The objective of the Pittville History Works project is to collect, analyse, and disseminate historical information relating to the Pittville estate in Cheltenham from its early years into the twentieth century. At present the principal focus is on national census records 1841 - 1901 and street directories over the same period. These records are added to the project's Pittville database. We also publish articles relating to the development of the Pittville estate, brief lives of some of its inhabitants, analyses based on the database, and other factors of social and cultural aspects of Pittville life. Researchers are encouraged to read Dr Steven Blake’s booklet Pittville 1824-1860: a scene of gorgeous magnificence (Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum: 1988). The project is run as part of the Friends of Pittville association. But the more people that are involved in it, the more information we will be able to make available. So please contact the project team if you would like to help, or if you discover an error in any of the transcriptions.
At present the principal medium for the analysis and display of information is the project web site. It consists of several information pages and two search pages. The contents of the information pages are more or less self-explanatory: Home – About – Lives – Places – Searches – Map – Contact Two types of Search (Popular Search and Advanced Search) are explained in more detail at section 6 (Searching the database) below.
Data from the censuses, street directories, etc. is keyed on to the main database. Search requests can be run against the database on the web site. Results appear either as lists, percentages, as diagrams/graphs, or as points on a map of Pittville (from the Cheltenham Old Town Survey of 1855-7). In order to get the most out of the database, researchers need to understand in outline what sort of information the database contains and how to search it. The following section describes the various fields on the database. Pittville Pump Room (Wikicommons)
Census data Each of the censuses from 1841 until 1901 presents information in a similar but slightly different format. In general, the data-collection form used by the Victorian census clerks (enumerators) grew steadily more complex over the century. For the purposes of this project, we have devised a central form which accepts data from all seven of these censuses, so that the information collected from the censuses can be directly compared. In some areas this has involved the merging of minor fields. More importantly, a number of parallel fields have been included, containing metadata. This is information which does not appear directly on the original census forms but is vital for performing some significant searches. This metadata has mainly been added manually. The most typical metadata data shows actual data in a more standardised form, which is much more suitable for search purposes. These are the database fields, along with comments when appropriate:
Metadata fields normally facilitate searching. The main metadata fields are:
The database also contains several fields stating the type of occupancy of a house (e.g. inhabited, being built, etc.). Street directories These have a similar coding system, though there are fewer fields of information to record. The source (often the Cheltenham Annuaire) is also recorded.
At the present stage of the project the database is frequently updated with new data as information on more houses and people becomes available.
There are two principal ways of searching the database: by using the Popular Search page or the Advanced Search page.
or
The Advanced Search form allows users to enter their own search requests: Each left-hand pull-down menu offers the same extensive range of search fields and the linking text “including”, “together with”, etc. expresses the Boolean operators AND, OR, etc. in everyday language. Other options relating to numerical searches include “is less than”, “is greater than”, and so on. The “Search All Records” menu also offers geographical restrictions to a search, and the final menu item “Order by Year (ascending)” can be clicked to reveal a wide choice of sequencing patterns for lists of results. The Advanced Search function has been designed to be approachable to inexperienced users, but it also offers a high degree of complex search capability for more experienced researchers.
Results of searches either appear as lists, percentagersd, or as diagrams/graphs. By default the basic results format is a list, ordered as directed by the search parameters. At the foot of a results set is a new Advanced Search form which can be used to frame a further search. The topmost rows of the results page shows cumulative data relating from all censuses in respect of the search query: In this case the search query asked for a listing of all female domestic servants on the database, ordered by census year. This banner describes the results (there are 412 records of people fitting this category). Clicking the graphic icon on the left reveals these percentages: From these numbers it can be seen that the number of female servants in each census year differed quite considerably, but that the overall percentage remained reasonably consistent. An identical search for male servants show svery different results: Below the topmost banner come the results relating to each year of the census. Here is part of the result set for an Advanced Search for anyone with the surname “Schreiber” who is over 34 years of age: In this search the results are ordered by year. A digest of the census data for each person listed in the results is given. The results page allows various additional functions:
As a result, the Advanced Search is a powerful tool for data analysis from a social-history perspective. The following chart, for example, shows the results of a search for the region of birth of all female servants in the 1861 census (data as at 19 January 2014): Results are updated dynamically for each search, and are based on the latest information on the database.
The project and the database are currently in a development stage. If you can any enquiries or suggestions relating to the work please contact the project team here. |
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0 |