builder in late 1800's

[perisama]

My Great Grandfather was a builder and then builder and contractor in the late 1800's in Surrey. Would he have been a bit well off in those days and lived in a nice house? I have in in the census for 1891 living in Cambridge Road in Croydon and then in Gypsy Hill in Camberwell. I would love to know what sort of place he would have lived in.

[arthurk]

Have a look at Google maps and street view (NB - it's Gipsy Hill with an "i") - though some images have been removed from both roads. The older houses all look pretty decent to me.

Arthur

[Spangle]

Ha! Camberwell and south London are "my manor" so perhaps I might be able to throw a tiny bit of light upon the subject.

Camberwell had become less desirable after c1870 when the railway was built at Denmark Hill, bringing with it more people, many of whom were lower in class and less affluent than earlier residents and who would not have previously been able to travel to work easily from what had been almost "the country". Ruskin certainly thought so - he left Camberwell in 1872, complaining that the railway had spoilt his view.

Gipsy Hill even today retains fairly large open spaces and would have been perhaps a preferable alternative. There are many rows of two-up, two-down Victorian terraces in the area (as the name is used not just for the road itself but also for that small part of what is now Norwood) but there are also plenty of beautiful, large four storey town houses which now cost an arm and a leg (I know, one of my friends owns such a house, the lucky soul!). If I recall rightly the road itself has some such large houses, some smaller houses with less floors from the period as well of course as the modern ones which have replaced many Victorian properties.

Croydon High Street area was surprisingly built up in the late 1800s but just beyond the station, as the maps here show, it stretched out to greener pastures.
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/s...on/index.shtml

There is a picture of the High Street, taken in 1900 on the Francis Frith website too.


There is some information on Norwood here:

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/L...yOfNorwood.htm

[Spangle]

Additionally, if you Google the Francis Frith website and search for Norwood you will find a picture of Gipsy Hill itself in 1898. Hope this helps.

[Hugh Thompson]

Hi Perisama, some of my lot (Great grandfather Kennard and brothers) were builders in the late 1800's around Lewisham, Lee, Greenwich, and Blackheath, and they lived very well, and owned and rented out quite a few large houses that they built in those areas, also you might find that there was a builders plaque on the houses as that is what I found with my ancesters.
Shame that someone else in the family ended up with the real estate and not me!!!!!

[perisama]

Thank you for your replies. I shall enjoy reading the builder journal immensely! No, really, it is a fascinating insight into the days gone by. I love all the old adverts in mags too. A lot of my folk came from Croydon, Norwood and surrounding areas after some migrating from Kent and Yorkshire.