81 Ainsworth Street

Empty Plot Adjacent to Number 79

For 81 Ainsworth Street there is no entry in the census for 1891 or 1901, and it is likely it was an empty plot adjacent to number 79, where the garden plot is today. It is described in more than one census simply as ‘garden’.

In a photograph of the shop at no. 79 showing it as an off-licence and general shop, it looks as if there is a fence for a storage area with a garden plot instead of a house adjacent.

In the Spalding’s and Kelly’s trade directories, there is never an occupant for 81 Ainsworth Street, which points to there never having been a building on this site in the Victorian era.

Later on, the empty plot may have been taken over by the Kerridge construction firm based on Sturton Street, because the no. 81 garden plot, along with nos. 74–78 opposite, are shown as timber storage areas on later maps.

Source: 1891 census, 1901 census, Kelly’s Directory, Spalding’s Directory.