Page 8 - HGS Suburb News 136 - Autumn 2018
P. 8
FROM THE ARCHIVES
added: “Particulars inserted from information obtained by
intermediaries of Registrar General.”
Households contained a variety of family members other Several people involved with the development of Hampstead
than sons and daughters and there were 14 visitors staying in Garden Suburb lived in Willifield Way at the time: at 28 – the
A 1911 Census snapshot the road on census night. There were 21 boarders, or paying HGS Trust Public Company Secretary, George William Rousham;
guests. There were 27 live-in staff, mostly servants, but also
of Willifield Way housekeepers, family helps, companions, nurses and cooks. at 37 – the HGS Trust Public garden foreman, Leonard Smith; at
51 – an Architect and Surveyor of a Housing Company (the
One house had only the housekeeper in residence on census Suburb one?), Martin Thomas Ernest Jackson; at 57 – a Clerk in
Between the start of building work in Hampstead Garden night, but her employer had completed the return, not her. Materials in Co-Partnership Housing (Suburb?); at 89 – an Estate
Suburb in 1907 and the date of the 1911 Census a large number 19 of the 527 residents had been born abroad, including 13 (Suburb?) Office Clerk, Eric Walter Ryall, who was a son of the
of the houses planned in the Old Suburb had already been in Europe. 16 hailed from Scotland, seven apiece from Wales head of the household.
erected. Willifield Way was part of this initial phase of building and Ireland, with two from each of Jersey and the Isle of Man. Thus the demographics of Willifield Way in 1911 were rather
work. The Census was taken on the night of April 2nd/3rd 1911, But by far the majority, 331 or 63%, had been born in London, different from those of today. A striking difference is that most of
by which time 160 of the eventual 167 houses in the road had with another 43 or 8%, in the Home Counties. 96 or 17.7% the houses would then have been leased rather than owned. As
already been built, although five were still unfinished buildings. came from elsewhere in England and the birthplace of four was part of a brand new suburb of London it is not surprising that it
Thus there were seven plots still to be developed. Four of the not given. Of the heads of household, 97 or 65% had been was younger people who moved into road.
houses had been subdivided, three of which had two census born in London or the Home Counties. Janice Blackstaffe, Garden Suburb Archives
returns submitted. Ten of the properties were unoccupied on The average age of the heads of household was 40.4 years,
census night, as presumably their tenants were away from home. with the 28.2 being the average age overall for the street. Only
So there were 149 returns filed for the road. 11 inhabitants of the street claimed to be retired, and only 16
The numbering system begins at the junction with were over 65. There was one lady who was 80, and she was the
Hampstead Way, with the odds on the west or south side and oldest inhabitant.
evens on the east or north. Not all numerals exist, for instance 238 or 42.5% of the residents had occupations and this
there is no number 1, 3 or 5. The six houses on Willifield Green included the live-in staff who formed 11.8% of the employees.
were not originally part of the numbering system of the rest By far the most common career was that of a clerk; there were
of the road, and were then numbered 1 - 6 Willifield Green. 52 people (21.8%) living in Willifield Way with that occupation,
Today these houses have been incorporated as the odd many working in the Civil service, but in many other industries
numbers 113 - 123. too. There were also a lot of printers, 16 (6.7%), who worked
The houses/properties came in a variety of sizes and had either as compositors, linotype operators, or lithographic
between one and nine rooms. For census purposes halls, draughtsmen. The post office employed 10 (4.2%), as sorters or
landings or bathrooms are not considered as rooms, but postmen. There were ten teachers, seven upholsterers, seven
kitchens, studies, as well as living rooms and bedrooms, are. commercial travellers, three architects, a doctor, a priest, six in
The largest houses were around Willifield Green. 129 houses had tailoring, two hairdressers, and three gardeners. Nine people Willifield Way from tower of Club House
between four and seven rooms, and the average number of said they were of Private Means. In only one couple was there a
rooms was 4.9. working wife. She was a teacher.
Number 138 was the HGS Social Club House where the
PROPERTIES PER NUMBER OF ROOMS Club Steward, Charles William Henshaw, aged 39, from Alderley
5 6 5 6
1
4 4 8 9 2 3 Edge, Cheshire, lived with his wife and 12 year-old son. After the
1
9 2
8
3
building was bombed in WW2 the site was divided into the
7
7
3 three properties which exist today: a modern house at 138,
3
1% 1 Fellowship House at 136A and Mercury Tennis Club at 138A.
1% 2 The return for number 180 had been defaced and gave scant
6% 3 information. A (presumably) suffragette/suffragist, a wife with
44% 4
1 13% 5 the surname Stockman, had written on the Census form: “I
1 6 19% 6 refuse all information to a Government which governs without my
6
11% 7 consent.” The Registrar, Alf E Taylor, amended the return and
4 4% 8
2 4
2 1% 9
Willifield Way, Hampstead Way junction
5
5
There were 527 people living in the road on census night:
256 males and 271 females. 53%, or 79, of the households were
families with children under 16, and there were 146 children
under 16 living in the street, that is 27.7% of the residents. 40
families had only one child aged under 16, 24 had two, seven
had three, and there was one family with six children. The
average number of children per family was 1.85. There were of
course some families with children aged 16 and over still living
at home with them. These older children were mostly part of
the workforce.
FAMILIES PER NUMBER OF CHILDREN Children in Willifield Way pre WW1 Willifield Way paving under construction
5 6 5 6
4 4 8 8 9 2 3 3
1
1
9 2
7
3 3 7
51% 1
30% 2
9% 3
5% 4
1 1
4% 5 6 6
1% 6
4 4
2 2
5 5
Willifield Way paving
17 of the heads of household were women, three of whom Cricket on Willifield Green
were married, seven were widowed, and seven were single
ladies. 132 heads of household were men, 124 of whom were
married, three were widowed, and five were single. Five of the
married households only had one partner at home that night. The Hampstead
The average length of a marriage was 10.1 years. Garden Suburb Archives Trust
exists to preserve the history and culture of the Suburb
www.suburbarchives.com
Contact: 020 8455 8813 or 8455 2877 · Email: suburbarchives@gmail.com
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