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I believe my Great grandfather Thomas Cavanagh lived at No.10 Robinson’s Yard the word building is erased on the 1901 Census ,East Street forms part of the address. The numbers seem to go 10-8-7 then1? Would these be outhouse or workshop building turned into living houses? Who was the Robinson whose name was given to the yard?
My husbands great grandparents were living at 1 Robb sons Yard early 1900s. Do you know whereabouts it actually was on lower east street
Hi from Middlesbrough Reference Library,
I have had a look at the 1894 O.S 1 in 500 series, and not found a Robb sons, or Robbson’s yard in Lower East Street. I have found a Robinsons Yard in East Street itself, about halfway along East Street, on the right if you are facing the Market Place. Unfortunately Yards can be hard to trace, as they are not shown on smaller scale O.S. maps, and also not listed in the Ward’s Directories. It may be that this Robinsons Yard is the Yard your husband’s great grandparents were living in. Hope this helps.
Hello Michael,
You are right in thinking that buildings such as as Robinson’s Yard would be workshops/poor quality dwellings. In a rapidly expanding industrial town such as Middlesbrough, these were hastily constructed to keep up with a boom in population. Robinson’s Yard is not listed in the Ward’s trade directories, so we cannot say why the house numbers were odd. However, it would be listed in the original electoral registers for that period. Teesside Archives have registers for that date, as our collection doesn’t start until 1932. Robinson’s and Co. Coal Merchants operated in Middlesbrough at that time, and are a possible candidate for the choice of name.
If we can be of any further help, please call into Middlesbrough Reference Library.