How many times have you patiently deciphered the spidery scrawlings of Victorian enumerators trying to derive an ancestor's London address from the census ... and then gone hunting in vain for the street on modern maps? Fear not, help is at hand from a very generous fellow genie, who has created an invaluable website of Old to New street names.
So, if you are struggling with Google Maps or Bing, both of which let's face it are often as much use for genealogy as a chocolate teapot, check this site to make sure the name has not changed since the census was taken. Once you have a general idea where the street used to be from its modern name and parish location, there are a few websites that offer old maps of London for you to scour - Stanfords maps for example. Personally, I would Google "Old London Maps" and see what comes up as web sites come and go.
If you are still struggling to find the location - and this goes for anywhere, not just London - then refer to the description of the enumeration district (ED) that is usually found at the beginning of each enumeration book for the general shape of the area covered by that ED. Then check earlier and later census pages around your ancestor's address to work out the preceding and following streets to their address - do they still exist? Remember, each enumerator had to walk round delivering the census forms and return to collect them after census night, so you can literally follow in their footsteps. This exercise should give you a good idea of where your ancestor's address used to be and consulting a modern map may reveal that the street was later demolished to make way for modern infrastructure such as roads, retail parks etc.
So, if you are struggling with Google Maps or Bing, both of which let's face it are often as much use for genealogy as a chocolate teapot, check this site to make sure the name has not changed since the census was taken. Once you have a general idea where the street used to be from its modern name and parish location, there are a few websites that offer old maps of London for you to scour - Stanfords maps for example. Personally, I would Google "Old London Maps" and see what comes up as web sites come and go.
If you are still struggling to find the location - and this goes for anywhere, not just London - then refer to the description of the enumeration district (ED) that is usually found at the beginning of each enumeration book for the general shape of the area covered by that ED. Then check earlier and later census pages around your ancestor's address to work out the preceding and following streets to their address - do they still exist? Remember, each enumerator had to walk round delivering the census forms and return to collect them after census night, so you can literally follow in their footsteps. This exercise should give you a good idea of where your ancestor's address used to be and consulting a modern map may reveal that the street was later demolished to make way for modern infrastructure such as roads, retail parks etc.