Pelham Square in 1851

The west side of Pelham Square is on the right

It used to be Pelham Terrace

By Jackie Fuller, North Laine resident

Below is a list of the people who lived on the west side of Pelham Square in 1851 (according to the Census of that date). However, it wasn't called Pelham Square then - it was known as Pelham Terrace. At that time the houses were numbered 1-10 from the north but were later renumbered 15 - 24 (but in the other direction, ie starting from the south in order to follow on from the numbering on the south side of the Square).

Different levels of occupancy

It's interesting to see that in a terrace of houses all more or less the same size there was quite a contrast between No 8 (with only one resident) or No 15 (home to one lady and her servant), as compared to No 6 (which seems to have housed two separate families) or No 9 , which housed 10 people (including 7 children born of the same parents).

A range of different professions

It's also interesting that, while several of the occupants were or had been craftspeople (e.g. bootmaker, milliner, carpenter, upholsterer), there were also a couple of landlords ('proprietors of houses').

Old-fashioned language

Some of the language seems quite quaint to us today, eg we don't normally use the word 'annuitant' (someone in receipt of an annuity) - we would probably just say 'pensioner'; a child attending school would usually be described as a 'schoolboy/girl' rather than as a 'scholar'. And so on.

[Previously published in the North Laine Runner, No 199, July/August 2009]