Family enumerated twice in 1881

We've often discussed here the phenomenon of someone being
enumerated twice in different places in a census - not especially
uncommon - but I wonder if anyone has come across a case quite as
odd as the one I'm currently looking into, where a family has been
enumerated twice at the same address but by different enumerators and
are duplicated many folios apart on different piece numbers and in
different wards?

This concerns the 1881 census and a woman called SARAH WEBB and
her five children aged from 10 to one. They appear at 2a Montague
Place, Bristol St James In, Gloucestershire, RG11 piece 2475 folio 71
page 28, and also at 2 Montague Place, Bristol St Michael, RG11 piece
2476, folio 46 page 12. Clearly, it's the same address and family since all
details are virtually identical.

Graeme Wall...

[snip]

Can't help you wuth Bristol, but is it Cliff Richard's genealogy you are
doing? Or perhaps Sidney and Beatrice?

I initially thought there was an error on the transcription CDs but I've
checked the actual images of the census and, sure enough, the family
appears twice on different folios and, since the handwriting is quite
different in each case, there must have been two enumerators involved.

To make things even odder, the apparent proximity of and juxtaposition
to neighbouring addresses is quite different on each sheet - which is a
pain, since I'm interested in the neighbours also!

In entry no 1 (2a Montague Place folio 71 page 28) Sarah appears
sandwiched between 6 Montague Place, which is uninhabited, and Fern
Cottage, Prospect Avenue, occupied by a couple called Harvey. In entry
no 2 (2 Montague Place, folio 46 page 12), her immediate neighbours
appear to be No 1 Montague Place, occupied by an unmarried single
woman called Annie Radford, and 12 Southwell St, with a family called
Fanton. I know from other research that Sarah lived in Southwell St
previously, so I assume Montpelier Place was nearby.

I can only assume Montpelier Place was one of those odd little corners of
Bristol that fell right on the cusp of two wards and enumeration districts
and both enumerators thought it was theirs, so Sarah got two lots of
schedules and filled both in. Perhaps the enumerators fought over her!

chris_doran...

Regrettably I failed to make notes of the more amusing entries from
around here, and now can't find it, but there is a census entry for
such a borderline house where the enumerator has put something like:
"Mr X has received forms from two districts and refuses to fill in more
than one of them".

Presumably Sarah was less bolshie and/or more easily bullied by the
jobsworth enumerators who doubtless insisted: "Fill in both forms and
we'll sort it out back at the office", but never did.

I wonder if there are any Bristol experts here who might be able to throw
some light on this?

Jeff...

Montague Place & Southwell St still exist (although of course Bristol
was substantially rearranged in the unpleasantness of 39-45 so original
dwellings unlikely to be there now) But, looking at Multimap the
location of Montague Place looks as if it could fit your scenario above

Sarah was a mystery woman in other ways, but that's another story!