Tracking down where a Victorian ancestor once lived in London can be a challenge, because neighbourhoods have changed beyond recognition. Even in the 19th century, much of the city was a construction site. Old, dilapidated housing stock was razed so that shiny, new terraces could be built. Streets disappeared or were reconfigured to make way for the railway lines that were proliferating everywhere while others were simply renamed. Much of the demolition and rebuilding took place in the East End, which was poor and industrial, especially around the Docks. The combination of waves of slum clearance and damage from German bombs during the Second World War has changed this part of London the most.
Houses were also renumbered as a result of new construction, but it wasn’t until the 1855 Metropolis Management Act that house numbers were regulated. By 1871, some 4,800 street names had been
