Genealogy Chat

Hi

Has any of you ever researched a house, tenement building or cottage that your ancestors once lived in?

I have done extansive research on a tenement building in Holborn, Central London called Evelyn Buildings where my ancestors lived from 1882 to 1889. I have used ratebooks, OS maps, electoral registers etc. The block was built in 1882 so the families must have put their name down on a house list. There were 1 and 2 room tenements. I found that the building was converted into offices in 1893 and then c1905 it was made into a hostel.

The original building looks as if it is still there as it is very old and Victorian looking although it is listed in a book "The Buildings Of London, North" as being built "C1900-1910" which I hazard the book guessed that date as it was built 20 years earlier. I suppose even books can get info wrong like censuses and certs.

Ben

I did with our last house.

It was very interesting, it had even been part of a convent!

Our new one is only four years old and we bought it new. So no babies or deaths here yet.

I would like to research the land it is built on though as apparently there were four buildings before the gardens were bought for redevelopment not many years ago.

I was lucky - the first ancestor I researched (because my gran had what looked like a typed press cutting of his death) lived and died in the same small town. He was also, according to other newspapers found, the heaviest man in England, and it gives the actual dimensions of his the coffin 7'tall, 3' wide, 2'6 deep - I bet not a lot of people know that much detail about an ancestor - he was certainly a big bloke!!LOL
He died in 1842 and on the 1841 census it gave his address. He was a bricklayer foreman who owned a pub. The pub is now a house - but it's still there amongst the horrible 1960's flats.
The press cutting also said he had a special pew built - I haven't found that yet.
Being a bricklayer, son of a builder, in fact 16 related families in the 1841 census were in the building trade - there are records of the houses built and sold and complaints from neighbours - though no complaints about my 6xgrandfather!!

My mum was brought up in the 2 up 2 down house brought in the 1840's by her g grandfather. Unfortunately it was bombed in the war, after 99 years occupation by the same family!!
Lucky for me, though mum has drawn a plan and has described how, when she was a little girl, her family of 4 lived downstairs and a family of 7 lived upstairs!!

maggie.

I borrowed a wonderful book from the library, " A Commoner's Cottage" by Frances Mountford.
It's a researched history of a cottage in Surrey, - near Dorking.
The presentation was so interesting with pictures round the edges of a page about what was happening locally in the years being covered.
Every page was a delight and one could really feel involved with the lives of the inhabitants over the years.

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I still have distant family living in the house where my ancestors were living in 1861 census.
We got to know the couple who lived there and when we were invited for Sunday tea it was such a priviledge to sit in the room where so many generations of our family had rested after hard days work on the land.

Gwyn

Hi

I have just finished research on the above mentioned Evelyn Buildings and the building that is there now is the one that was built in 1881.

But the record office said that plans are hard to get hold of though and you might not find out the exact date of the opening of a building either but you should find out the rough opening date from rate books or newspaper reports as I did with Evelyn Buildings.

That entry in that book is misleading because it must have only been the actual refurbishment Halsey Ricardo designed as rate books say it was empty from 1904 to 1909 but was still in ownership by JEA Gwynne.

Drainage records might help though with actual floorplans I heard.

Ben

The 'Collage' site is a fantastic resource for finding images of London and others besides. I found a sketch of my ancestor's shop with his name clearly readable above the door.