kelly x
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Try www.motco.com They are both there on this map http://www.motco.com/Map/81006/
I'm afraid that with relatives in London, especially in East London, you will find that many of the streets have changed due to bombing during WW2
Sylviaann
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Thanks, I shall take a look. I've just bought 3 Ordnance Survey Maps from 1870, 1894 & 1914 in which they both show on all 3. The two roads were right next to each other which makes sense why the family all stayed close.
Kelly x
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Hello
I share your frustration at not even having a photo of some of the houses/streets wher my families lived (mostly London, many in Bethnal Green/Stepney) as many have disappeared as others have noted. When I first started seriously looking at FH I immediately took my digi-cam and snapped as many places that survived as possible. Unfortunately I don't think I have any photos of Alma Rd or Cranbrook St.
The Tower Hamlets Archive is very good and helpful and you might consider visiting or contacting them by email if you are far away - they are listed on this thread http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,130729.0.html - among other things they have a reasonable image section.
As far as burials of London folk is concerned, this can be very tough - there is a rough guide here http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,128585.0.html
Good luck
Biker
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Many thanks Biker. I shall try calling Tower Hamlets Archives and see what they have!
I shall update in due course. My father and I are looking at going to Bethnal Green on a couple of day trips (hardly Southend though!!) and seeing what we can find.
Kelly x
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Hi Kelly
While you're in Bethnal Green I would definitely drop by the Tower Hamlets Archive which isn't too far away at the same time if you can manage it. If you do go to the Archives, check beforehand that the Archivist will be there as his knowledge is very good indeed.
Good luck with your hunt!
Biker
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I will do that. Thanks very muchfor your help Biker.
Kelly x
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Hi Kelly,
Our ancestors may have been neighbours! My Grt Grt Grandmother lived in both Alma Road and Cranbrook Street between 1888 and 1892. She moved to many places in the Bethnal Green area
Try the Booths Maps again. B349 pp208-209 has a small description on Cranbrook Street. "Unrespectable" is the heading! pp210-211 then appears to include a mention of Alma Road.
Biker - thanks for the advice on the Tower Hamlets Archive. This is one the Archives at the top of my list to visit.
Anji
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What numbers did she live at? My ancestors lived at 5, 6, 9 and 36 Alma Rd and 61, 62 and a few more in Cranbrook Street!!
It'd be interesting if they were neighbours!!
Kelly x
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Hi Kelly,
Sarah Ann Montague lived at 15 Alma Road in 1888 and 104 Cranbrook Street in 1892. She also lived in Ruston Street, Old Ford Road, Armagh Road and Palmers Road over a 15 year period. Apparently it was common for people to move homes a lot. Perhaps to find better places, or avoid the rent man! Who knows?
Life must have been pretty tough for Sarah. She was unmarried with 6 children during the time she lived in the area. I've records of her having to go to the workhouse on a couple of occasions. I'm fascinated by what her life must have been like.
Anji
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I know your posting is old but are you still interested in Alma Road?
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Hi, yes I'm very much interested still. Anything you know about this area would be greatly appreciated x
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Hi Kelly
They changed Alma Rod to Doric Road, I suspect because of the war. So we moved to Doric Road about 1939 (I guess). The plaque on the wall said Doric Road formerly Alma Road. So we lived at number 29 Doric Road. It was a cul de sac and at the bottom of the cul de sac was a place called Alma Wharf. We were all young kids and would play outside and annoy the workmen in the wharf. This wharf opened out onto the canal at the back. I went to Cranbrook School which was just a few minutes away.
Best wishes Ruby
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Hi Kelly, my grandparents lived in Cranbrook Street and we lived in Type Street which was just around the corner. I think they lived at 83 Cranbrook Street and we lived at 6 Type Street. I was born in 1951 and we moved from Type Street when I was about 7 ish. I remember there was a pub on the corner called the Lord Nelson, and a corner shop called Churchlows plus Cranbrook Street School where some of my relatives went. Apparently me, my brother and sister and our parents house was a one bedroom. However I remember my dad had about 10 brothers and sisters and their house in Cranbrook Street was a two bedroom (possibly 3) and they rented one out to lodgers!! He also had other relatives in Cranbrook St and the surrounding streets.
Re burials - I would imagine they used Southern Grove Cemetery which is now a nature park. Its in Southern Grove, Mile End (just behind Mile End Underground station). Its no longer used for burials but its a really lovely place and they do all sorts of organised walks in there or you can just go and look at the gravestones etc.
My single name was Chalkley as was my grandparents
Hope this helps
Best wishes, Carol
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18 Alma road 1881 Eaton family
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My 2nd G.Grandfather/ GGMother, 8 year old G.Grandfather and his approx 5 siblings lived at 26 Alma Road in 1888, they were Morsmans. My GGrandfather was a Mat Maker. I've been reading a lot about the area at that time and it sounds completely grim, I can't imagine what sort of life they had!
Both sides of my fathers family resided in Bethnal Green going back to at least the late 1700's, that's as far back as I can go at the moment, if I'm even doing this right because I'm quite new to it all.
Lis :)
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I’ve been doing a ton of research on my great grandad, William Charles Brown’s family & they’re harder than hell to track down…but I think I got it & I also ran into the Alma Road issue. I Used the London A-Z road name changes website to try to figure it out, but it said Alma Road in Bethnal Green changed its name to Old Ford Road, then Mace Street. Which doesn’t make sense because Old Ford Road is centuries old. Anyhow, after looking at over a dozen maps online, I found it on one I have from 1897…but it’s “Alma Road West” on there. It branches off of Cranbrook Street, off of Old Ford Road. Is there more than one Alma Road in Bethnal Green?!
Anyhow, in a 1901 census, his family lived at #23 Alma Road, BG
Charles Henry William Brown: ab.42—(head/upholsterer), Jane (née Smith) Brown: ab.39—(wife/button maker), Jane Elizabeth: ab.16—(daughter/box maker), Mary Ann: ab.13—(daughter), Thomas: ab.10—(son), & **not listed: William Charles: ab.14—(son), Charles: ab.18—(son).
What doesn’t make sense to me though is how far away they are from everywhere else they had lived before & after..hence—is there another Alma Road further west in BG? Their other residences:
(1881)#16 Diss St, BG
(1882-88) #18  Queen St, BG
(1882-1901) #11 Warner Place, Hackney Rd, BG
(1901-?) #23 Alma Road, BG
(1911-?) #51 Wilmer Gardens, Hoxton
(1915-?) #20 Pott St, BG
*this may be my great Nan’s Attwell family: (1919) #9 Paradise Row, BG
& Charles Henry William Brown died in 1934—Walthamstow, Essex.
I KNOW from living family that my great Grandad was an upholsterer & had a shop next to a French polisher in BG…near or on Hackney Rd. in the 1900’s. But the rest has been a nightmare to figure out!
My great grandad William Charles Brown was a railway porter “heavy work” born in BG. He was Baptised 1887 at St. James the Great & his parents, Charles Henry Brown & Jane Brown lived at #16 Queen Street, BG. at the time.
He 1st married Ellen Amelia Neve APRIL 23, 1915 at St. Andrew’s Church, BG. She died in Jan. 1919. His address was #20 Pott Street, BG.
He then married my great nan-also a widower, Susanna “Annie” Matilda Attwell (prev: Clarke) on Dec 25 1919 at St. Jude’s Church, BG. Their address was #9 Paradise Row, BG. Later moving to Gilman House around 193? “Emma Street” (but off Pritchards Street). He passed away in 1946. My great nan lived in many different flats in Gilman House until her death in July, 1976.
The whole family pretty much stuck around that area, except for my nan, who married a Yankee soldier 101st Airborne Parachute Combat Infantry “Screaming Eagles” Pathfinder/Intelligence on Jan. 2, 1946 & she emigrated to the USA in the summer of 1946 VERY PREGNANT with my dad, born Oct. 1946 in the USA.
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This is the site I use to check old and new names for London Streets:
https://www.maps.thehunthouse.com/Streets/Old_to_New_Abolished_London_Street_Names.htm
(https://www.maps.thehunthouse.com/Streets/Old_to_New_Abolished_London_Street_Names.htm)
There are several Alma Roads and a Cranbrook Street but I struggled to match them up to the correct Parish!
These may be of help too:
https://www.maps.thehunthouse.com/Lost_London_Streets.htm (https://www.maps.thehunthouse.com/Lost_London_Streets.htm)
but cost a few pounds as an ebook.