I'm trying to find out about the early buildings that fringed Penge Common before the Crystal Palace came to dominate the landscape. In 1841 and 1851 the population of Penge was only 270 and 1,169, respectively, but by 1901 the population had risen to 22,465!
Using the 1841 and 1851 Censuses I need help to try and interpret the different addresses. The heart of Penge--centered around Penge Lane and the Crooked Billet--seems to go back even before the time of John Rocque's survey in 1745; you can notice on the following old maps a number of early buildings:
1745
1799
This is only one avenue of research I have planned to try and uncover some of the early mysteries of Penge, but is nevertheless a good starting point; I'd appreciate everyone's help in trying to make sense of these addresses, as I'm pretty crap at reading old writing myself...
1841 Census
Anerly Grove
Anerly House
Cintra Lodge, Penge
Clay Farm
Clay Farm Penge
Gate
Penge
Penge Crooked Billet
Penge Lodge, Penge Place
Penge Station
Poor House
Spring Grove
Watermans Company Alms Houses
1851 Census
# almshouse
# cottage on almshouse
Anerley Station
Anerly Arms
Anerly Lodge Anerly Road
Anerly Road
Beckenham Road
Belvedere Road
Croydon Road
District North Surrey Industrial School Penge
Gothic Lodge
Lodge
Norwood Road, Cintra House
Penge Lodge
Queen Dowagers Alsmhouses for widows of naval officers
Road to Becekenham
Rose Cottage, Croydon Road
Sydenham Road
Westow Hill
Westow Hill, Woodhouse Cottage
Other Early Place Names
The Porcupine
Penge Green
Penge Common
Grotto House
Plas-y-Green (cottage on Penge Green)
I would be eternally grateful for any help!
Early Penge buildings
Early Penge buildings
Last edited by Falkor on 1 Nov 2007 22:40, edited 4 times in total.
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That's great; thanks guys! When we work together like this the results are more rewarding; I'm sure you will agree. The 1841 census is apparently not very useful for giving addresses, and many of the entries were in fact referred to as simply (somewhere in) "Penge". The censuses cannot tell us about unoccupied buildings, either, but we're doing well. I reckon some of Penge's early addresses might come under the Beckenham or Sydenham census instead. Anyway, I've now added the 1851 entries, which I had difficulty in reading; please take a look, and once again, any help would be much appreciated!