Street Directories
The entries in the spreadsheet below have been taken from the Kellys Street Directory for Tunbridge Wells for the years shown.
The spreadsheet (in xls format) can be downloaded
Lipscombe Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3SL
Recent pictures of Lipscombe Road: (top left) looking down Lipscombe Road from Ravenswood Avenue; (top right) from the bottom of Lipscombe Road looking up, and (above) the bottom of Lipscombe Road with (present day) numbers 5 and 5 on the left and number 12 on the right. Do you have any old pictures of Lipscombe Road that you would allow me to display here, please?
The 1939 Register
The entries in the text file below have been taken from the 1939 Register. The Register was taken on 29 September 1939 and is one of the most important twentieth century genealogical resources for England and Wales. The 1931 census was destroyed by fire. No census was taken in 1941 because of the war. So the 1939 Register is the only national census-like resource available for this period. Once war became inevitable the British Government knew they had to issue National Identity cards. They planned for the wide-scale mobilisation of the population and the eventual introduction of rationing. The most recent census was now almost a decade old, so more up-to-date statistics were needed. Some preparations had already begun for the 1941 census, so the Government capitalised on this to take a register of the civilian population. They issued Identity cards immediately afterwards (which were used until 1952). The Government constantly updated and changed the 1939 Register over time to take account of changes of address or deaths. When they introduced rationing in 1941, they planned it with information from the 1939 Register. The 1939 Register eventually formed the basis of the NHS registration system.
The text file (in doc format) can be downloaded
The four columns show the house number (or name), occupiers name (later additions in brackets), occupiers date of birth, Married (M), (Single (S) or Widowed (W) and occupation. A name in square brackets in the occupation column for women indicates a change of surname on marriage, sometimes showing the year of marriage. A ‘Closed Entry’ indicates the record is closed for a century after the person’s birth (the 100 year rule), unless it can be proven they passed away before this milestone.
Abbreviations are commonly used in the Register as follows:
AFS Auxillary Fire Service) ARP Air Raid Precautions Warden ARW Air Raid Warden GPO General Post Office RNVSR Royal Navy Volunteer Supplementary Reserve
TW Tunbridge Wells UDD Unpaid domestic duties (used for women not working and looking after the home) WVS Womens Voluntary Service
Some house numbers are missing. This is because the houses had not been built by September 1939. In fact there are no records at all for Pinewood Road. The maps for the other four roads show where the gaps in building were located.
It is interesting to note the different occupations of the persons living on the estate. There were 11 police officers and three retired police officers, and I know of at least two other police officers who moved to the estate the following year. The size of Tunbridge Wells Borough Police in 1939 was only about 40 officers, which means over a quarter of them lived on the estate. It must have been a very law-abiding place to live!
Map of Ferndale Park Estate showing the location (black arrowed) of Lipscombe Road, and the gaps in building (dark grey areas) on the estate at that time.
House Re-numbering
The house numbers in Lipscombe Road were re-numbered sometime after the 1965 Kellys Street Directory was published, and if anyone knows exactly when it was done, then please let me know. To help relate today’s house numbers with those shown in the street directories and the 1939 Register below, I have added the present day numbers to the street directories table below. I believe it is correct, but please tell me if you know different.
This was not the first time the houses in Lipscome Road were re-numbered! When the houses were built in 1938 and 1939, they were all named, but between the 1959 and 1963 editions of the Kellys Street Directory , they were numbered, as shown in the street directories table below. If anyone knows exactly when the numbering took place, then please lt me know.
Left: The back gardens of 8-14 (now 1-7) Lipscombe Road pictured from the back garden of 78 Ravenswood Avenue in 1960.
Right: The back of 1 Lipscombe Road (left) and the garden of 78 Ravenswood Avenue with John Smith planting seeds, about 1959 – photos thanks Carol Campbell nee Smith.
