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Back to Back addresses

Pheobe; Think of each court as being a cul-de-sac only each would have a number. So in theory you could have house number 10 on a particular street then court 1, then house 11 or 12 if they used the odds/evens system. Further down the same street it could be house 36 then a space for court 2, then house 37 and so on.
And don't forget each court had varying amount of houses from 4 to 12 etc. Hope this helps.
 
Ta for that, it's easy to picture now. So the court number wouldn't be anything to do with the number of the house on the street? I had assumed my people at 49 Court Summer Lane being behind 49 Summer Lane, so that might not be the case then.
 
Pheobe; Yes, that's correct. There is another spanner I can throw in the works.........some houses had the address e.g 3/24 Smith Street. This didn't mean 3 to 24 this meant 3 back of 24. Some courts were very small and had no court number so this was one way round it.

There are some instances where due to certain factors the name of a terrace was dropped. Possibly due to bombing in WWII the name of the terrace I was born in, Godwin Terrace, lost its title and as the front house on the street was 65, our address became 4/65 Godwin Street i.e. 4 back of 65. There was originally five addresses in the terrace but no.5 was bombed out.

In Saltley Road there's a similar story where Chapel Terrace became back of 122. My nan lived at 2/122 also known as 2 Chapel Terrace.

And we think modern housing estates are confusing!
 
Ta for that, it's easy to picture now. So the court number wouldn't be anything to do with the number of the house on the street? I had assumed my people at 49 Court Summer Lane being behind 49 Summer Lane, so that might not be the case then.


Hi there

When I lived at 8 back 69 Tilton Road (8/69) there was no mention of a court number, and the back houses were accessed through a 'tunnel' between nos 67 and 69. In fact sometimes we had letters addressed 8/67.
There was no real distinction as all the houses were in the same yard, although strictly our house was on the '69 side of the yard rather than the '67 side'.
When you see a court number, this was displayed either on a stone tablet
or a cast iron plate (often oval) showing say 'Court No. 2' above the 'tunnel' or entrance arch. The back houses were then referred to as say No. 8 Court 2, without any reference to the numbers on the adjacent street facing houses. This system was widespread throughout the country, particularly in industrial areas where this type of housing was
built in large numbers to accomodate the influx of workers from the country in the 19th century.

Kind regards

Dave
 
Thanks .... I shall have to see if I can find out whereabouts in Summer Lane 49 Court would be, then.
 
Had a look at directories. they include some courts , especially in earlier directories, but can't find higher than court 21. You are not in Brum, but town plan maps (1:500 scale show a lot of courts, which are usually in order, and you can often guess those that aren't named. these would be in the library.
Mike
 
I lived in a back to back 2/88 Clifton Road Aston 1945/ 1948 it was grim
Does anyone have a picture of Clifton Road and /or Upper Thomas Street School
 
Hi Maurice

Although I have no connection to Darlaston (that I know of!) I found the website you recommended very interesting and informative and well worth reading. I was also interested in the photo of the 'podging' tool for making rag rugs as I have one of these that I found when sorting out some family things, and I never knew what it was. I must look for it and maybe have a go!

Judy
 
Hi Judy,

I well remember watching my grandmother cutting up the strips of old jumpers, etc., but I don't think she ever used such a tool, rather the old treadle Singer sewing machine. The backing was a hessian sack turned inside out so that the hems didn't show.

But most families would not have had access to such a machine. When she was much younger, she asked her very frugal Uncle Harry if he would lend her some money. "It depends what for", he replied, not being short of a bob or two. "I want to buy a sewing machine" she said. "My goodness, no, that's a luxury, my girl!" was his response! Somehow she scraped up enough money to buy it eventually.

My brother now has that old machine, minus the treadle, as he added an electric motor many years ago.

Regards,

Maurice
 
Hi Maurice

We had an old Singer treadle sewing machine when I was young. Nothing was thrown away if it could be mended, even the sheets if threadbare in the middle had the worn part cut out and the two ends sewn together. Shirt collars were turned, in fact nothing was wasted. Although I was too young to use the machine I used to love watching it in action.

Judy
 
For an intersting insight into living in the back-to-backs, the following book is excellent. The author was born in 1903 in Hockley. The book is mentioned on other threads, but for completeness, the details are:
“The Girl from Hockley” by Kathleen Dayus. ISBN 978-1-84408-302-2. Paperback, price £7.99.
I would assume that it is in the B'ham library.
 
Hello BHF friends, I'm a relatively inexperienced family history researcher and a newbee here on BHF...
I'm finding it very difficult to work out how to locate my ancestors' living accommodation from census data in Aston in the 19th C. I've familiarised myself with the basics of back to back structure and layout, and I've found the streets mentioned, but is there any way of working out which of the tiny squares on the street maps might be which number and how the court numbering worked?
I've trawled through the existing discussions and haven't found anything covering this, but I apologise if I'm covering ground mentioned elsewhere.
Cheers!
 
hello lizziebee and welcome...you need our map expert mike...if you give us the address you are interested in mike maybe able to post you a map highlighting the actual house

lyn
 
Wow!! Thank you!
I've got 2 that refer to courts: 1861 census, 5 Court, 2, Potter Street and 1871 census 7 Court, 6 ho, Vauxhall Street.
They then move to Heanage Street and I have direct street addresses for them. Does that mean that the house simply faced the road instead of the court? In 1881 they are at 79 Heanage Street, (between Courts 12 and 13 as the census was taken), and in 1891 at 90 Heanage Street (close to Court 16).
 
By 1901 they appear to have moved east I think towards Alum Rock, where I have addresses of 35 Lupin Street and 2 Dollman Street, neither of which I have got as far as finding yet... I have a suspicion that neither exist in their original form so I'm searching for clues and old street maps. Might I be right in my assumption that they have moved out of the back to back housing at this point as the city expanded east?
Really, really appreciate your help. Quite childishly excited to be making some progress! :D
 
Might I be right in my assumption that they have moved out of the back to back housing at this point as the city expanded east?
Nope! Found them both now, and they're still in Duddeston. :rolleyes: Though Dollman Street does appear to be terraced housing with gardens rather than Back to Backs with courts...
 
Lizzie, the actual address is no 2 Court 5 Potter St , The court is shown in yellow on the map below.
map c1889 showing court 5 Potter St.jpg

I could not find a court 7 on Vauxhall St, possibly because it had disappeared between 1871 and the maps I have. But went to look for it on the 1871 census, and could not seem to see it there either, though the writing is appalling (even worse than mine). Could you just check that.
 
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