1921 Census - Finding an address from the enumeration district reference.
Posted: 07 Jan 2022 17:43
I have downloaded a 1921 census page image for a 3 year old individual who is obviously in an institution and shown as a patient, sequential number 246 on the form. The institutional sheets differ in appearance from the household forms. The box for the address of the building or institution on the "Front" sheet (as labelled by FMP under the extra materials) has not been completed, and is completely blank. The cover page identifies the document as relating to Romford South Ward in Essex, PN08801 RD191 SD1 ED31 (which the RD and SD numbers confirm) and I understand from a document I found at TNA that for institutional forms, the enumeration district may often refer solely to the single institution.
But, I can't find any information about enumeration district allocations that would identify the address or area allocated to a specific ED number.
Putting the RD, SD and ED into the advanced search on FMP returns 616 individuals, and it is apparent that although many have unique surnames when alphabetically sorted, there are also some families, so perhaps the ED might cover houses as well.
This particular individual's older sister is on another form also in Romford, in a Scattered Children's Home. But on the form in which he appears, there are also adults described both as patients and inmates, with occupations given. From that information and the location, it seems a reasonable assumption that the form might relate to the Romford Union workhouse, which was situated to the south-west of the town. But does anyone know how I might be able to find out for certain, or at least narrow down the area further using the ED number?
If the records were freely available, it should be fairly easy to narrow down by looking at adjacent sheets, but at over £3 a time that's not a viable option in the shorter term. I'm waiting on a response from FMP, but I suspect they are just going to tell me it is an unknown institution, as per their transcription, which I also put my hand in my pocket for on the off chance it might tell me something useful
I suppose I might have to start looking at some of the obvious family groups that come up in the search results, and see if I can put them to addresses in the 1911 census, unless there's an easier way someone might be aware of?
But, I can't find any information about enumeration district allocations that would identify the address or area allocated to a specific ED number.
Putting the RD, SD and ED into the advanced search on FMP returns 616 individuals, and it is apparent that although many have unique surnames when alphabetically sorted, there are also some families, so perhaps the ED might cover houses as well.
This particular individual's older sister is on another form also in Romford, in a Scattered Children's Home. But on the form in which he appears, there are also adults described both as patients and inmates, with occupations given. From that information and the location, it seems a reasonable assumption that the form might relate to the Romford Union workhouse, which was situated to the south-west of the town. But does anyone know how I might be able to find out for certain, or at least narrow down the area further using the ED number?
If the records were freely available, it should be fairly easy to narrow down by looking at adjacent sheets, but at over £3 a time that's not a viable option in the shorter term. I'm waiting on a response from FMP, but I suspect they are just going to tell me it is an unknown institution, as per their transcription, which I also put my hand in my pocket for on the off chance it might tell me something useful
I suppose I might have to start looking at some of the obvious family groups that come up in the search results, and see if I can put them to addresses in the 1911 census, unless there's an easier way someone might be aware of?
