Walter Craske, muffin seller (MoC170/82)For notes on the early development of this area see New Town.
It was Thomas Musgrave who built Downing Terrace, facing Lensfield Road in 1819. He had acquired land when the area known as New Town was sold off to a variety of developers circa 1807. Behind it, off Saxon Street, Musgrave also built a series of squalid streets of back to back houses, Gothic Street, Doric Street and Terrace Lane. These were removed as slum clearance in the mid 20th century. (Source: Cambridge City Council 2012 – New Town and Glisson Road Area Conservation Appraisal)
See Cambridge Archives Mapping relief project:
Doric Street – Mapping relief
On this 1925 map of Cambridge Doric Street would have been the narrow alley to the east of Gothic Street running south from Saxon Street. Terrace Lane would have been the alley to the east of that.
Robert W. Stevenson, born 1916, son of Robert Stevenson of no. 13, later of 115 Mowbray Road, wrote a poem when he was stationed in Ireland with the RAMC in 1943, called CHILDHOOD, In Doric Street – 1920’s.
The poem depicts a wide range of people, some of whom lived in the street such as Mrs Elgar [no.19] and her much prized ferns, old Mrs Barker [no.4], and others who visited or had shops nearby.
Doric Street 1851
NB no house numbers are given for this census. 20 households are identified – the same number as in 1861, though one house was unoccupied then. In 1841 19 houses were identified, though fewer households
Where a household can be found living in the same street in other censuses this is noted.
William Clark, 34, labourer, b Cape of Good Hope
Louisa, 30, b Granchester
Emma, 10, scholar, b Granchester
George, 8, scholar, b Cambridge
Matilda, 4, scholar, b Cambridge
Charles W, 2, scholar, b Cambridge
NB in 1861 this family was at 1 Doric Street
John Pink, 49, shoemaker, b Hauxton
Martha, 55, b Trumpington
Emma, 25, dressmaker, b Cambridge
Edward, 22, compositor, b Cambridge
Harriett, 20, dressmaker, b Cambridge
John, 17, shoemakers apprentice, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 this family was at 2 Doric Street; in 1861 John and Martha were at 4 Doric Street; in 1871, 1881 and 1891 John was still at 4 Doric Street, with a new wife and family (Martha probably died 1863)
James Carter, 37, miller, b Meldreth
Martha, 37, b Meldreth
Elizabeth, 14, b Meldreth
James, 12, b Cambridge
Ann, 8, b Cambridge
George, 6, b Cambridge
John, 4, b Cambridge
Charles, 1, b Cambridge
NB in 1861 Martha, now widowed, was at 3 Doric Street with her children
John Rickett, 60, stonemason, b Lincolnshire
Ann, 60, b Lincolnshire
George, 20, stonemason, b Cambridge
Edward, 14, shoemakers apprentice, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 this family was at 9 Doric Street
Thomas Howe, 50, shoemaker, b Sawston
Harriett, 43, b Cambridge
William, 19, apprentice, b Cambridge
James, 17, tailor, b Cambridge
John, 12, scholar, b Cambridge
Henry, 9, scholar, b Cambridge
Joseph, 6, scholar, b Cambridge
Harriett, 1, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 and 1861 this family was at 7 Doric Street
Elijah Bowen, 34, woodturner, b Soham
Mary, 33, b Cambridge
George, 15, b Cambridge
Elijah, 11, b Cambridge
Rebecca, 10, b Cambridge
Cealyer, 2, b Cambridge (NB birth record suggests should be Celia)
William, 6 months, b Cambridge
William S Tavener, 27, carpenter, b Lincolnshire
Martha, 29, b Huntingdonshire
John, 3, b Lincolnshire,
Ann, 7 months, b Cambridge
Mary Perkins, 60, widow, painters widow, b Cambridge
Henry, 24, painter and glazier, b Cambridge
Thomas, 12, grandson, b Cambridge
James Clark, 29, painter, b Cambridge
Maryann, 31, b Cambridge
James, 4, Cambridge
Elizabeth, 2, b Cambridge
Emma, 7 months, b Cambridge
Frederick Matthews, 37, tailor, b London
Maria, 33, b London
Agusta, 6, b London
Caroline, 4, b London
Maryann, 2, b Cambridge
John P Whitehead, 33, painter, b Cambridge
Emma, 29, b Cambridge
Maryann, 9, b Cambridge
Emma, 7, b Cambridge
John, 5, b Cambridge
James, 3, b Cambridge
NB in 1861 and 1871this family was at 12 Doric Street
Joseph Maltby, 50, shoemaker, b Cambridge
Elizabeth, 52, b Fulbourn
Joseph, 17, b Cambridge
Samuel, 14, b Cambridge
Jane, 12, b Cambridge
Betsy, 9, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 this family was at 11 Doric Street; in 1861 Joseph jnr, now married was at 9 Doric Street
Charles Bell, 36, labourer, b Cambridge
Ann, 47, b Cambridge
Charles, 19, cabinetmaker, b Cambridge
William Robinson, 20, carpenter, b Great Shelford
Jane, 31, laundress, b Cambridge
Ebenezer, 1, b Cambridge
William, 4 months, b Cambridge
William Mansfield, 11, b Cambridge
Thomas Mansfield, 9, b Cambridge
NB these 2 are described as ‘son-in-law’ but are more likely stepsons
NB in 1861 Jane, now widowed, was at 15 Doric Street with children from 2 marriages; in 1871 she was at 13 Doric Street
Mary Harrison, 74, widow, b Dry Drayton
Hannah, 39, nurse, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 this family was at 16 Doric Street
George Gales, 49, gasfitter, b Cambridge
Mary, 51, b Histon
Betsy, 21, b Cambridge
Joseph Clark, 65, labourer, b Essex
Sarah, 58, b Essex
Joseph, 23, labourer, b Essex
Maryann, 20, b Essex
George, 17, labourer, b Essex
NB in 1861 this family was at 14 Doric Street
Thomas Baker, 35, widower, labourer, b Foxton
Samuel, 13, errand boy, b Cambridge
William, 11, scholar, b Cambridge
Hannah, 7, scholar, b Cambridge
Benjamin, 3, scholar, b Cambridge
Susan Simons, 30, housekeeper, b Dry Drayton
John Wilson, 29, labourer, b Trumpington
Emma, 26, b Cambridge
Elizabeth, 11 months, b Cambridge
Ann E Ensby, 23, sister, b Melbourn
Ann Ensby, 22, sister, b Melbourn
Susan Ensby, 13, b Harston
NB probably wife’s sisters, unclear if the second Ann is an error
Charles Fuller, 35, carpenter, b Cambridge
Mary, 40, b Cambridge
Henry, 13, Cambridge
Ann, 11, b Cambridge
Emma, 8, b Cambridge
Charles, 4, b Cambridge
Eliza, 1, b Cambridge
NB in 1841 this family was at 18 Doric Street, with Charles’ mother
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