Enumerator's nightmare?

[mary elms]

I had one of those delightful moments in research when you come face to face with a real person and not just a name. I was trawling through the 1841 census for St Lukes, Middlesex at the time and suddenly there was the enumerator standing before me. His name was John Mark Harris and he'd been given the task of gathering data from the bargemen and women at the docks. The beginning of what he writes is obliterated but his meaning is clear -

"....... as well as could be obtained, only i could read."

and the I was forcefully underlined !!!!! Then later when doing the statistics he wrote

"one half of the above number is caused by the repairing of the banks of the Regents Canal - the passage thereby being stopt."

And there he was standing before me - tired and frustrated. Not only had he had to try to get information from people who were probably very reluctant to give it but they were probably not in the best of moods due to the delay caused by the repair work

My heart warmed to the man.


Mary.

[busyglen]

What a wonderful find, he must have been so frustrated!

I love finding the little bits of history that occur when trawling the Censuses. The pictures they paint just by their occupations, or the number of families living in one room of a house. One address I came across, was carefully recorded by the enumerator as `shed in the wood'. One could only imagine what it must have been like to live there.

Glenys

[Terry]

I've just come across a family in the 1841 census of Devon whose address is:- "Old Kennel". Further down there is an address which is just "Kennel". The mind boggles, although I suspect its probably something to do with the local hunt.

[Clive Blackaby]

Without wishing to get into a "you were lucky to have a cardboard box" skit, I have families (1881) whose address is "No 2 Pole Hole"

[mervyn.britton]

Without wishing to get into a "you were lucky to have a cardboard box" skit, I have families (1881) whose address is "No 2 Pole Hole"

I had for many years the impression of my relatives living in "hut 1a Hughes Fields" gleaned from someone elses transcript; until one of Rods 'wonderworks' proved the actual written item was "31a Hughes Fields" and this huge block of tenaments is still there in great and impressive condition.<grin>

Mervyn Britton

[gbbcarco]

Hi Mervyn

You and I have the same last name. My family moved to Canada around 1790 from Derbyshire.

Where did your family come from?

Greg

[kazrbutler]

My favourite has to be my RANDALL family, living in Brampton, Derbyshire in 1861. I am not sure whether it was a building, street or what, but they and other families are listed as living at Wasp Nest.
I have visions of numerous large families living in close quarters, all buzzing around like wasps. There were 11 in the RANDALL household including Robert's Father in Law. There was obviously no room for his mother, as she was boarding elsewhere in Wasp Nest.

Karen.

[GeoffD]

On receiving the Exeter 1841 CD from Terry, I had a quick random browse before starting the transcription. There is a beautiful little enumerator's 'grumble' where the headmaster of a small boarding school refused to give the necessary details of this pupils. Pressure must have been brought to bear, because the pupils are later listed on another page. I will reproduce (that is, quote) for your enjoyment when I finally get to it.