The Inventor "Blackmailed by the Government"

41 to 55 Westgate

I have walked passed this row of fairly unremarkable houses many times, but today I noticed something remarkable: no UPVC!!  Each house still has its original doors and windows painted black with white frames.  Although there is some deterioration of the bricks, the houses are generally in good condition.  We all crave increased comfort and lower bills so most older houses have had windows and doors unsympathetically replaced – not these houses though.  The reason for such for this may be that the houses stand in front of Lincoln Castle and planning permission for such modernisation is not granted but I prefer to believe that the owners like to keep their houses totally original.

These are the only residential houses still standing on the south side of Westgate, number

Detail showing numbers 47 to 53

11 to 35 disappeared beneath a car park over 80 years ago.

Whilst researching these houses, I searched in the 1911 census and it seems that certain members of the population were as unhappy with the Government as many of us are now. Frank Aspland Cooper put his occupation as “Inventor blackmailed by the government”, Industry “ruination”, Employer status “sufferer”, born in Cincinnati, USA.
He published a book, “Occupation Charges” in 1887, it may be worth a read.  Mr Cooper lived at number 43, the second house from the left.  He lived there until his death in 1932 at the age of 78

The census form can be viewed here: https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBC%2F1911%2FRG14%2F19748%2F0619&parentid=GBC%2F1911%2FRG14%2F19748%2F0619%2F1

This is a list of householders of the above houses in 1913:

Previously published  September 15, 2012