Genealogy Chat

would anyone know about finding out history of a house my parents home wich i grew up in for past30 years is about to be sold and not sure if my parents can obtain deeds in time. i would love to find out the history and past people of the house is there any way of researching it here or does anyone have any suggestions kind regards lisa

When was the house built?

Has its address always been exactly as it is today?

You could try looking at the Electoral Rolls for the address - probably in the main public library for the area.........but the people who were registered to vote at the address would not necessarily be the owners.

these are the things i dont know but yeah the village hasnt always been spelt or even called the same as it is now..frustrating...will i have to pay to look at my local libary? thanks flick

Hi Lisa Claire

In Scotland, we can contact the Scottish Land Registry and get the details from the Register of Sasines.
The cheapest way to search is at NAS as it's free! http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/sasines.asp

You could try here http://landregistryservice.co.uk though they do charge a fee. I think they may also cover the rest of Britain.

The Sasine Register is being replaced by Register of Title so the old title deeds are being phased out.
Twelve years ago my daughter bought the flat that my husband had grown up in. The original title deeds were passed to her and showed the entire transfer history including her Grandad's signature and purchase price of less than a thousand pounds way back in 1970!

The Land Registry in England & Wales only includes properties which have changed ownership since it came into existence

No, Lisa, the library will not charge you for looking at the ER's.........if they have them.

Your library should also give you free computer access to the Ancestry website, on which you can search, if you think the house was there when the available censuses were taken. 1881 is searchable by address

Your parents should know roughly when the property was built........that info would have been given to them when they purchased it.

If your parents have owned the house for the last 30 years then they should have the deeds?

whilst their is a morgage the lender holds the deeds but when the morgage is payed off the lender should have posted the deeds to your parents,

It may be worth you getting in touch with the morgage provider to see it they still have them?

the deeds should show everything including the previous owner of the land before the house was built and what it sold for

Roy

The deeds should show everything. However, if the property was mortgaged for the first 25 years then it would have been registered in your parents names once the mortgage ended. As there is no longer a need too hold deeds, the mortgage provider could have just disposed of the deeds.

I was most disappointed when I got hold of our deeds as there was nothing in them beyond a certificate for woodworm treatment and a copy of a planning permission both dating from the late 70s. (House was built circa 1880)

Don't give up though. I used the Access to archives website and typed in my address and Bingo! I found a document relating to the building of our house (admittedly the road I live on had changed from Road to Street) I went to the archives where the document was lodged and requested a viewing. This gave me the details of who built it, how he got the money to build and who inherited it once he died. From there I checked the census to see who had lived in it and also the electoral rolls. (Thankfully there was no change of tenant during WW2)

I'm now fairly certain that I have details of all those who have lived here.