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Bromsgrove Street 1901 Census

R

Rawlijen

New Member
I am currently researching William Hadley who was 45 in the 1901 census. He migrated to Australia in about 1881 and returned to England, abandoning his family, sometime in the mid to late 1890s I think. The family story is that he returned to England chasing an inheritance. He came back to Australia in (roughly) 1908 and died, destitute, in Sydney in 1909. I have found him in Bromsgrove Street, Block 105, boarding with a widower and his widowed servant. I am wondering what sort of building this was. Don't seem to be able to find any pics. Also, does anyone have any ideas of where else I could look to see what he was up to during the years he was absent from Australia? I would love to be able to fill in some details so I can let his only living grand-daughter know why he disappeared from the family for so long. She is nearly 94 and very interested. Regards Rawlijen
 
you have misread the abbreviation. The place in Bromsgrove st is no 16 back of 105 Bromsgrove St. Thi is court 19. The court is shown on the map below , though I cannot be certain of which is no 16. the road to the left of the map is Bristol st

map c 1888 showing court 19 bromsgrove st.jpg
 
Oh thank you so much. I was imagining something like those large blocks which we call housing commission. So it would have been a small dwelling behind a larger house I guess. Do you know much about the area in 1901?
 
The problem with finding out what he was up to at that time is that the census there are virtually no more records. Baptism, marriage and death records can give small details but from you say it seems he probably would be on any of them, which leaves just newspapers and for a working class person only if they had run in with the law (as a relative of mine who lived on Bromsgrove St did).

There are not many photos of Bromsgrove St and they are from a later date and unfortunately towards the other end of the street - of pubs.
 
As MWS says, photos are rare, towards the other end, and younger. This is probably the best I can offer, At the junction of Hurst st c 1939, but before any bomb damage , so likely to be similar to what it was like in 1910
junction of Hurst Street and Bromsgrove Street.C.1939-40..jpg
 
Thank you both for all of your help. That is wonderful and I know a heap more now than I did two days ago. I have gone back to the census and figured out that there was a row of detached ? cottages ? behind 105 and a row behind 104. I guess they faced each other. I am also guessing each had a small internal kitchen, living area, maybe 3 bedrooms as indicated in the census and the bathroom facilities were shared or were located elsewhere. Judging from the numbers in each dwelling it would seem that it was a fairly crowded, working class area. I don't know how William Hadley ended up in Birmingham - perhaps needed work. His family were located around Causeway Green in Oldbury. I also don't know how he afforded the trip to England and then the return trip 12 years or so later. I just know that his family in NSW were less than happy with him! Thank you for the help. It is greatly appreciated. Regards
 
The bathroom facilities would have been a shard loo across the courtyard and a tin bath

Tin Bath.JPG
 
Rawlijen said:
Thank you both for all of your help. That is wonderful and I know a heap more now than I did two days ago. I have gone back to the census and figured out that there was a row of detached ? cottages ? behind 105 and a row behind 104. I guess they faced each other. I am also guessing each had a small internal kitchen, living area, maybe 3 bedrooms as indicated in the census and the bathroom facilities were shared or were located elsewhere. Judging from the numbers in each dwelling it would seem that it was a fairly crowded, working class area. I don't know how William Hadley ended up in Birmingham - perhaps needed work. His family were located around Causeway Green in Oldbury. I also don't know how he afforded the trip to England and then the return trip 12 years or so later. I just know that his family in NSW were less than happy with him! Thank you for the help. It is greatly appreciated. Regards
Click to expand...
You may already be aware of the following site -
oldburyhadley.wordpress.com
Good luck with your search
 
The preserved Bham back to backs are not too far away from Bromsgrove St but as been said before they probably wouldn't looked quite like that when they were occupied...

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Birmingham Back to Backs | West Midlands

Explore 200 years of working peoples' lives on a guided tour of the Birmingham Back to Backs, a carefully restored court of houses built literally back-to-back.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk www.nationaltrust.org.uk
 
No, I am not aware of the Hadley site. I have just turned my attention to the Hadley name after spending many years researching another side of the family. Perhaps I need a visit to the area - one day. I know that Hadley is a common surname in the Oldbury area. Very interested in the back to backs. Had read about them when researching someone in Manchester. What brought people to Birmingham in the early days?
 
For the most part it would probably have been work that brought people to Bham, the same for most cities. Expanding cities and a changing world, I suppose people who could no longer find work in the countryside would have thought that there were more opportunities and as travel became easier they were able to get there.

My mother was a Hadley, the earliest from Harborne/Smethwick.
 
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