John Powell of Stockport asks: An ancestor of mine died in Poplar, London, in 1931. Present at the time of death was a Walter P. Powell whose address is shown on the death cert as 21 The Barracks Hertford. Where is or was this place please. Would it have indicated that he was a military man or was it just a civilian street at the time. I have tried military websites without any success. Any light you could shed would be much appreciated.

I have not specific information on Hertford, but if you follow up the links on the Hertford page on this site and search for "Barracks" you will find that it used to be in London Road. There are links to Hertford Museum, which contains a collection associated with the Hertfordshire Regiment, whose headquarters was at Hertford, and you should consider directing your enquiries there. The book The Hertfordshire Regiment, an Illustrated History, by J D Sainsbury, shows that the Battalion Headquarters was in Hertford between the wars. There is no specific reference to "The Barracks" but as it was a voluntary unit it may not have had residential barracks (apart from perhaps during the First World War.)

I also note that there were a number of people called Powell living in Hertford at the time of the 1881 census - several born in London.

If you can add to the information given above tell me.