tracing house history

[fluffytail10]

Hello again, as many on here do I am, off and on, busy trying to trace the history of my house.

Having got back to 1841 and the tithe map and I am struggling to go back any further - no enclosure map available for this area,

I was wondering if anyone had tried any of the professional companies that offer to do this? They seem horrendously expensive, though they do offer to put everything together in a nice folder. Are they worth the money? Can you recommend one? Or is it back to the good old Norfolk records centre again.....Trouble is I don't know where to start looking.

I've tried the local history society but they weren't interested.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Hopefully Gareth will be along soon, he might well have a suggestion or two to help you!

 

[fluffytail10]

The walls in the cellar are English Bond - does anyone know when this went out of fashion in Norfolk?

I'm guessing a couple of hundred years after it was out of fashion everywhere else :wink:

fluff
x

 

[Feltwell]

I think it went largely out of fashion when cavity walls came in!

Up until then (1920's-1940's) it was a common bond for 9" walls, although there were others such as Flemish or Dutch bond. Not sure what was most common in Narrrfuk, I'm sure some of the (current) locals will say.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

In terms of the physical evidence offered by the building, I'd suggest having a word with the Norfolk historic environment service at Gressenhall, they have a tame architectural historian.

 

[fluffytail10]

thanks will do that

 

[AMc]

I don't know if it's any good, I do know it's very cheap

Restoration Home (Paperback) Gavin Weightman - £1 plus P&P
"A fantastic accompaniment to the BBC2 TV series, Restoration Home – presented here in an attractive paperback edition – is an extraordinary journey of discovery that will help you learn all of the secrets that your house holds. Written by Gavin Weightman, this practical and intriguing guide is broken down into useful chapters that offer handy hints on how to identify the key features of your property and get your hands on important resources such as maps, censuses, deeds and Post Office directories. A must for history fans and property fanatics, as well as those who are interested to learn more about the four walls in which they reside."

 

[fluffytail10]

well it's only £1 so can't be bad. Have ordered it thanks xx

Well ok it can be bad....

 

[Zebra]

Do let us know how you get on. Sounds very much like my experience so far. Been to the local historical society and found that there was someone living at this address in the census of 1851. Went to County Archives and seen a blob in the appropriate place on the tithe map of 1841. I'd like to know more, but suspect that there are no earlier documents.

 

[agbagb]

We are on with the same job. The Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group is coming to make a detailed record of ours and hopefuly give us more of an insight. They've got losts of resource links http://www.yvbsg.org.uk/links.html#national that might help. There might be a group that studies in your area.
We've also been introduced to the Local Literary and Philosphical Society that looks after lots of the historical documents so we hope they might find some mentions.

 

[fluffytail10]

thanks for all your help. The book arrived today, mmmmm good for £1, £1:50 and I'd have been disappointed

 

[Zebra]

Hmm, I once read a magazine article purporting to be about how to date your house. The first tip was look for a date or year cast in stone on the front. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise....

 

[fluffytail10]

This one is very much concerned with the posh end of things with lots of obvious features on show. Not much mention of little cottages of indeterminate age that were covered in concrete in the 1970's.

 

[Zebra]

Not much mention of little cottages of indeterminate age that were covered in concrete in the 1970's.

Snap! Sounds exactly like mine!

 

[AMc]

thanks for all your help. The book arrived today, mmmmm good for £1, £1:50 and I'd have been disappointed

Still waiting for mine... 5-7 working days delivery.

 

[fluffytail10]

Well I am off to the record office tomorrow to see what I can find. Hoping the staff will be helpful as, apart from a list of catalogue numbers I want to investigate, I have no idea what I'm doing. What is microform and microfiche? I vaguely remember some such thing from my youth, and getting told off for getting the machine to chew all the little holes off the side of the films.

It would also help if there didn't seem to be a huge number of people in the village with the same name. It must have been mighty confusing, all the women are called Martha and/or Elizabeth and all the men John or Robert. The range of surnames also seems rather limited and I would I would like to say they didn't get out much, but looking at the census there seem to have been people in the village from all over the country and Canada too. There is also a book about the travels of a seaman, in 2 volumes which I'm hoping to dig out - he went to china and africa etc so they could certainly travel if they wished.

Anyone got any tips for using the record centre? Take a pencil? camera? book?

will let you know if I find anything exciting
jane

 

[agbagb]

A hi-resolution camera can save a small fortune on photocopying (or grabing screen shots you're not suposed to copy). Best check with the keepers first.

 

[TheForge]

Records offices are great fun! Have you seen the tithe map yet from the 1830s ish? (assuming your house is that old). Archivists usually point you there as a 'first contact'! From that you should be able to get some info of that period.

Censuses tend to be on microfilm or microfiche. Both are viewed through a viewer, microfiche being individual slides and microfilm being spools of, well, film!

A camera is a good idea but make sure you check whether you need to buy a photography permit. Some records offices insist on them - they're usually a couple of quid a day but you can get in trouble for unauthorised snapping!

Have fun and good luck!

 

[fluffytail10]

Well, I had a look at the tithe apportionments again and this time found out the owners of the all the houses in the parish - only 50 or so. Hopefully this will help me to locate owners in the later census's (censi?) I looked at a few title deeds but the English and handwriting was very hard to understand, and the location of the buildings just wasn't specific enough.

Looked at other maps of the area too, but they either had no buildings marked or just missed my search area.

TBH I'm stumped as to how to go further. I'm starting to think paying someone else to do it may be a lot easier. Oh and a photo permit was £10.50!

Very disappointed, just can't believe how difficult it all is

 

[TheForge]

We've been lucky tracing our current place as it was part of an estate until 1976 and all the estate records have recently been deposited at the records office. The estate was also once owned by Lord North so there's been a certain amount of interest in its history. The house was also variously a lodge and toll house which opened further avenues to explore.

Are there any other private archives in your area that might have any records?