Uxbridge's vanished yards
The census can give a snapshot of life in urban areas - shedding light on poverty and unemployment, living conditions and immigration.
Bell Yard ran along the present site of Uxbridge Station. The 1851 census lists 120 residents, including families of 9 or 10. They included 4 paupers, 2 street traders, a boot cleaner, a charwoman and a cattle driver. A more unusual inhabitant was Joseph Groman, a bird stuffer or taxidermist.
Despite the relatively poor living conditions, in 1851 the residents of Bell Yard came from as far afield as Devon and Norfolk. In 1901, a Julia Harris (34 and a widowed laundress), born in the East Indies, was living there. In the same year, Vito Del Guidie, an Italian subject, appears with a family of street musicians.