I’ve spent some time today on my Ancestry.com family tree. Going over the entries for my great grandfather, William Leyland Hunter and his timeline for 1861 I’d posted a copy of a census, showing his place of residence that day. To view larger, I think you need to right click on the image and open in a new window.
At the time I didn’t delve any deeper but today I thought I’d take a closer look. I entered the actual address, 6 Carter Lane, in Google Earth and did a street view. It’s in an old part of London near St Pauls, and was at one time known as “The King’s Wardrobe” It was so named for the actual storage location for the royal robes and at times much of the royal jewels and treasure. Geographically, it was St Gregory’s near St Pauls. A further Google search gave me The Black Swan Tavern, which was a public house/inn back in the day. The buildings at that location today appear to be newer, but I found an old painting that shows a view of The Black Swan Tavern with St Paul’s in the background. One can clearly see how it must have looked when my GGF William Leyland Hunter was in residence. It brings to mind tales of Jack the Ripper and other scary stories! What an adventure for a lad of 16. I wonder if he knew that just a few years later he’d be on a sailing ship on his way to China?
Above is a list of residents at the 1861 Census along with their age and occupation. WLH was listed as a tea salesman and was 16 years old. With the exception of the inn keeper’s 2 year old son, my GGF was the youngest guest. On the subject of young men making a start in life, I must remember to post a paragraph or two about how my own life followed a somewhat similar path although not nearly as daring! As a matter of note, census day in 1861 was April 7th. Do keep this in mind.