Jump to content

Townend Street Yard History/Info


leesmiffo

Recommended Posts

Well i am the 4th generation in my family to use this yard on townend street and just wondered if anyone has any history of the yard or anything really photos or just a hint on how to look in to this in more detail.

My dad says that it used to be called chucky field as a previous owner of the land kept chickens, thats all i know really.

Any info on this would be great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well i am the 4th generation in my family to use this yard on townend street and just wondered if anyone has any history of the yard or anything really photos or just a hint on how to look in to this in more detail.

My dad says that it used to be called chucky field as a previous owner of the land kept chickens, thats all i know really.

Any info on this would be great.

Welcome to the site Leesmiffo - hope we can find something for you.

Nothing at PictureSheffield

Horatio Bright lived at number 8 in 1871, visit ChrisHobbs site for details.

72 Townend Street residents listed on http://www.sheffieldrecordsonline.org.uk/ (Data menu, Directories, Search) - you may find your house number, but, the house numbering may well have changed.

Which way do the house numbers run please ? Are the low numbers at the bottom of the hill, they are the older houses, dating back to 1893. I suppose the next task is to ask if anyone has evidence of Townend Street earlier than 1871.

Good Luck, keep us posted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How many Townend Street's or just Townends are/were there in Sheffield - any one add to this list ?

Townend Street, variously described at Walkley, Crookes, Steel Bank

Towend Farm, Ecclesfield

Townend, Stannington

I know of Gleadless Town End but I've never heard of an actual place called Townend itself, anyone know differently please ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Townend Street Chapel, Sheffield

Letter to Rev. Thomas Stratten from Rev. C. Lawn, Pastor Of Townend Street Chapel, Sheffield, in response to a letter written to them by the members of Fish Street and requesting that each congregation take place in simultaneous prayer together and reporting on the recent death of a sixteen year old member of their church

Date 8 May 1840

Ref No DCFS/6/2/2/55

Source

Is this St Timothy's ? Is it something else ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Townend Street Chapel, Sheffield

Letter to Rev. Thomas Stratten from Rev. C. Lawn, Pastor Of Townend Street Chapel, Sheffield, in response to a letter written to them by the members of Fish Street and requesting that each congregation take place in simultaneous prayer together and reporting on the recent death of a sixteen year old member of their church

Date 8 May 1840

Ref No DCFS/6/2/2/55

Source

Is this St Timothy's ? Is it something else ?

St. Timothy's is on Slinn Street and before that, I believe, it was housed in a tin church built on the Bolehills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose the next task is to ask if anyone has evidence of Townend Street earlier than 1871.

Using the address search at findmypast, it looks that Townend Street appears on the 1861 census but not the 1851 census.

Jeremy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, and thankyou for all your responses, i think im going to be spending many hours on this site as i love anything related to sheffields history, i come from a family of smithsons that have been in sheffield from as far as the census records will go.

As far as townend street i think it would be useful to all if i am a bit more specific. It is situated at the back of 11,13,and 17 townend street. It is owned by number 11.

Just incase there is more than one townend street it is at walkley/commonside area. As for where number 15 is i dont know unless that is classed as the yard or something ?

The numbering starts at the Hands Road End and Goes up towards Slinn street, the yard is on the hands road side of springvale road.

I have always been fascinated to find out about the yard as it has a lot of family connection but have never been successful in finding much out so any snippets of info are greatly appreciated.

Another thing my dad tells me is that there is a capped off well up there somewhere that my great grandad covered would love to find some proof of that just to confirm it and as we drive cars up there i hope it wasnt capped off with wood !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as townend street i think it would be useful to all if i am a bit more specific. It is situated at the back of 11,13,and 17 townend street. It is owned by number 11.

11 Townend Street

1893 Frederick Green

1900 John Cannon, Tailor, Bankruptcy hearings (see attachment)

1925 Albert Henry Grainger, Householder

John_Cannon.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonder what happened to number 15 ? Knocked down to make an entry ? Eaten by killer-mayflies ... maybe not.

15 Townhead Street 1893 Steel Bank, Arthur Senior

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as townend street i think it would be useful to all if i am a bit more specific. It is situated at the back of 11,13,and 17 townend street. It is owned by number 11.

13 Townhead Street

Charles Radford, 1893

Frederick Vincent, Builder, 1911

and Mrs Rachel Vincent, 1925

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as townend street i think it would be useful to all if i am a bit more specific. It is situated at the back of 11,13,and 17 townend street. It is owned by number 11.

17 Townend Street

Thomas Middleton, Cutler's Manager 1919 & 1925

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The section of Townend Street on the south side of Springvale Road doesn't look to have been laid out at the time this map, dated ~1890, was drawn:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thankyou for all that info thats great and much appreciated. ;-)

Hi Leesmiffo

I knocked about with David Smithson for a while and I remember riding around that yard on his vespa scooter that he'd hand painted either orange or bright pink. It was like a kids dream up there with old cars and bits of machinery.

This must have been 30 years ago. I know david had a couple of older brothers and their dad was called Brian. I think that their auntie or grandama lived at the otherside of the entry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also from 1861, Henry B. Bates, Land Surveyor. The next street along is Bates Street. It seems possible to me that John Townsend and Henry Bates were the developers of this area--perhaps looking for papers relating to them in the Sheffield Archive might give some more information on the history of the street.

Jeremy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fine work Jeremy, my initial thoughts were that we wouldn't find much on this one. A bit of effort, eh ?

Thanks.

I enjoy chipping away at a challenge like this one.

It turns out that this gives me another chance to indulge my maps obsession.

Here's 1901 overlaid on 1890:

The houses at the south end of Townend Street are not there in 1890, and the whole block, including the yard, appears as a single plot.

Here's 1855 overlaid on 1890:

The whole plot at the south end of Townend Street looks to be part of a much larger plot.

The three individual maps:

Looking at the 1894 OS map on old-maps.co.uk Townend Street had been extended south of Springvale Road, but the plot seen on the 1890 map is still an empty plot. So it looks like numbers 1 to 17 and the yard were constructed some time between 1894 and 1901. The house numbers in the 1893 directory look to refer to the buildings on the north side of Springvale Road--the street must have been renumbered when it was extended.

Jeremy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...