Windmill Lane, Stratford, London
Windmill Lane is a road located in Stratford which ran parallel to the Stratford Railway Works.
80 Windmill Lane
By the time of the 1871 Census, Joseph Hitchcock (b. ~1829) had moved to 80 Windmill Lane from nearby Maryland Point. Archive maps show that the house would have been single-fronted with a long narrow back garden and an outside lavatory. Kelly's Directory for 1878 lists Joseph at the address.
The 1880 Kelly's Directory for Essex gives Joseph's address as 80 & 81 Windmill Lane. As the numbering was even for the north side of the road and odd for the south, number 81 would have been on the opposite side of the street. However, period maps show that the section of land opposite number 80 was never built on and was used for stabling horses and housing livestock during the 1880s and 1890s — the odd numbering ended at the Methodist Church, which is still located at 37 Windmill Lane. The Census returns from the period also confirm that 81 Windmill Lane never existed.
By the time of the 1881 Census, he had moved a short distance south to 46 Manbey Grove with his wife Ann, but three of his sons were listed as still living at 80 Windmill Lane in the Census, along with an elderly housekeeper.
The Hitchcock brothers had moved out by the 1891 Census, which lists boiler maker Edward Bayliss (b. ~1855) and his wife Rose (b. ~1863) living at number 80, along with his daughter and mother-in-law.
The 1901 Census lists grocery packer Thomas Mulligan (b. ~1864) living at the address, with his wife Ada (b. ~1866) and three children. Ada's younger sister, Amy Baker, is also living with them.
The 1911 Census lists clock packer Arthur Norfolk (b. ~1875) and his wife Mary Ann (b. ~1865) at the address.
By the early 1950s, most of the houses on Windmill Lane between numbers 48 and 100 had been demolished.[1] The former location of number 80 is now residential parking. Some of the period properties further down on the other side of the road give an indication of what number 80 would have looked like.
Archive Maps
On this archive map from 1868, number 80 is shaded red and the back garden is shaded green.[2]
Google Maps
The approximate former location of number 80 Windmill Lane:
