George Street, Chelmsford

[post office Kate]

I noticed on Barbara Windsor's 'Who do you think you are' that the expert was able to look up an address and find out what kind of people lived in the area. Does anyone know whether those records are kept for all areas or just London. My grandfather lived in George Street, Chelmsford at the beginning of the 20th century. His father was a labourer possibly on the railways and I am wondering what kind of house that was (it's no longer there) and what the living conditions were. Many thanks. Kate

[Clincher2]

Hi
Charles Booth made a survey of London living conditions which is available online at booth.lse.ac.uk.
I am not an expert but I would be surprised if anything like that was achieved for Chelmsford on the same scale.
However, at some point the councillors must have had cause to consider the public health implications of any sub-standard housing and minutes of the appropriate committee might still be available either at the Council offices or in Essex RO.
If you know when George Street was demolished the years leading up to that might be a good starting point. If you go to the Essex Record Office website and type 'Chelmsford Council' in the search box you will get 50 pages of hits so you will need to pinpoint the year of demolition fairly closely.
I hope this will help