Genealogy Chat

I have identified where my Grandfather (of the same name) and his family were living at the time of the 1901 census.

I am reasonably familiar with the town of Halifax West Yorkshire, and know where Haley Hill All Souls is but would like to identify where DOBBY HALL was.

I am looking therefore for some guidance on how / where to find the location of an address that no longer exists - I am presuming it was demolished in the 1960s when many older properties were cleared, but it could have been any time since 1901.

A copy of the transcript is as follows:

Name Robert E Cowan
Relation to Head of Family Son
Age Last Birthday 0
Sex Male
Profession or Occupation Juvenile
Employment Status
Condition as to Marriage
Where Born Yorks Halifx
Address 8 Dobby Hall
Civil Parish Halifax
Rural District
Town or Village or Hamlet
Ecclesiastical Parish Haley Hill All Souls
Parliamentary Borough or Division Halifax
County Borough, Municipal Borough or Urban District Halifax
Administrative County Halifax C B
Ward of Municipal Borough or Urban District North
Language
Infirmity

Your best bet is the local history section of the library.

You can buy old maps from www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk

It also helps to read the enumerator's description of the enumeration district (in this case Northowram district 10). Many of the boundaries of this area are still in place - Google for Claremount Road, Range bank etc

From the description of the streets included, it looks as if the Dobby Hall houses were in the south of the enumerator's area - on a modern map, just north of the junction of Haley Hill and Range Lane, south of Sunny Side Street.

The local government area for Halifax is Calderdale - they have some historical maps for view if you agree their terms and conditions:

http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/siteinfo/online-services/maps/termsandconditions.jsp

The highest magnification is a map width of 500m, but this does show the street layout of the area before demolition, in approx 1895, 1905 and 1935. In the 1930s map, Victoria Street and Albert Street are labelled and it is possible that the out-of-focus name for the north half of Albert Street is Dobby Hall. The enumerator's final 10 pages go from the Albert's to Range Lane, to the Dobby's, then Gray Street, to Sunny Side and back to Range Lane again.

Hope this helps

Thanks to all who have helped.

Madmeg - A good link but it does not seem to cover Halifax - I will bookmark it for future reference.

Ivy - I am not clear on how you identified this to be in Northowram, which is quite a few miles from Haley Hill All Souls Church.

The Calderdale Maps on line looks interesting, I am about to try to get to grips with it.

Hi Robert,

I agree, I asked Google Maps to take me to Northowram before asking where Claremount was, and it dragged me quite a way west! Looking at the earliest maps, it seems that the Northowram district historically covered quite a wide rural area, some of which was quickly swallowed by the Halifax urban area.

(The 1901 census identified the area as Northowram)

Ivy,

That was most useful, are you from the Halifax area - or have relatives there.

The Calderdale maps are just great - I can see so many familiar places, which is helping me build up a much better picture of the time of my Grandparents - I am also checking out Marsh Delves - Southowram where my other Grandfather - Gilbert Watson was born.

Madmeg,

I have searched better and have now found Halifax maps - so I will order 1 or 2 to add to my Geneology file

This is so engrossing............