Topsham Exeter - residence address location

[GrantGen]

Hi - I'm attempting to locate the exact residence (door) in a group of residences around a small square  in Topsham.  My ancestor is at  Clara Place - 15 Follett Road.  The group of 9 units still exists and I have identified #1 (from real estate listing) and right opposite #9 (Google image).  This would indicate that the units are number 1 to 9 clockwise around the square, but I have found #7, #4, and #3 on the otherside of the road.  So I don't know the rational for numbering in this case, but since "Clara Place" is listed in the 1911 Census entry for my ancestor, I must assume the numbering sequence is strange. http://binged.it/15k7h1R and http://goo.gl/maps/ElIh5
Thank you for any help.

[sleepybarb]

Hi Grant gen,can't help with exact location,but have you looked at the Exeter Memories site and Roy Parkhouses genealogy pages? There are some photos there.I'm working this weekend ,but will see if I can get out to Topsham next weekend and have a look,it's only 15 minutes from where I live.
                                          Barb

[GrantGen]

Thank you Barb.  Am looking at the two sites as I leave this message.  Thanks for taking the time to check in Topsham.
Cheers
Tom

[GrantGen]

The Exeter Memories site is extensive and I am going to give it another go.  Roy Parkhouse's site got me close but no prize!  I found a photo just a few yards down the Follett Rd from the 1940s and I checked with Google streetview for fun and got this: - Cheers

[IJD]

Hi. What number did your ancestor live at? My great grandparents lived at No.3 Clara Place, Topsham during the 1930s-60s. They were Wallace & Annie West. I've been told that the landlord couldn't afford to keep the house in proper repair, and that they rented the property for 2/6d.

No.3, as far as I remember my mother showing, was in the left hand corner. The numbering you are referring to is likely a modern renumbering of the houses done for postal purposes and standardization of addresses. Renumbering houses in official records often happened throughout the country as more houses were built, the postal system expanded and new road layouts were developed.

Clara Place used to be the site of the old workhouse, and the memory of that lingered on for many local people. Living in Clara Place was looked down upon by some.

[GrantGen]

Hi IJD - Thank you for your post. Here is the 1911 census info - Cheers.

DEV - Topsham, Devonshire
Clara Place, 15 Follett Rd., Topsham, Exeter, Devon
Residence of Chas S. GILLINGS (1886) and wife Charlotte SCOTT (1882) at 1911 Census

[IJD]

Thanks GrantGen. From the reference its either the whole of Clara Place was numbered 15 Follett Rd, or their particular house within Clara Place was no.15.

I don't know if this is a useful or practical suggestion, or one you've already tried, but you could relook at the census and note the sequence of everyone listed in Clara Place, and work out where Chas & Charlotte appear in the order. For example, if Clara Place is numbered 13-21 then you know their residence is the third house within the square. But you won't know which side to start from, of course! You'll have to see the whole of Follett Road to work out if the numbers started from the High Street end or from the estuary.

[IJD]

Hello again. I had an unplanned look myself at the 1911 Census. The sequence as it appears in the census for the households is;

Gillings        ...Clara Place (no number given on record)
Saunders     8 Clara Place
Drew           ...Clara Place (no number given)
Vinnicombe  6 Clara Place
Gale            5 Clara Place
Selley          ...Clara Place (no number given)
West           3 Clara Place (yes - my ancestors - I got the date wrong in my post)
George        2 Clara Place
Goodyer      1 Clara Place

So it looks like your relatives lived at No.9 Clara Place.

The enumeration sequence goes from Ferry Road, up one side of Follett Road, then back down the other side. Clara Place is numbered on the way back down, hence the numbering is in reverse order. No.9 would therefore be the first house from the High Street end (i.e. on the right). This fits in with me having been told that No.3 was on the left.

[GrantGen]

Hi IJD -

Thanks for this and taking the time to check the enumerator's route.  Your information has made me aware of an gross error I made at the beginning of all this.  It seems I had the wrong end of the stick from the beginning! 

I should have looked at Clara Place as a multi-family dwelling not unlike an apartment.  The numbers being unit numbers within Clara Place and having nothing to do with Follett Road.  Just as you point out, Clara Place would have had one number on Follett Road or no number really was needed as the name Clare Place would have been sufficient on such a small road.

I went back to my file and I cannot find where I got the #15 from.   The census transcript just shows "Clara Place, Follett Road".  I have found a #15 near the High Street (Tony Vernon Ltd) and the building was most likely there in 1911.

So the bottom line my Gillings (1c2r) lived at #9 Clara Place as you kindly found out for me - thank you.

Cheers