Doctor Who Survey Presentation, PCA 2013

What of Doctor Who?

Presentation at the 2013 PCA/ACA Conference, Science Fiction Fantasy Area

Gillian I Leitch

I decided to do a survey of Doctor Who fans in order to better understand their connection to the series, its characters, other fans, and perhaps to better understand its popularity.

In 1995 John Tulloch and Henry Jenkins published their studies on Doctor Who and Star Trek Fans entitled “Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek” [London, Routledge, 1995: http://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Audiences-Watching-Fictions/dp/0415061415%5D Their focus was principally on the reactions of fans to specific episodes of Doctor Who: “Monsters of Peladon,” “City of Death,” and “Kinda.”  The bulk of their interviews took place in Australia and the UK in 1982. Already Doctor Who had a long lived broadcast life, and was still enjoying the thrill of new episodes, although there are references to the later period, after its cancellation in 1989.

A more recent look at fans and their relationship to Doctor Who by Andrew O’Day in “Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays in Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963-2012” [edited by Gillian I Leitch, McFarland, 2013: http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Time-Space-Explorations/dp/0786465492/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364503586&sr=1-1&keywords=doctor+who+in+time+and+space] deals with British fans of the original series, mostly through interviews, their relationships as fans of the series, with the series, with other fans, and how they consumed Doctor Who.  SHAMELESS PLUG! How Doctor Who was broadcast, replayed, and shared, informed the relationships the fans had with the series.

 

I will begin this presentation by describing my methodology.  I published/ distributed my survey online through my blog www.gilliandr.wordpress.com [http://gilliandr.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/doctor-who-survey-2012/ ], Twitter, and Facebook.  I also emailed it out to as many as possible, hoping to elicit responses from a wide variety of sources. My questions were grouped mostly around the ideas of firsts and favourites, with room left for comments.  I wanted qualitative and quantitative data.  I also did a lot of research online, looking for more comments and fan surveys to round out the information I was presenting.  Not all questions were expected to receive answers, but there was room for comments which often explained the absences.

My first conclusion from the responses I received was that Doctor Who fans don’t like surveys. At first I took this lack of response as a personal critique, but after researching fan sites and other surveys, I realized that actually I did quite well.  One site had posted a survey in 2011, but after a while added a not stating that the deadline posted was being extended as only two responses had been received.  That survey is still open. 

Doctor Who fans are not a homogenous group, but there are some divisions which can be made.  The first comes from the country of origin.  Of the 20 responses I received where residence was stated, 13 were from the United States and 4 from Canada. I am assuming the rest also come from these two countries as well. 

I could go into the cultural differences between the two countries, but rather than explain  this, I will take it as a given, I will instead explain the different broadcast histories of Doctor Who which contributes to the differences between the two fan groups- particularly when they became fans, and the opportunities they had to watch the series to cement this relationship. It helps explain which episodes that they watched, and which characters and actors they were attracted to.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had purchased and broadcast Doctor Who in the 1960s- Hartnell and Troughton episodes, but it wasn’t a huge success, and at the time the CBC produced its own slate of programming.  While it did purchase material from the BBC, particularly Coronation Street (which it still broadcasts), it did not rely on them for their main content.

In 1975 TV Ontario, an educational channel which broadcasts only in Ontario (currently 38.8% of the Canadian population). Coincidentally, it was aired on Saturday evenings, a similar time to the British broadcast.  They broadcast the episodes in the original half hour format, and followed it with a short “educational” analysis, first by Dr Jim Dator, then author Judith Merrill. [Ed Conroy, “That Time When the Doctor Educated Ontario,” www.blogto.com/city/2012/09/that_time_when_doctor_who_educated_ontario/ (24/03/2013)] TVO aired the series until 1990, when the national cable network YTV (geared to children’s television programming) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YTV_(TV_channel)] purchased the rights to broadcast.  They did so for a few years.

The rest of Canada got their fixt of Doctor Who the same way and time as American viewers, on PBS. In the late 1970s early 1980s individual PBS stations purchased episodes of Doctor Who as part of local programming.  They dictated air times and format. Some showed the half hour episodes complete with cliffhangers, others broadcast them in their entire story arc.  Canadians accessed PBS through cable.

In 2005, faced with a hockey strike and no programming, the CBC entered into a partnership with the BBC to finance and broadcast Doctor Who to great ratings.  The US SciFi (now Syfy) Channel purchased it a few months later. The strike ended and the next season was aired, but not in the same way, with the same support.  The Christmas Specials did not air at Christmas, and “Voyage of the Damned” never aired. The CBC ended this relationship four years later, and the series moved to Space Channel.  The series is now aired on the same day in both countries, with an hour difference in the US’ favour.

So now it comes to the fans, and the survey.  There is a marked difference of what was the first episode  they remember watching- the Canadians all list the original series as their first, and also are more likely to list the older doctors as their favourite (although this is mixed- see further).

In general though, those who list older episodes as either their first or favourite episodes prefer Jon Pertwee as their favourite Doctor.  There exists a bit of a divide between those who started watching Doctor Who in its newest incarnation and those who started watching during its original run.  Fans of the original series have watched most, if not all of the original series.  Fans who began to watch during the new series have not necessarily watched the old series. This is despite the availability of these episodes on DVD and Netflix.  In fact, fans of the old series don’t dwell on their memories of the old series, but are more likely to purchase those DVDs or to watch them again on Netflix or other streaming services.

Another question I asked in the survey was whether or not they watched other science fiction series.  In this I received multiple answers.  Star Trek was the most popular answer- and in this I include all versions of Star Trek, although the original was the most mentioned. Battlestar Galactica was second.  I assumed the respondents meant the new series and not the one from the 1970s, but they did not specify. Firefly was third, followed by Stargate SG-1 and Babylon 5.  Only two respondents stated that they weren’t heavily into Science Fiction television, and each qualified this with a science fiction series that they did watch.

Oddly enough, only a few mentioned that they watched other British science fiction: Torchwood, Being Human, Primeval and Red Dwarf.  Clearly there is a lack of Anglophilia among Doctor Who fans.  They are not necessarily watching it because it is British.

As to what attracted fans to the series in the first place- most express a connection with the characters, mostly the Doctor, and the humour. And while some were not immediately captivated, they did come around to watching.

As to the choice of favourite episodes, the new series wins hands down.  The divide is not present here.  “Blink,” “the Girl in the Fireplace” and “Journey’s End” were the most favoured of episodes. And likewise, David Tennant was the most popular Doctor. The fans of the older series often stated more than one choice, and this is how Pertwee was the most popular of the older Doctors. This is also reflected in other surveys found online. Tom Baker was neither universally loved or hated, despite being the longest running doctor, and the doctor that most of the older Doctor Who fans saw first.

Christopher Eccleston was the least liked, followed by Colin Baker and Peter Davison.

As to the choice of companion, things get more complicated.  Yes there were more options available- over 40 different companions over the run of the series but there was little variation in the two lists of favourite/ least favourite.

Donna was the most favoured of companions in the survey.  She was chosen mostly because of the humour and chemistry she had with the Doctor. She is followed by Amy, then Rose. 

Rose was the least favourite companion, followed by Martha and then Amy.  Rose was not liked because of her personality- whiney, and the romantic relationship she had with the Doctor. Martha was considered hard to understand, especially as she had an unrequited love with the Doctor.  Adric got only one vote.  This is hard to understand, remembering the utter joy expressed by fans when his character was killed off in the early 1980s. 

I then asked about favourite episodes- here not all respondents answered, as many were unfamiliar with the older Doctors.

Top Hartnell: Space Museum

Top Troughton: War Games; Tomb of the Cybermen

Top Pertwee: Terror of the Autons; Green Death

Top Tom Baker: City of Death; Deadly Assassin

Top Davison: Caves of Androzani

Top Colin Baker: Two Doctors

Top McCoy: Silver Nemesis; Survival

Top Eccleston: Empty Child; Doctor Dances

Top Tennant: Girl in the Fireplace, Unicorn and the Wasp

Top Smith: Vincent and the Doctor; The Girl Who Waited; Eleventh Hour

 This is clearly a work in progress, and asks many more questions than I have answers for right now.

After such amazing questions and discussions I have decided to keep the survey open, and hopefully there will be more input about Doctor Who and its fans through the survey, and correspondence with me, to enable more solid conclusions to be reached about fans and their likes and dislikes, and where they began to be fans, watching, consuming Doctor Who. 

The Cutler genealogical oddysey…..

A couple of weeks ago I decided to investigate the Cutler family.  They are connected to my family’s tree through my great-great grandmother Mary Cutler-Paulin(e). I have known for a while that her father was John Cutler, that he was from Eton, that he died in 1843, and that he worked as a clerk at the Tower Ordnance (yes, Tower of London).

Mary Paulin and child, circa 1860-70s, c. Kathleen Paulin

I had made some half-hearted searches on various genealogy databases and on the internet, but not much.  I found some notices from the Times for his marriage and his death, I had a copy of his wife’s will (she died in 1874), there is a lady in New Zealand who likewise found similar information on him and posted it online, in her search for more about the Freak family (his wife Louisa’s maiden name).  But there wasn’t much.  I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by the number of John Cutlers I found when I bothered looking.

But really, how silly is that?  I mean, it is a relatively common name, but it is not Smith, like another two lines on my maternal line which I haven’t dared even looking into.  So I set aside my fear and decided to figure out the Cutlers.  After all, I am a good researcher, and I can do it!

So I started out with what I already knew.  John Cutler died in 1843, he was from Eton, he married Louisa Freak in 1824, he had a daughter named Mary, born in 1836, and he worked at the Tower. From his wife’s will I also know there was another daughter named Elizabeth and a son called Edward Francis. First of all there are two John Cutlers who died in March of 1843.  One died in Dorset and the other in Lambeth.  The one in Lambeth had the address of Camberwell New Road.  This was an important clue.

I tried the 1841 census for England, but I couldn’t find the family at all.  So I decided next to go to the children.  Mary’s birth was easy to find, I had the full date already.  I found her baptismal information, and John and Louisa are listed as living at Camberwell New Road.  So the death information was confirmed by the address.  He was listed as a gentleman.  I went on to find more children.  Elizabeth was born in 1828, and he was listed as a clerk for the Ordnance.  I then found a Fanny, born in 1834, and a William Henry born in 1835. All carried similar information, though Elizabeth and Fanny were baptised at Kennington St Mark, and Mary and William at Kew.  The 1851 census lists Edward Francis as being three years old, and the 1861 as 13, so he was not John’s natural child, born 5 years or so after his death.  I intend to get his birth certificate and see if his father’s name was listed.  Curious, but I digress.

So where do I go from here?  I decided to check out the member trees on Ancestry.ca to see if anyone else had some clues to provide.  I will say now that I am seriously cautious when I use these things, because a lot of the time people haven’t the sources to back up their allegations, they just pick ancestors.  What is even more unfortunate is that they post these trees online, and then never check them again.  Anyway, I found three different trees with John Cutler and Louisa Freak, and the generally agreed with one another, and in them all stated that John was the son of the Rev John Cutler and his wife Sarah Eliza.  Okay, so I go in search for baptismal information on John son of the Rev John, and find him in Dorset.  But he was from Eton according to all the stuff I had found.  I googled the Rev John and found that he was actually from Eton, but at the time of John’s birth, he was the headmaster of Sherborne School in Dorset.  Paydirt.

So here is where everything gets surreal, and damn cool. In that same Google search, I found out that the Rev John had attended Eton, had gone to both Oxford and Cambridge, was assistant master at Rugby, then master at Dorchester School, and then Sherborne.  His parents’ names were also listed.  Roger Cutler and Mary Bold.  I googled Roger Cutler of Eton and found that he had been part owner of the Eton waterworks.  More research on Google, Ancestry, Family Search, and Find my Past, and I had his siblings, his children, and more.  One family tree posted on Ancestry actually had an engineer’s certificate for William Henry Cutler (b 1835) working at the Eton Waterworks in the late 1800s. I was having a blast, but it gets better.

John Cutler portrait, courtesy of Sherborne School, Dorset

Once I had some information on John Cutler, I decided to see if I could find out about his wife, Sarah Eliza Guise.  I found their marriage registration, and they were married at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster.  On the thought that this would be her home parish, not his, I searched out Sarah’s name.  I eventually found her baptism at Windsor- St George’s.  Her father was Richard Guise and her mother’s first name was Elizabeth.  More searching and I found the parent’s marriage and her mother’s maiden name was Windham.

I then Googled Richard.  Oh lord!  According to a book about the burials at Westminster Abbey, Richard Guise was choirmaster and chorister at the Abbey.  On his death in 1806 he left an estate and money to his daughter Sarah Eliza Cutler. Bingo.  But step back a moment.  He is buried in Westminster Abbey, in the North Cloister.  I found that seriously cool.

I then went to the National Archives website (UK), and unlike its Canadian counterpart, it is marvellous, and allows you to search for and easily download material from its collection.  I found the will for John Cutler (d 1843), the will for Richard Guise (d1806) and the will for the Rev John Cutler (d1833). It’s like connecting the dots.

And just when you think it cannot get better, it does.  I had decided to see if Sherborne School had any records of my John Cutler, if he had attended his dad’s school, etc.  And that is when things get amazing.  So after several emails to the Sherborne alumni association, then their archives, I get the comment that Sarah Eliza was the niece of William Windham.  Who?  I had to ask, and I googled him too.  He was a Whig politician in the late 18C, and the son of a prosperous Norfolk family, living in Felbrigg Hall. According to a Wikipedia entry on his father, William sr, an illegitimate daughter was born to him. and his mistress Mary Morgan, named Elizabeth.  No I don’t take Wikipedia at face value.  I asked the archivist from Sherborne for her source of information, and it was a book on the school, and the author had researched not only school archives for information about the Cutlers, but also read the diary and letters of William Windham Jr.  He wrote to his sister, his niece wrote to him, and he wrote about them in his diary.

After a lot of Googling around on the net, I have been able to piece together the Windham family, and there are pictures, because Felbrigg is now owned by the National Trust, and they have the family portraits, some by some pretty famous painters, such as Lely.  I can trace them back into the 17C, and if I try hard enough, I think earlier, and I can look into their eyes and say my many times great grandparent.

William Windham, (1717-1761) portrait by Dagnia, copyright National Trust, Felbrigg Hall

I have to say that I was not expecting such discoveries.  I had this image of my family of being essentially of the middling sort.  Certainly not that socially high, where they have a family estate, and portraits by Lely.  What a fascinating journey it has been, and so quickly too.

Seeing the success of my Cutler search, I am now wondering what searching into the two Smith families in Birmingham might bring.

Well, I might just wait a bit on that…..

Upcoming Lecture by Gilliandr!!!!

Very Exciting!  Have also been interviewed for a podcast on the same topic, which will be uploaded onto the BIFHSGO website next week.  Will update all when this happens.

Unlocking the Devereux Connection/ Fascination in the Family Tree

There is this amazing mansion in Salt Lake City called “Devereaux House.” According to various websites which discuss this historic building, it was built ( or heavily modified)  in 1867 by William Jennings.  (My great-great grandfather’s brother)

“William Jennings purchased the property in 1867 and developed the present Devereux House, incorporating Staines’ original cottage in the expanded structure. Jennings was also an English convert to the Mormon Church. Arriving in Salt Lake City in 1852, he entered the mercantile business. Taking advantage of the business opportunities of a rapidly-growing regional center, Jennings branched out into freighting and banking, becoming Utah’s first millionaire. In 1864 he founded the Eagle Emporium, which was later sold to the Mormon Church and became the forerunner of the present-day ZCMI department store. In 1882 Jennings was elected Mayor of Salt Lake City, serving one term. A hospitable and gracious host, Jennings entertained the famous and influential of the day. Devereaux House was the scene of lavish dinners and accommodated such prominent guests as Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, and General William T. Sherman.” [http://history.utah.gov/apps/markers/detailed_results.php?markerid=2671]

“He named the half-block after his birthplace, Devereaux estate at Yardley, near Birmingham, England.” [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705337698/Devereaux-House-Salt-Lake-Citys-stately-estate.html?pg=all]

Well, there is no Devereaux estate near Yardley, so what to make of this?  And what to make of the generations of Thorntons (William’s mother’s family) who named their sons Samuel Devereux?

I have gone over the family trees as far back as I could go, and consulted some work some of my distant Mormon cousins have posted on the Family Search Website to try and confirm any relations to a Devereux, and nada.

Here are my ruminations, and it sounds a bit far fetched, but with no evidence to actually link them to a Devereux family it is the best I can come up with.

First of all there are Devereux in Yardley in the period that my family actually lived there.  There is also the Devereux family, which owned Castle Bromwich Hall [http://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-c/castle-bromwich/] until 1657.  A Devereux family also became the Earls of Essex.  Pretty posh name – and with local connections.  Now are the Devereux in Yardley in the late 17^th and 18^th century connected to the Devereux of more exalted birth?  No idea.

Castle Bromwich Hall

It is entirely possible that one of the Thorntons married a Yardley Devereux, or were good friends and named one of their children after them, or because they were godparents.  Records cannot be found to confirm this however.  The first Samuel Devereux was born in 1755.

Immigration is often used as an opportunity to reinvent oneself, and I think that William Jennings, who had enjoyed much success in his adopted Salt Lake City used the Devereux to shine his image.  He even changed the spelling to Devereaux make it more exotic sounding.

Anglo-Saxon Snobbishness, Montreal, 1911

 

Montreal Daily Star, 5 January 1911, page 8

 

 

 

ANGLO-SAXON SNOBBISHNESS

 

 

 

A delightful French author, who writes under the name of Foemina has recently sent forth a book on the soul of the English people.  She says many charming things about the Anglo-Saxon race and also points out the same defects in the national character.  One of the most pronounced of these defects is the innate snobbishness that pervades all classes.  As she put it: On voit les plus grands d’entre eux, par la pensee et la caractere, temoigner une deference excessive au rang, meme recemment conquis meme occupe par de mediocres individus.  This excessive deference before persons of high rank is perhaps the defect in English character that strikes Canadians more than anything else.  It is noticeable in those English persons who have made their home inCanadabut who still cling to old sentiments, old cringings.  During the late elections inEnglandit was particularly to the fore and struck many thinking Canadians as a curious example of the survival of ancient modes of thought.  Just as the house dog to-day goes round and round to make a bed on a cushion, showing his descent from dogs eons back who thus made their beds in the forest, so does an Englishman reverence the House of Lords, a feeling which has survived from ancient feudal days in Britain.  To most Canadians the House of Lords is merely an upper house consisting of men who happen to be there by accident of birth.  To many Englishmen, and Englishmen who have been inCanadafor many years, the House of Lords is something almost divine.

 

This innate snobbishness survives to a certain extent even in our democratic country, more especially where society looms large in the horizon.  It is only necessary to go any function where vice-royalty, or in fact any titled persons are present to notice the almost servile attitude of our Canadian men and women.  Titled Canadians are not thus treated for their fellow citizens recognize the fact that Mr Brown is still Mr Brown although he happens to be called Lord So-and-so.  As a matter of fact Canadian titles are more worthy of respect because they are the outward and visible signs “something accomplished, something done,” while inherited titles are a mere accident of birth.  As far as regards Vice-Royalty, it represents our King and should therefore be treated with all due respect.  But due respect does not mean a cringing attitude and timidity that approaches very closely to the awe with which the Deity is regarded.  The same applies to the titled persons who swim into our orb from time to time.  They may be the most idle, profligate, worthless or mediocre persons, but give them a title and every knee is bent, every face wreathed in smiles.   I weigh the man, not his title,” says an old author and it is a good rule to apply in our social relations.  It is also a good rule to remember that we are self-respecting Canadians and worthy to stand before kings.

 

 

 

The tradition of bride knives, Montreal, 1911

Montreal Standard, 1 July 1911, page 14

 

Bride Knives

Of the many dainty and curious relics belonging to old wedding customs, none are more interesting and beautiful in themselves than the once indispensible bride knives, specimens of which still linger here and there among the cabinets of old country houses in England. You scarcely realize as you examine them that without her wedding knives, attached to her girdle the medieval and seventeenth century bridge would hardly have considered herself dressed.

So complete a part of the marriage costume were they and so important an item of the ritual of the ceremony that they once came to be considered almost as necessary to the orthodox marriage as the veil and the ring itself. The old plays teem with allusions to them.  It is very curious to learn that many of the finest English specimens emanated even in those remote days fromSheffield. The precise origins of the custom of wearing wedding knives is lost in obscurity, but their decline from favour seems to have set in after the reign of William and Mary.

Death of Mr JP Bickell, Montreal 1900

Montreal Daily Star, 26 January 1900, page 11

 

Death of Mr JP Bickell

 

The death is announced of Mr John Palmer Bickell, who passed away at his residence here, aged 71 years.  Mr Bickell was formerly a resident ofQuebec, and one time prominent in the shipping business of that port.  The deceased was born inPlymouth,England, emigrating toCanadawhen still a young man, and entered into the ship chandler business atQuebec.  Later he formed a partnership with the late M I Wilson, and for a number of years the firm of Wilson, Bickell & Co, was one of the best known on this side of theAtlantic.  After amassing considerable wealth the firm removed toLiverpool,England, where they became ship owners, and at one time owned and sailed between fifty and sixty vessels.  Through the reverses the firm lost considerable of its wealth.  Mr Bickell was the father of Mr Henry Bickell, manager for McArthur Bros, Ltd ofQuebec, and of Mr William Bickell, of the firm of Whitehead & Turner, also ofQuebec, and of JP Bickell of Bickell & Marquis, ofMontreal.

 

 

 

St George’s Day- Posting elsewhere

http://digitalcommunity.englishdiaspora.co.uk/?p=131

Here is an blog I wrote for the English Diaspora Project from Northumbria University, enjoy this lovely, rainy, snowy, St George’s Day!

St George’s Day, Montreal, 1900

Montreal Daily Star, 24 April 1900, page 10

 

St George’sDay

Fittingly celebrated by a First Class concert

 

The Imperial spirit was much in evidence at the concert given in the Windsor Hall last evening under the auspices of theSt   George’sSociety.  It is many years since the celebration of the feast of the patron saint ofEnglandtook the form of a concert, and it was clearly evidenced last night that this form of celebration is a most popular one.  The hall had been tastefully decorated with flags and national banners, chief amng them being, of course, those which bore the red cross of St George, although the green flag of Ireland and the St Andrew’s Cross of Scotland, together, with the Dominion ensign were given places of honour. The audience was a large, fashionable and representative one, all the nationalities inMontrealbeing represented either on the platform or among those in the body of the hall.  Mr HA Hodgson, the president of theSt George’sSociety made an admirable president, and the programme was of a fitting patriotic character.  From the singing of “God Save the Queen” at the opening of the concert to its repetition at the close, the evening was marked by a strong spirit of patriotism, which was much aided by the excellent manner in which Mr Harry Rees rendered “Rule Britannia” and “God Bless the Prince of Wales”.  Miss Ruth Holt scored the success of the evening by her recitation of “The Defence of Lucknow,” “Play the Game,” and “Bobs,” her efforts arousing the audience to the wildest enthusiasm.

 

Mr. Barlow Cumberland of Toronto, supreme grand president of the Sons of England was down on the programme for an oration; instead he gave an eloquent fifteen minutes talk upon the process of development which is now going on in the British Empire, and his word picture of the scene at Paardeberg, when Canadians of all nationalities worked together hand in hand for the honour of the common flag, was most inspiring.  Miss Ada Frances Wait pleased many with her soprano selections; Mr Miles R Bracewell ofNew Yorkdid justice to the old English songs; Mr FC Capon sang “The Englishman” in fine voice; and Rosario, the boy cellist, delighted everybody by his artistic work upon that wonderful instrument.  A series of stereotypical views added to the pleasure of the evening.

 

 

 

Using Google Maps to discover more about how your ancestors lived, 2012

Using Google Maps to discover more about how your ancestors lived

 

If you are fortunate enough to have an address for where an ancestor once lived, and yet again fortunate in that the place of residence is still standing, then you will find that Google Maps, and its streetscape setting is an excellent tool for genealogical research. 

I thought that I would use an example of this by using this database to search out a house that my grandfather and his family lived in, in 1907.  22 Britannia Road, Ilford, Greater London.  The first picture you see is a long view of the road and a map which places it on a map of London. 

Image from Google Maps.

This is where you start to investigate the neighbourhood, and see what traces lie there from 1907, when the family lived at that house.  Looking at the street it is clear that these are late Victorian, row houses, and therefore the house at 22 is the same house that the family lived in.  The neighbourhood was therefore rather new when the family moved in.  The houses are all the same size, and features.  The house itself is white painted brick, but its neighbour at 24 probably reveals what it would have looked like when it was constructed, as its brick is not painted, and the lintels and cornices are also unpainted.    The front door at 22 is recessed and there is a paved brick walk, with a lovely little garden in front.  The house seems to have two rooms on the top front so there were probably around four bedrooms in the home.  This is good, because they had five children, four who must have still lived with them when they lived here.

If you travel along the road a bit, you hit a high street (Ilford Lane), which features now a number of shops, and no doubt had similar kinds of retail in the early twentieth century as the buildings seem to date from about the same period. 

If you flick back onto the map of Ilford, you will see where the local school is, on Cleveland Road, not that far a walk for the kids.  I know from consulting the school’s archives at the Ilford Library that my grandfather and great aunt both went there.

 

From jiggling around between streetscapes and map I cannot find an Anglican Church nearby.  So I am not sure where they worshiped (if they were attending Church regularly).  I also am unsure where my great grandfather worked, but it would most likely not have been in the immediate area, as the area appears mostly residential. 

So what happens when the house they lived in no longer exists, and the neighbourhood?  This is a problem I faced when I had to deal with the place where my great-great grandparents first lived when they had their first child and got married (circa 1860).  Their address was 18 Granby Terrace, Hampstead.  Well the street is still there, but the house is not.  Instead it made way mostly for the train tracks running into Euston Station. 

So instead I found a feature listed on the map and went from there.  First since I knew it was close to Euston I googled that, then I saw that even closer, there is a place called Stalbridge House, so I googled that, and that is when I started on my virtual walk in the neighbourhood.

Stalbridge House is on Hampstead Road, and is actually a mid to late Victorian apartment block.  It was clearly built after my family lived around here.  It is surrounded by 1970s concrete masterpieces, which must have clearly altered the nature of the neighbourhood.  Walking down Hampstead Road I am faced with even more ugly concrete and an overpass.  Turning right, I find myself on Granby Terrace.  To the right is a wall, and on the other side of it are the train tracks leading to Euston.  To the left is a pink apartment building, which dates probably from the 1970s, behind it are lower level blocks that are older, but still 20^th Century.   The street indicates nothing from its earlier past. 

So I return to Hampstead Road and go down it further from Granby Terrace.  One road up, Morning Crescent shows a much more interesting pattern of construction, which looks like it could date from earlier in the nineteenth century.   It is typical terraced row housing.  I went online then to google the name of the street, thinking that there was some architectural merit, or perhaps protection afforded to these houses.  I was right. According to Wikipedia, it was built in the 1820s, so it would have been standing at the time of my great-grandparents’ living in the neighbourhood.  Now according to Wikipedia, which honestly is not the most reliable source of information, when these houses were built, the neighbourhood was surrounded by green fields and open country, but was still close to town.  Later in the Victorian era (which is not a clear date for my purposes) the houses were split into flats and housed artists and artisans.  According to the article, there was a school at Granby Terrace, Wellington House Academy, where Charles Dickens went to school.  (Before the time, therefore of my family’s occupation).  

So while the neighbourhood is mostly changed, I can still use the visual images and the streetscape to ferret out some information on the neighbourhood, and then take my research further.

Walking virtually down the street then, provides the genealogist a way to connect in some manner to the lives that their ancestors lived.  What is even better, the person does not have to live in the same area to find things out.  It is a useful tool, and with a bit of imagination and creativity, can be made to assist your research endeavours further.