Victorian East Dulwich

[LCT]

I have lived in East Dulwich my whole life, and have always been interested in tracing who first lived in the houses I have lived in around East Dulwich. Has anyone looked into it and knows how to do it? I have tried but not had any success.

[Lynne]

The census (every ten years from 1841) will give you names. I would start at the John Harvard library Borough High St as they'll provide expert help on finding your way around the census and hold some actual papers for this area.

Local libraries will provide you with access to Ancestry, which has census details, but it isn't always straight forward.

I've found 1891 and 1911 (empty for 1891) for my house.

[LCT]

Thank you, I hadn?t thought about checking the census, that is a great idea. I think our house was built between 1880 and 1890, like a lot of East Dulwich.

[ianr]

Don't forget strret directories and electoral registers. The London Metropolitan Archives have both. https://search.lma.gov.uk/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/263245100/2/2/29?RECORD&UNION=Y https://search.lma.gov.uk/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/263245100/2/1/14?RECORD&UNION=Y. Note what LMA say about the availabilty of the electoral regisiters on Ancestry, which you can use at any Southwark library. Southwark local history library may also have some hard copies. I think I remember seeing some old C20 ERs last time I was there. I assume they'll be in the online catalogue. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ might be worth searching for specific persons or places. The searches can be done freely.

[rjsmall]

I'd also recommend to check out Charles Booth's maps https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map for an overview and description of your street.

[Lynne]

H. J Dyos's book "Victorian suburb" is all about this area, it's growth and development.

[intexasatthe moment]

I love looking at census returns on line .Took me some time to realise that once you've accessed one entry you can flick through the whole return .

The Victorian period is well documented in the census returns .

lots of detail here ,especialy the Historic England/English Heritage report .

http://peckhamheritage.org.uk/peckhams-history-and-heritage/

http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Historic_Peckham

https://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7094|Central%20Peckham%20Historic%20Area%20Assessment

[EPB]

Don?t just look at Booths maps - the notebooks (on the same site) are riveting!

[GSJ57]

I have access to the the census returns, if you'd like me to do a look up. I agree with EPB, Booth's notebooks are fascinating!

[Kathleen Olander]

I also have access to census returns for any look ups.

It's not always straightforward looking up inhabitants of a house as street numbering changes over the years.

Particularly after WW2 where whole streets were renumbered due to the missing houses!