Author Topic: Sherlock St. Court House.  (Read 2543 times)

Jackie Hubbard

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Sherlock St. Court House.
« on: March 25, 2016, 06:28:06 PM »
I have an 1871 Census entry for John Wood (b. 1837) Birmingham, Coach Builder, who is living with his wife, children, sister and mother (Martha Wood, nee Dewsbury) b. 1798, Walsall, Staffordshire. The address is Sherlock St. Court House. This is the last address I have for this family. His mother, Martha, d. in a Birmingham Workhouse in 1881. Is the Court House address significant (i.e. is it like a Workhouse/Poorhouse) or simply an address?

pat11

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 468
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2016, 10:58:48 PM »
I lived just round the corner and there were houses in Sherlock Street which were in Courts (known as yards) e.g.. like the back to backs in Hurst Street.  The official name name for this configuration is a Court so on this basis I think Sherlock Street Court House may just have been an address, i.e. house in a Court.  Some Courts in Sherlock Street were small like Hurst Street and there were others that were larger and had more houses in the Courtyard.  From my knowledge of Sherlock Street there was never a Court House or any imposing building apart from factories.
Kindness is the best feature

pat11

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 468
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2016, 11:05:48 PM »
Jackie,
Just had a thought, his mother Martha may have been in the workhouse which was situated at the top of Moseley Street Birmingham which is just a ten minute straight walk away from Sherlock Street.  This was later called The Rowton House and was a hostel for down and outs and then more recently renovated and turned into a art deco hotel.
Kindness is the best feature

Jackie Hubbard

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2016, 02:57:45 AM »
Thanks, Pat, I really appreciate your help. O0

pat11

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 468
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2016, 12:25:53 PM »
These Courts were built around 1840 and were swept away in the slum clearance pf Birmingham most of them gone by 1970's.
Also the part of Sherlock Street which I knew no longer exists as it was re-directed and the wholesale fruit and vegetable market was built where it used to exist.
Kindness is the best feature

Phil

  • Account Closed
  • *
  • Posts: 32653
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2016, 03:02:15 PM »
Pat & Jackie

I hope you don't mind me saying that the Rowton House Highgate was never a workhouse and it was specifically built as a hostel for low paid working men. It could accommodate up to 819 men and they paid 6d per night no women were allowed in the hostel. Workhouses were free if you could get in one. Before it was built the area occupied by the Rowton House was a hay and straw stores.

Sherlock Street ran from Sherlock Street East at Moseley Street to Pershore Rd at St Lukes Rd and there was at one time upward of 40 back courts and terraces.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Abt

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 84
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2016, 03:11:55 PM »
The family lived in number 3 house,  Court 28.

pat11

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 468
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2016, 06:08:14 PM »
Pat & Jackie

I hope you don't mind me saying that the Rowton House Highgate was never a workhouse and it was specifically built as a hostel for low paid working men. It could accommodate up to 819 men and they paid 6d per night no women were allowed in the hostel. Workhouses were free if you could get in one. Before it was built the area occupied by the Rowton House was a hay and straw stores.

Sherlock Street ran from Sherlock Street East at Moseley Street to Pershore Rd at St Lukes Rd and there was at one time upward of 40 back courts and terraces.


Ooops, sorry, I stand corrected.  I have learned something myself now as I have thought all these years that it started out as a workhouse.  Its true when they say you learn something everyday.  Thanks for the info.
Kindness is the best feature

Jackie Hubbard

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2016, 07:08:11 PM »
The family lived in number 3 house,  Court 28.

The correct address for John Wood is Number 3 House, Court 28, Sherlock St.?

Phil

  • Account Closed
  • *
  • Posts: 32653
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2016, 08:24:22 PM »
Jackie

If Alberta says that is the correct address then you can bet she is right as she is pretty good at this sort of thing.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Jackie Hubbard

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Sherlock St. Court House.
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2016, 09:12:31 PM »
Thanks, Pat, Alberta and Phil. I can now update the address from Sherlock St. Court House to No. 3 House, Court 28, Sherlock St. I have also learned a lot about the area in the process. (I still don't know what happened to John Wood and his family after 1871, but that's a topic for another post.)  :)


 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy