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Villa Road Handsworth

I wonder if anyone can help me with information on Villa Road please.
Some of my Ancestors lived and worked in the area through the census years 1841 to 1891 but some of the roads don't appear to exist anymore.
1841 John Pedlingham, Aston Villa, (next to Hunters Lane?)
1851 John Pedlingham, Villa Road, Number in schedule 57
1861 John Pedlingham, Aston Villa Road, Number in schedule 126
1871 John's father William in Little Hunters Lane.....John in Villa Road,129 in schedule
1881 John Pedlingham, 100 Villa Road
1891 John Pedlingham, 100 Villa Road.

Queries...
1 Where would Little Hunters Lane have been in relation to Villa Road ?
2 Where would Aston Villa/ Aston Villa Road have been in relation to Villa Road ?
3 Have the house/building numbers remained the same to present day ?
4 On one of the Census, there was a pub called The Bulls Head at 104 Villa Road...is this the same as the pub that is now called "Head" (strange name for a pub !!)
5 Is the Timoor Kebab House of today, the same building as 100 Villa Road of 1881/91?
and finally
6...with fingers crossed...are there any old photographs available, showing perhaps The Bulls Head with number 100 in it ?? (long shot I know) and maybe a map of the area for about 1881.

I have to add that on looking at the location on Google Maps, I was amused by the shop at 102, the "West Miland (no d) Jerk Shop"...seems very fitting...did they run out of room for the "d" ???? lol
Any help with my queries will be most appreciated..
 
Lindyloo
3 & 5. The timoor Kebab house is certainly in the same place as John Pedlingham's butchers. There has been no renumbering since about 1880 and before directories di not number villa road. It certainly looks to be of the right period to be there in 1881.
4. The Head is in the same position as the Bulls Head, but the building looks a lot newer to me.
2. John Pedlingham is listed in the 1862 directory as being in villa Road, with no number given. so I think Aston Villa Road, and villa Road are the same.
1. I can only find one mention of Little hunters lane in directories, in white 1873 directory. At that time much of the area came under handsworth, and not all directories included this. however by comparing names listed with the 1878 PO directory, it would seem likely that Little Hunters lane was the upper part of Hunters lane , which was in Handsworth, which later was just called Hunters lane, Handsworth, and then became Hunters Road

Mike
 
Image75.jpg
 
This photo of the tram terminus in Villa Road was previously put on by another member. Shop on the right hand side with the car parked outside used to be Mrs Payne's Sweet Shop in 1940/50.


Tram_Terminus_Villa_Road.jpg
 
Hi,
Yes, indeed - to the left of the picture house, there were a couple of shops,owned by my Grandfather, then a big, gated entrance to our property and then our shop, Hulse, Milliner. The next shop was Wilkinsons.
I've been trying for some time to find a picture of the old shop, but so far no luck.
Regards
Nigel
Nigel, You were by The Picture House then?
 
Hi, can someone tell me how to bring these pics up please????????? I used to live in Handsworth, but left many years ago. I would love to see some pics of the area then and before......thanks
 
Good morning, All.
We used to live at No.129A Villa Road, Handsworth, a few shops away from the Villa Cross Cinema.
Our shop's name was Hulse Milliners, and I have been trying to find a photo of it for some years.
Looking at the shop, there was Wilkinson's Hardware, and to the right very large double doors.
We lived there until 1956, when we emigrated to South Africa.
Diagonally across from the shop, was (is) the Villa Cross pub.

If anyone can assist with a photo that includes the old shop, I would be very grateful

Many thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wonder if anyone can help me with information on Villa Road please.
Some of my Ancestors lived and worked in the area through the census years 1841 to 1891 but some of the roads don't appear to exist anymore.
1841 John Pedlingham, Aston Villa, (next to Hunters Lane?)
1851 John Pedlingham, Villa Road, Number in schedule 57
1861 John Pedlingham, Aston Villa Road, Number in schedule 126
1871 John's father William in Little Hunters Lane.....John in Villa Road,129 in schedule
1881 John Pedlingham, 100 Villa Road
1891 John Pedlingham, 100 Villa Road.

Queries...
1 Where would Little Hunters Lane have been in relation to Villa Road ?
2 Where would Aston Villa/ Aston Villa Road have been in relation to Villa Road ?
3 Have the house/building numbers remained the same to present day ?
4 On one of the Census, there was a pub called The Bulls Head at 104 Villa Road...is this the same as the pub that is now called "Head" (strange name for a pub !!)
5 Is the Timoor Kebab House of today, the same building as 100 Villa Road of 1881/91?
and finally
6...with fingers crossed...are there any old photographs available, showing perhaps The Bulls Head with number 100 in it ?? (long shot I know) and maybe a map of the area for about 1881.

I have to add that on looking at the location on Google Maps, I was amused by the shop at 102, the "West Miland (no d) Jerk Shop"...seems very fitting...did they run out of room for the "d" ???? lol
Any help with my queries will be most appreciated..

Just spotted this post from several years ago. Here's what we know about the name 'Aston Villa' being used in the Villa Cross area. Initially it was the name for a house, later used as a boarding school, that stood on the junction of Heathfield Road and Lozells Road. i.e on the site the Villa Cross Inn would later stand. The first use we know of the name 'Aston Villa' for this house dates to a map drawn in 1818.
By the time of the first Ordnance Survey in 1834, the junction was named 'Aston Villa.' Then in Robson's 1839 directory of Birmingham, the section of road running from the Heathfield Road - Lozells Road junction to Nursery Lane (now Nursery Road) was called 'Aston Villa.'
Next in 1865, a Wesleyan chapel was built nearby (in George Street) and was known as the 'Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel.' The chapel had a cricket team: the 'Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel Cricket Team.' Then in 1874 some members of the cricket team, wanting to play a sport in the winter months, established the 'Aston Villa Football Club.'
 
yes spot on richard...i was bought up in villa st and for many years have wondered what it was named after...ruled out the football club as villa st was cut many years before the football team was formed...there was a villa cottage (maybe named after the area of aston villa) at the top of villa st but was that built on land before villa st was cut then the street named after the cottage it or was as i suspect villa st named after the area of aston villa...

lyn
 
Aston Villa School seems to have been at the house until 1832. Viv.
 

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thanks viv thats is very interesting..i will print that off and put it in my ever bulging folder that i have which contains 10 years of research (still ongoing) i have done on the area where i grew up..

so that snippet was dated 1832 and as richard said in post 31 the aston villa school was there in 1818 so it looks like the area of aston villa was named after the school of the same name...

richard would you be able to post that old 1818 map please...thanks

lyn
 
This is an interesting thread. The early photos are missing (due to the site being hacked some years ago). If anyone can offer replacements please post them. If they fut th3 earlier posts, I’m happy to reinsert them. Thanks. Viv.
 
i have replaced missing images from posts 10 and 21 although they may not be the original photos...
 
yes spot on richard...i was bought up in villa st and for many years have wondered what it was named after...ruled out the football club as villa st was cut many years before the football team was formed...there was a villa cottage (maybe named after the area of aston villa) at the top of villa st but was that built on land before villa st was cut then the street named after the cottage it or was as i suspect villa st named after the area of aston villa...

lyn
My understanding was that around the late 18th and/or early 19th century it had become fashionable for well-off people to want to name their houses 'Villas.' If so might be that Villa Cottage and Aston Villa (the house/school) were not necessarily named one after the other, but rather both named after the fashion of the time.
thanks viv thats is very interesting..i will print that off and put it in my ever bulging folder that i have which contains 10 years of research (still ongoing) i have done on the area where i grew up..

so that snippet was dated 1832 and as richard said in post 31 the aston villa school was there in 1818 so it looks like the area of aston villa was named after the school of the same name...

richard would you be able to post that old 1818 map please...thanks

lyn
 
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