Edge Street ……. before the Northern Quarter

Now Edge Street does what the Northern Quarter does well.

Edge Street, 2021

It is a longish narrow road connecting Oak Street to High Street, and retains a few old buildings.

And it has always been a mix of residential and commercial properties, which by the middle of the last century had pretty much been forgotten by the city.

So much so that there are only a handful of photographs of the place, and none of them give you much idea of what it once looked like.

Maps from the 19th century show that the houses were a cut above some of the surrounding streets and there were just two of the notorious back to backs.

A few even had domestic servants.

In all, the 1851 census records just 28 homes, squeezed between industrial units.

Edge Street, 1851

But those 28 were home 298 people, with the houses subdivided into multi occupancy and families living in the cellars.

At number 42, the property contained 2 households, both of which contained seven individuals, while at 34 there were four Households, made up of a couple, family of six, and two more families of two and four.

Other houses were less densely populated, but multi occupancy was the rule.

The inhabitants of the street were drawn from across the UK and their occupations were what you would expect from the area.  A large number worked in the textile industry, a fair few were skilled workers, including, milliners, blacksmiths,  a saddler, and a watchmaker.  And here too were the washerwomen, and beer house keepers.  

Edge Street, 1966

Added to these there were those on the margin, who eked a living from domestic industries like the “ginger beer maker”, a few box makers, and an “umbrella maker”, as well as those who worked the streets, selling eggs, fruit, fish and second hand clothes.

In time I will go back and examine the age profiles of the residents as well and the age distribution.

For now, I know there was one pauper, and a “Greenwich Pensioner” who has served his time in the Royal Navy, and interestingly he was just 44. 

By the end of the 19th century some of the larger properties had become “eating houses” and with a nod to continuity there was still a sadler, and an umbrella manufacturer.

Today, the street like much of the Northern Quarter is the preserve of cafes, bars and restaurants, with a mixture of “odd and interesting” shops.

We were last there on the Saturday before the May Bank holiday, and like much of this part of the city, the street had been blocked off and given over to outdoor eating and drinking.

48 & 50 Edge Street

And as you do I was attracted to numbers 48 and 50, which I suppose was partly because of the bright yellow walls.  In 1851 number 50 was occupied by two households.  

These were Mr. and Mrs. Lambert and their visitor, and the Higginson family which comprised, Mr. and Mrs. Higginson and their two daughters.  He was an “earthenware dealer", and his fourteen years old daughter was a “house servant”, while their neighbour gave his occupation as painter.

Next door at 48, the property was also subdivided between a family of four and another of two.

Today, there are more than a few apartments, above the shops and restaurants and as separate developments, and it would be interesting to discover what the density of residents is in the 21st century compared to 1851, especially given the smaller side of modern flats.

But that is for another time.

Location; the Northern Quarter

Pictures; Edge Street, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, in 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, 1851, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and Edge Street in 1966, W. Kay, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass