A typical English industrial town street: 1939

In the Black Country, Staffordshire, England

Whilst researching members of my family tree and those they were married to, I come across many official documents and perhaps the most historically interesting are the Census forms for the property or road in which the people lived.

Not only can you identify those for whom you are searching but you can get a general feel for the places in which they lived.

The following list shows the residents of Tame St, Bilston in the 1939 Census which was hastily taken at the beginning of World War 2, to enable the Ministry's of War & Work to identify who did what in peacetime and how they could be best used in wartime, especially as many of the men would be off doing the fighting in the Army, Navy or Air Force.

The 1939 Census also identified all those already employed in war-related work, many of whom may have to be replaced by female workers as the men were called up into the armed services.

It is worth remembering that The Black Country got its nickname because it was a centre for industry which also made all the streets and places targets for bombing - a lot of the streets near the major industrial sites were heavily bombed during the first 2 years of the war and sporadic bombing continued until 1944.

I have added some context in Italics, where needed.