Genealogy Chat

I was helped by RobG to read the address for my ggd and ggm in the 1891 census the address is 41, Back Of Cranford Street. Any idea what a "back of" house was?

There are Back to Back houses that still exist today.
Imagine a 'Coronation Street' type terrace house with no back yard. The houses back straight onto each other so they share a back wall. ....Neither have a back yard, just an individual frontage.

But in your scenario I would expect them to have their own street name as they would have their own front door,

Alternatively, back of 41, could mean they had some form of habitation in the back yard/garden of 41.

Chris

The only thing I can think of, is what are known in Yorkshire as 'Back to Back houses' . This is a row or terrace of houses, usually built for Mill workers. There are houses on the front and houses on the back. They still exist today. Another way of building houses because of the steepness of the landscape was to create underdwellings. At the front it would look like one house but at the back like 2 houses. If you ever went to Huddersfield you would know what I mean.

Jennifer

Some time ago I did a search for someone on GR who was looking for a place called Back Lane (I think it was in Exeter or something). The result was indeed a little lane which served the back half of buildings. I think they were terraced houses but back to back as others have described.

I think in the 19th century few people would have expected much junk mail so hardly needed a precise address!!! LOL

Sue

Thanks All, I don't think 41 back of Cranford Street was a "back to back", we had lots of that type of housing in Smethwick and Birmingham during the 19C, and each fronted on to a road or street that had a different name, if you see what I mean. I remember as a child in the late 1940's early 1950's visiting rellies who lived in back to back houses, boy, were they dark houses, hardly any light, even in the day time. This was before slum clearance.

I wonder, is "back off" is a Birmingham/Smethwick type deal.

Hi Deborah,

I have the same thing on a death cert in 1897 in the Birmingham area, Back 9 King Alfred's Place.

It's no-where to be found in 1901, so you are not alone.

Kind regards
Amanda

Well in my village are 2 parallel streets called Bradshaw Road (quite a long main road) and Back Bradshaw Road (a short street behind a part of the main road). None of the houses are back to back, although there are several in the area. The houses on Back Bradshaw are much more recent than the 100 yr + houses on the main Bradshaw road, which have little sheds at the back, maybe coal sheds or outside privvies once upon a time. Perhaps Back Bradshaw was the service road? I don't know. It's interesting though.

Could it be that they inhabited the back rooms of the house? Few people could afford to rent a whole house. Usually you find one family upstairs and one down but perhaps the upstairs family was large and spread into the front downstairs leaving the back room/s for your relation.

The other theory I have is that they did live in a dwelling in the back garden/yard.

Our local pub is two small cottages and in 1851 there were three families living there. One family in the left hand one room down and one up and two families sharing the other four rooms while there were temporary dwellings in the back yard where the local militia was based.

In the 19th century, houses were built in courtyards behind those that fronted onto the road, and were referred to house whatever, back of, the house that fronted onto the road.

The courts were sometimes numbered, as were the houses in them, my one g g grandma lived in no 3 house, court 4 in 1881.

The National Trust have renovated some back to back houses in Birmingham. The venue is so popular, it is necessary to pre-book a visit.

I used to deliver Christmas post when I was a student in the late 50s/early 60s in Oldham, Lancashire


There were many of these "back of" houses then

As M David says, you had the houses on the street, then a little alley ("ginnel" as we used to call it) would lead through to a small square or courtyard, and there would be more hosues in there.

Sometimes, they did share a common wall with the houses to the front, sometimes not.

But the address would be No 3, back of no 4 Horse Lane .... you knew you had to find your way behind the "main" street!


Most towns had houses like this ........ and they were what we would now call slums.



sylvia

In Barking,Essex, there was a Back Lane, which were tiny houses that ran behind shops in North Street. and backed onto the Church, and School.
Also there was a Back Reform Place, which were houses, built like they are being built today ,in peoples back gardens.

Again, Thanks All. I think the house in a court yard behind the house that faces the street is the "back of". My husband who is older than me has vague memeories of visiting rellies as a very young child somewhere in the Birmingham/Smethwick area, he has vague memories of a row of terraced houses, two up, two down and having to go up what we call an entry between two blocks of terraced housing. An entry is a narrow passage sometimes covered sometimes not. Once you walked through the entry there was what sounds like a court yard (very small) and then you came upon some more houses.

I am aware of the National Trust Houses in Birmingham, have intended to visit for ages. Thanks for the nudge, M David.

I intend to investigate "back Of" housing via the local history groups, Smethwick and Birmingham. Is it OK if I post the results of my reseach?

There are streets in Newcatle upon Tyne actually called 'Back of.....' or just 'Back'. This isn't a description of the street, its the actual name.

'Back Shields Road' is one that springs to mind straight away.

Ian

You can take an online tour of the Birmingham back to back houses if you google

We have homes locally that are back of some shops on the main street.

I grew up in one number 2 back of number 40 post used to come addressed as 2/40 ********** Road

Thanks Again All, I am still waiting for a reply from the local history society, will share once I get a response.

I have several ancestors born or died in the back of somehwere, we must have been a poor lot in Walsall