The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
The London and Southampton Railway was first proposed in 1831 and the bill approved by Parliament in 1834 at a cost of £900,000. The section between Basingstoke and Winchester opened on 11 May 1840 – and was the final part of the London and Southampton Railway to be completed. Prior to its construction, all of the traffic between London and Southampton was carried by eight stage coaches, four wagons per week, and one barge weekly on the Basingstoke Canal!
Census Records
1901
The 1901 census was held on Sunday 31st March 1901.
Below is a summary of the census records. However, if you wish to view individual details, please click on the link to see the details of the census records in two different formats.
Most of the houses are now numbered and if you follow the order of the schedule, it should be possible even to locate most homes by a process of deduction and elimination. The order is as follows (no mention is made of unnumbered houses): 124-128 New Down, 103-90 Winchester Street, Almshouse, School House, 73-58 Church Street, 74 Micheldever, The Vicarage, Manor Farm, 86-89 Micheldever, 104-122 Duke Street, Highway x 5, West Stratton 5-14, 64-66 Park Hill, 57-63 Bradley, Blackwood, Larkwhistle 1-4, Railway Cottages (Micheldever Station) x 11, Micheldever Station 15-27, Warren Farm, Northbrook 28-48, 49 Church Street, 52-57 Waterloo Cottages, Borough x 13, Railway Cottages x 2 (Borough Arch?), Weston x 13, Norsebury x 5.
There were approximately 990 inhabitants listed.. Predominant surnames were: Bell, Clarke, Cole, Collis, Ford, Miles and Whatmore. As you would expect, the place of birth is becoming more diverse with more inhabitants being born outside Micheldever and Hampshire, neighbouring counties being the most common. There are 3 born abroad, Sch 57 (East Indies), Sch 152 (Victoria, Australia) and Sch 95 (Canada).
Most people were still employed on the farms, the land, the railway and the Post Office and as domestic servants with a few tradesmen also.
The following farms and notable houses are itemised:
New Down Farm, Sch 1, John Tyler.
Manor Farm, Sch 60, Joseph Pickford.
West Stratton Farm, Sch 97, Charles Barton as in 1891.
Bradley Farm, Sch 111, Henry Pain, as in 1891.
Micheldever Station, Sch 143, Thomas Twitchen, born 1845 in North Oakley and his two sisters – brother of George? See below.
Borough Farm, Sch 195, John Pain, as in 1891.
Weston, Sch 210, George Twitchen, born 1840 in North Oakley, as in 1891.
Weston, Sch 212, James Nicholl.
Norsebury, Sch 226, Frederick Bailey – see Sch 204 in 1891.
Looking at the shopkeepers, Joshua Colliss is still a baker in Church Street (Sch 58), scheduled between the Vicarage and the blacksmith. Also in Church Street at 68 lives Henry Cordery, a grocer and general shopkeeper (Sch 41). A butcher's Manager, Joseph Prole, lives in Church Street (sch 54) (Barn Cottage). In Duke Street (Sch 79) was William Osborne, a baker, grocer and shopkeeper (Sch 79), who lived at Holly House (see Colin Filmer's history of Holly House on the village website). This is mentioned between 116 and 117 Duke Street. There was a shoemaker, George Ford, living at 119 Duke Street (Sch 83), a bootmaker, Alfred Mansbridge, at 58 Church Street (Sch 51), a wheelwright, Charles Gunner, at 112 Duke Street (Sch 73). The blacksmith, John Brind (Sch 59) is scheduled between the baker, Joshua Colliss, and Manor Farm.
West Stratton had the same grocer's shop, still run by William Cole, aged 55, who describes himself not only as a grocer and baker, but also as a farmer (sch 96). He lived there with his wife, 7 children, mother-in-law and brother-in-law – both Colliss.
The vicar is George Johnstone, born in Liverpool. He lives at the Vicarage (The Old Bakehouse?), scheduled between 74 Micheldever and the Baker, with his wife, daughter and 4 servants. There is another Clergyman living at the School House, Ernest Aspinall (sch 35).
The School Master remains the same, Edward Lawrence, aged 44, living at School House with his wife and son and daughter. (sch 34).
Henry Taylor is listed as a licensed victualler in Winchester Street, so this must be the inn. (Sch 7)
The Head of the Almshouses is still Charles Ball, now aged 75. There are 13 lodgers, four of the lodgers were also resident there in 1891 (sch 22-33).
At 67 Church Street, George Gamble the sub postmaster was still living (sch 42). (The Old Post Office).
At the Station, there was a post office, run by Sidney Cookman (sch 150) and the Western Hotel run by Arthur Thomas (sch 149). The Schoolhouse was occupied by 2 sisters, Elizabeth and Edith Jones.
The grocer/shopkeeper was Fanny Davis(Sch 145).
My thanks to Colin Filmer and Trish Patston for creating these census records and summaries.