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  1. #1
    melsibob
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    Default History of House - tips in researching

    I am currently helping a friend research the history of her house. She has discovered papers in the house that have some details of the conveyancing history of the house. The information suggests the house (and the attached cottages) were built around 1909. I have looked at an Ordnance Survey Map of 1907 which does not show the cottages, however, there is residents recorded on 1911 census. The papers indicate that there was a conveyance in 1909 its not clear what this was in respect of - I assume that it was the builder purchasing the land and that the properties ( 3 of the 5) - can anyone give me some tips on how to verify the building date? Would planning permission have been required at the time? Is it possible to determine who the land belonged to previously ( an educated would be Lord Yarborough as he owned a lot of land in the area. This is the first time that i have attempted to do this type of research therefore any advice or pointers in respect of this would be appreciated.

  2. #2

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    It would help to know where the house is.. If it's Lincs, I've always found the Lincoln Archives people very helpful...
    I'd have a look at the 1901 census for the same area - there might have been an earlier property.

    Oh, and be warned.... I started out helping my late Partner with the history of his house, and it turned into a full one place study!

  3. #3
    melsibob
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    The house is one of five cottages known as Sunny Corner in Scartho. This is a village that currently is part of North East Lincolnshire (Grimsby) but at the time it was part of Lincolnshire - Scartho became part of Grimsby in 1928. North East Lincolnshire library were able to provide a copy of Ordinance Survey map for 1907 and the cottages were not in evidence. The village appeared to be going through a period of development as a result of Grimsby's rapid expansion. I will look at 1901 census. Would Lincolnshire Archives have details of land ownership? Sale of land? this is completely a new area to me - is it a case of searching land registry? how is this achieved?

    Full one place study! Arghhh .....

  4. #4

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    My OPS is in Scotland. Where we have considerable advantages from the Valuation Rolls to the Statistcal Acvounts. I don't know what there is for England, but I'm sure someone who does will be along in a bit.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    There is a research guide at The National Archives
    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/h...guides/houses/

    This site may have some tips https://www.local-history.co.uk/

    https://www.gov.uk/search-local-archives

    https://www.house-detectives.co.uk/

    Nick Barrat has written a book about researching the history of your home. Your local library may have a copy or be able to get one in.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  6. #6
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    Town & Country Planning legislation only came to the UK in 1947 so the house would not have been subject to a planning application. There were various other types of legal control in force but I'm not aware that there is a central repository for such old documents and as said above it would depend on what the relevant authorities felt was worth keeping and whether they place such documents with the local record office.

    Ordnance Survey plans don't necessarily show everything on the ground at the date of issue. It depends on where the OS surveyors were working to update the plans between the last issue and the latest issue. So new buildings might not appear for a year or two after their construction or longer if the OS did not issue a new plan for a few years. Even with satellite images available today you will know that the free sites that use them may have images that are a few years out of date and recent developments may not be shown.

    Although the Land Registry was established in 1862 the compulsory registration of land ownership is a comparatively recent situation. Before that title registration was voluntary, so many freehold and long leasehold titles created in 1907 would not have been been registered. Registration involves depositing title deeds so that the Land Registry can create a new registration document. Once ownerships were registered it would have been common practice for solicitors to bin copies of title deeds they retained because it no longer seemed necessary to keep them. Why keep copy deeds when the Land Registry has the originals and in any case all you need for future transactions is the Land Certificate. Sadly although the LR does hold lots of copies of original title deeds it may no longer have them all. Also they made their own copies and sometimes those copies are illegible (I know this because I was involved in some title work on land recently where rights granted to a land owner over adjacent land and said to be indicated by letters "A" to "K" could not be determined because the plan originally provided to LR was so badly copied that the letters could no longer be seen).

    So if the property has been sold in the last 20-30 years it will almost certainly be registered and you can obtain information from Land Registry for a fairly reasonable cost (https://www.gov.uk/government/organi.../land-registry). You may be lucky to get copies of the title deeds for the years in question. If the property has not been sold for a very long period of time title may still be unregistered and in which case the only way to see the title is to find the owner and ask. Good luck with that!

    Tony
    "People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” Edmund Burke

  7. #7
    melsibob
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    Thanks so much for everyone's help.
    The document I am looking at is dated 1933, Abstract of the Title of the representative of Joseph William Wells deceased to property at Scartho in the county of Lincoln. It describes the land"contg 1 acre and 13 perches and no'd 127 on the OS Map which sd premises were more parlarly delineated and descbd in the plan on an indre of Convce dtd 8th June 1909 ............ 4 dwghses with domestic offices thereto erected on the sd ld by the Vdr"

    The above is a direct quote from the document - I understand from this that the land was being sold with property built on it by the seller - Mr Wells. Am I correct in understanding that the "convce dted 8th June 1909" refers to when Mr Wells bought the land or was it when he built the houses? and what are "13 perches"?

    The houses have changed hands a number of times over the years as a job lot, I think initially they were rented out but eventually were sold individually - at least one of them was bought by an occupier in 1936 for £600!

    thanks again for your help

  8. #8
    A fountain of knowledge
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    Quote Originally Posted by melsibob View Post
    ... Am I correct in understanding that the "convce dted 8th June 1909" refers to when Mr Wells bought the land ... and what are "13 perches"? ...
    Yes. It refers to the date of purchase.

    A Perch is an old measurement of land area. There are 160 perches in 1 Acre. So 13 perches = 0.08125 acres. (a little less than 1/12 acre) approx 329 sq. metres
    Last edited by macwil; 02-04-2017 at 3:01 PM. Reason: extra conversions

  9. #9
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    Just a thought that local newspapers may have advertised the sale of the land.

    I am not sure if you have tried Grimsby local history library in the Town Hall Square. They do have council minutes and so forth as well as street plans and maps so might be worth asking.

    Don't forget Lincolnshire Archives have their web site lincstothepast so a search may bring up some useful information on the holdings that are relevant.

    Mrs P

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