Hi Guy, the information I have is that the address is Tavistock Street, but no documentary support. When I read back through the information it actually states that James lived in Tavistock St and then later moved to Islington. It was after he left Tavistock St that he had his studio in Theobalds Road. Looking at all the information that you have included, it seems highly likely that the family have been quite careless with their information. On Tue, Feb 23, 2010 at 9:16 PM, Gus Tysoe <gustysoe@tiscali.co.uk> wrote: > Hello Sharon, > > There seems to be a great degree of uncertainty here about the BDF > Connection, which is possibly not helped by the differences in how you > worded it in your 2 introductory questions: > on 13 Feb as Tavistock ROAD, Bedford; and > on 22 Feb as Tavistock STREET, Bedford. > Both cannot be right, but there's no way of telling which is the wrong one. > > Do you have any documentary source to support either one that you could > share with us? > > > Then come the present-day street names - via Google Maps.... > Tavistock STREET > Nothing in the London area; but one in Bedford [part of the A6] > Tavistock ROAD > Nothing anywhere in BDF, but in London there's one in Notting Hill - > which (probably entirely coincidentally) is joined by a St Lukes Road... > Tavistock SQUARE and Tavistock PLACE [approx ¼ mile North of the British > Museum, and part of the (former?) Duke of Bedford's Estate - and with their > names unchanged since at least 1851] > Perhaps also coincidentally, Theobalds Road - the site of James WEST's > later > Studio - is within ¾ mile of the latter two... > > > Throw in that James' birth was consistently given as Clerkenwell, MDX in > the > 1851 & 1861; that he married in Islington, MDX in 1842 - giving his address > as the one he was recorded at in 1851; was also living in Islington in > 1861 - where all his children were shown as being born; and that both > addresses were in reasonably easy reach of the British Museum [which in all > probability would be a good place for someone with his reported occupations > to obtain commissions] the chances of his ever having been in the City of > Bedford would seem to be rather small. > > Granted there's the element of Hitchin Church - which was never in BDF, > although not far from it - but if he was involved in stained-glass-window > design there'd be little *need* for him to be doing much on-site, beyond > *very carefully* measuring the apertures before he started, and - perhaps - > supervising their installation once completed. > > The apparent "disappearance" of the family after 1861 - taken with the > knowledge that Frank and Edward went to New Zealand - tends to the belief > that perhaps all of them emigrated [if not necessarily directly to New > Zealand] during the 1860s. But, unfortunately, the number of WESTs in > circulation makes it a great deal harder to find any individuals :-( > > Another possible problem is that James may well not have worked on his own > account, being instead an employee whose name may not have figured on the > final work. It's possible that the book "Stained Glass Marks and > Monographs" > [published by NADFAS of 8 Guildford St, London, WC1N 1DA] which gives > "short > biographical information on many designers and firms" just *might* give > helpful details. < http://www.nadfas.org.uk/default.asp?section=171 > > > > HTH. > > Gus > > > > > The List Guidelines > > http://bedfordrootsweb.blogspot.com/ > > The Bedfordshire Surnames List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/bedf.html > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BEDFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >