This is Knight Street, and it is the backdrop for our story from the challenge of taking a photograph from the collection of Andrew Simcock and finding a story.
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| Knight Street, 2021 |
In 1881 the paint was almost just dry on the fifteen houses that make up Knight Street.
The first eight were built by Mr. George J. knight in 1879 and a year later they were joined by the remaining properties.
It is not clear whether George Knight built all of them, and while the style would suggest he did, those remaining properties were owned by an Edward Barratt.
They commanded annual rents of between £9 and £10 and in the April of 1880 all but one was occupied.
We know the names of those early residents and using the census from the following year it is possible to build up a profile of the 62 people who lived there.
Their origins were as varied as their occupations and point to how Didsbury, like Chorlton-cum-Hardy and other parts of south Manchester were attracting people from across the country.
So, while some were from Didsbury, they were outnumbered by those who were born in London, York, and St Helens as well as others from rural locations in Somerset, Berkshire, Cumberland, and Sussex.
A few worked as gardeners, and we did still have an “agricultural labourer”, but these were in the minority, and the prevailing mix of jobs leaned heavily towards skilled workers and those in industry.
There were two bricklayers, two stone masons, a seamstress, dress maker, decorator, and midwife.
And it is more than likely that those engaged in “industrial” occupations will have worked in Manchester, or just over the border in the Heatons. The railway had arrived in Didsbury in 1880 which offered swift journey times into the heart of the city, and the textile works in Heaton was not that far away.
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| Knight Street, 1956 |
The next task will be to ask Andrew how large the houses are and compare that with the size of the families who lived there, looking also at the age distribution. I would like to have offered up the name of the people in Andrew’s house in 1881, but the numbers on both the rate books and census return don’t match the modern street numbers.
But I can tell him that in 1901 the Bradbury family were living in his house. Mr. Alfred Bradbury was 35, born in Manchester and was a carter, carrying bricks. His wife Edith was a year older and came from Withington and their three children were Frederick aged 6, John aged 4 and Alfred six months.
They appear to have moved around, with Frederick having been born in Wilmslow, and the youngest in Withington. A decade later they are still there, with their eldest two working as an assistant groundsman and assistant butcher. The census also offers up that in 1911 their house consisted of just four rooms.
There is more but I think that is it for now.
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; cleaning Knight Street’s gutters, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simcock, and Knight Street, 1956, Manchester & Salford OS
Andrew is the Labour Councillor for Didsbury East on Manchester City Council please contact me at cllr.a.simcock@manchester.gov.uk
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