The Prince’s of Loom Street ……. lost streets of Manchester no. 97

History has not been kind to Loom Street in Ancoats or for that matter Naval Street, Cotton Street and Elizabeth Street.

Cotton Street, 2023

These were the narrow streets you would have encountered in the space between Oldham Road to the north and Great Ancoats Street to the west.

Loom Street never featured in any of the early street directories and now parts of it have been relegated to a car park while its eastern section is underneath a modern set of industrial units.

And when it did appear in the 1911 directory, the only entry is for one firm at no. 8 which was “Wansker, David, trimming manufacturers” .

All of this despite the fact that in the mid-19th century it consisted of 116 houses, many of which were small back-to-back cottages and the street let out in to 14 closed courts of various sizes.

But then I am not surprised given that a section of Blossom Street which ran parallel was renamed Naval Street, and nearby Elizabeth Street has vanished under a non-descript brick slab.

Back in the 1970s Loom Street came to the attention of the Manchester Historical Association who produced a pack of original source material about the street and focusing on one family.  

The pack was designed to be used in the classroom introducing school students to the skill of interrogating documents and using them to build a picture of life in a working class part of the city during the middle decades of the 19th century.

Loom Street and Murray's Court, 1851

I long ago lost or gave away my copy and as yet I haven’t been able to track down a replacement.  But given that the family were called Prince and they lived in Loom Street in the middle decades of the 19th century, I followed the creators of the pack and went looking for them in the census records and there they were living at no. 9 in 1851.  The Rate Books show that they occupied the house from a decade earlier and were still there in 1857.

They paid a weekly rent of 3 shillings and six pence to the estate of the Earl of Elsmere who had who had an extensive portfolio of properties in Loom Street and the surrounding streets.

I can’t be sure exactly where their house was on Loom Street but I rather think it will have been on the northern side close Cotton Street.  The houses were demolished when St Chad's School on George Leigh Street was extended south and St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church was built next door sometime around 1867. 

Loom Street and St Mary's Court, 1849

And that extension with the construction of the church resulted in the demolition of numbers 1 -9 along with a small, closed court known as Murray’s Court which only a few years earlier had been known as St Mary's Square.

All a tad confusing.  On one level I doubt the loss of these houses caused much of a stir given that some including the home of the Prince’s were small two roomed back to backs.

Murray’s Court consisted of 8 back to backs and access was through narrow passages leading off Loom and George Leigh Streets, presenting us with a location where the sun fought to penetrate the open space, and fresh air struggled against the various smells of close living.

Loom Street and St Michael's RC Church, 1894

The upside of the renovation of the buildings that replaced numbers 1-9 and Murray’s Court in 2016 has been the careful restoration of a wall memorial stone dedicated to the memory of “The Very Rev Thomas Cannon Byrne Rector 1878-1907”, which in time will offer up more research possibilities.

But alas the historical records are less forthcoming about the Prince family after 1857 and to date have offered up no details of the inhabitants of Murray’s Court.

In time something will pop up but not yet. Thomas and Hannah Prince were married in 1830 and both signed their names rather than making a mark. He gave his occupation as a spinner, and two of their five children were also engaged in the textile trade as piecers.

And had you wandered along the street in the 1850s, the majority of those who you might have met were in occupations related to the manufacturer of textiles, while others were labourers or engaged in skilled trades, like dress and makers, some bricklayers and even a Policeman.

Trying for posterity, Naval Street, 2023

Most were born in Manchester or from the surrounding towns with a few from Yorkshire and Ireland.

And few have been remembered by history, if history ever bothered to acknowledge them at all.

Leaving me just to reflect that some of the present occupants of the area have tried to leave their mark on at least one of the forgotten streets.

Location; Ancoats

Pictures; Naval Street, and Cotton Street, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Loom Street in 1849 from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1849, in  1851, from  Adhead’s map of Manchester, 1851, and in 1894 from the OS map of South Lancashire, 1894, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/