34 Ainsworth Street, Cambridge

34 Ainsworth Street

Number 34 is one of a terrace of five houses standing on the east side of Ainsworth Street.

1881 census

First household
Frederick Snelling, head, married, 35, engine driver on GER, b. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Frederick Snelling, son, 8, scholar, b. Cambridge
Second household
Margaret Tucker, head, widow, 30, b. Coton, Cambridgeshire
Albert Tucker, son, 10, b. Cambridge
Emily Tucker, daughter, 4, b. Cambridge
Mable Tucker, daughter, 11 months, b. Cambridge

1891 census

James M Hobbs, head, 35, joiner’s machinist, b. Dullingham, Cambridgeshire
Sarah Hobbs, wife, 34, b. Bungay, Suffolk
Eliza Baker, visitor, 44, laundress, b. Bungay, Suffolk

James Morley Hobbs married Sarah Baker in 1890. Their visitor Eliza Baker was Sarah’s sister.

The family moved to 94 Gwydir Street by 1901.

James died in 1905.

1901 census

Edward Tomlin, head, 28, railway engine stoker, b. St Albans, Hertfordshire
Alice Tomlin, wife, 29, b. Needham Market, Suffolk

1911 census

Susan White, head, 57, monthly nurse, own account, b. Foxton, Cambridgeshire
Emily Rosina White, daughter, 26, dressmaker, own account, b. Cambridge
Cyril Frank White, son, 18, page boy, GER, b. Cambridge
Willie White Chapman, grandson, 6, b. Cambridge
Married 32 years, 8 children of which 4 died

The White family moved here from 97 Ainsworth Street.

Susan White (née Newman), the head of the household, has written a dash in the space for marital status.  Another pen has written ‘married’ over the top.  She writes that she has been married for 32 years, and has had eight children, four of whom are still living.

She was married to William White, a stone mason, sometimes recorded as ‘William B’ and sometimes as ‘Wm Robt’. There is one local entry for a William White in 1911.  He is living in the Workhouse on Mill Road, occupation recorded as ‘formerly stone mason’, but it also states that he is widowed.

There is a death record for a William R White, aged 59, dated December 1911.

Perhaps there was a reason that William had to enter the Workhouse, so the family downsized from 97 Ainsworth Street (which was sold privately in 1902) into 34 Ainsworth Street.  He then appears on the 1911 census at the Workhouse and died at the end of that year.  This may be why Susan White didn’t want to record her marital status.

1921 census

Susan White, head, 65, widow, b. Cambridge
Emily Saunderson, daughter, 36, widow, college servant, Jesus College, b. Cambridge
Cyril White, son, 28, waiter, refreshment rooms, Cambridge Station, b. Cambridge
William Chapman, grandson, 16, machine assistant, University Press, Trumpington St, b. Cambridge

This census record shows that William had definitely died by this time.

1939 register

Sidney Asby, b. 15 July 1909, Government company bricklayer
Alice Maud Asby, b. 9 March 1909, domestic duties

Sidney grew up at 20 Ainsworth Street.

Sources: UK census records (1881 to 1921), England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915, England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915