A snapshot of Hampstead Way from the 1911 Census
By the time of the 1911 Census taken on April 2nd/3rd, 148 of the eventual 180 houses in the Hampstead Way, right up to Reynolds Close, had already been built, although 8 were still unfinished buildings. One of the houses had been subdivided, so for that address there were two census returns submitted. Eight of the properties were unoccupied on census night, as presumably their tenants were away from home. So, there were 133 returns filed for the road.
The original numbering of Hampstead Way began at the Temple Fortune end of the road with adjacent houses numbered in sequence on the east or north side from 1. However further along the road the numbering crisscrossed the road with little logic. Early in 1913 the whole road was renumbered, and no house retained its original number. This time the new numbering, given here itallicised, began at the opposite end of the road, at the North End Way end of Hampstead Way. The west/south side of the road was numbered with odd numbers beginning at 1, up to 221 just before the entrance Farm Walk. Even numbers were used for the east/north side beginning at number 6, the house at the bottom of Hampstead Heath Extension. then called Winnepesaukee (which had previously been 200), up to 164 (which had been number 1) at the Temple Fortune end of the road. Note that some numbers do not exist. Three houses numbered in the 1911 census as 1 – 3 Temple Fortune Farm were renumbered 217, 219, 221 Hampstead Way respectively, although the semi-detached house at 4 Temple Fortune Farm became 7 Farm Walk.
The houses/properties came in a variety of sizes and had between 1 and 12 rooms. For census purposes halls, landings or bathrooms are not considered as rooms, but kitchens, studies, as well as living rooms and bedrooms are. The largest houses were those near the Extension. 122 houses had between 5 and 9 rooms, and the average number of rooms was 6.7.
There were 556 people residing in the road on census night: 204 males, and 352 females. 68 of the households, or 51%, were families with children under 16. Not all were nuclear families, as the children were not always living with their parents: one child lived with her elder brother and sister and widowed grandmother, another with her grandmother, four were nieces or visitors, and one four-year old boy lived with his single mother. There were 118 children under 16 (or 21% of the total number of residents) living in the street. 36 families had only one child aged under 16, 21 had two, 6 had three, 3 had four and 2 had 5. The average number of children per family was 1.74. There were of course some families with children aged 16 and over still living at home with them. These older children were mostly part of the workforce.
24 of the heads of household were women, 7 of whom were married, 5 were widowed and 12 were single ladies. 108 heads of household were men, 96 of whom were married, 5 were widowed and 7 were single. The sex of one head of household was not known. Eight of the married households only had one partner at home that night. The average length residents had been married was 10.9 years.
Households contained a variety of family members other than sons and daughters and there were 25 visitors staying in the road on census night. There were also 22 boarders or paying guests. There were 77 live-in staff, mostly servants (two of whom were only 15 years old), but also employees who were housekeepers, family helps, companions, private tutors, nurses and cooks.
23, or 4.1%, of the 556 residents had been born abroad, including 10 in Europe. 10 hailed from Scotland, 5 from Wales and 2 from Ireland, with another 4 coming from the Isle of Wight. But by far the majority, 300 or 54%, had been born in London, with another 64, or 11.5%, in the Home Counties. 123, or 22.1%, came from elsewhere in England, and the birthplace of 23 was not given. 21 of these were in suffragette/suffragist households, whilst two of the servants did not know where they had been born, and one of these was listed as a foundling.
The average age of the heads of household was 41.1 years, with the 28.2 being the average age overall for the street. Only 11 residents were over 65. The oldest inhabitant, and the only one in her eighties, was 82.
275 people (49% of the residents) had occupations, and this included the live-in staff, who formed 28% of the employees. The next most common career was that of a clerk; there were 68 people, with that occupation living in Hampstead Way, (24.7% of the workforce) many working in the Civil Service, but in other industries too. There were 15 Artists (mostly painters, but also actors, an authoress, a concert pianist, and a draughtsman), 20 teachers, 10 Architects or Surveyors, 3 doctors and a dentist. The post office employed 10. There was an accountant, a stockbroker, a barrister but also those employed in the building trade such as a plumber, a house painter, and a carpenter. One person managed a cinematograph company, another was a jeweller, another a silversmith. Five of the wives worked.
The resident at house number 57 (now 121) had refused to fill in the census return. She was a female suffragette/suffragist with the surname Kelsey, aged approximately 52, and living with her two grown-up sons and a servant. The scant information given had been collected by the Registrar who had amended the return and added: “Particulars inserted from information obtained by instructions from Registrar General”. Seventeen more suffragette/suffragists were in overnight residence at 2 & 3 Temple Fortune Farm (now 219 & 222 Hampstead Way), the homes of respectively Ellen Kelsall & Anna Jessey Wade. The details on their census returns had also been inserted by the registrar.
Interesting observations noted on certain occupants of the road in 1911 are:
at 12 (now 142) - a Builders’ Foreman for the Co-Partnership Tenants, Herbert Cecil Wood
at 21 (now 124) - a Concert Pianist, George Woodhouse
in Litchfield Square - several Civil Servants, and several Artists
at 84 (now 173) - a Professional Singer, James Saker
at 92 (now 89) - the Brooks Club Hall Porter, John Storer
at 81 (now 142), 98 (now 201), 118 (now 70), 130 (now 46), 158 (now 30) - Architects, respectively James Rogers, Francis Hart, Arthur Stratton, Thomas Wilson, Charles Tate (as well as both Charles Simmons and Raymond Unwin living up in Wyldes Close)
at 146 (now 40) - an Actress, Mabel Thomas
at 175 (now 101) - the Free Church Minister, Rev James Henry Rushbrooke
at 248 (then called Heath Close Corner) (now 51), the Keeper of the Wallace Collection, Dugald Sutherland MacColl
at 251, (called Nine Elms) (now 45), The HM Medical Inspector of Prisons, Dr Thomas Legge, who had been born in Hong Kong.
Others who were born abroad included: at number 100 (Briarcot) (now 205), William Thorn Spettigue, who was a Hosier and Outfitter, born in Ontario, Canada; at 119 (now 68) Carl Kinzbrunner, Secretary of a Learned Science Society, born in Austria; at 185 (now 81), James Walter Smith, a Publishing Editor and Journalist, born in the USA.
Janice Blackstaffe April 2019
