It seems a deceptively easy question to answer.
And it is, if you are the first resident in a new build or you have the deeds.
For the rest of us it becomes a tad more difficult.
So, when we moved into our house on Beech Road, the estate agent confidently assured us that it was built “around 1910” only to discover when we looked at our deeds that it was in fact 1915.
All of which may seem trivial to some people, but for others like me it mattered.
The fact that I had to wait 25 years to be able to see the deeds and establish the correct chronology was important, but then I am interested in local history.
Now, for all those who don’t have access to their deeds, and “can’t ask a friend” the route to establishing the age of a property can be quite a challenge.
The UK Land Registry contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for more than 87% of the land mass of England and Wales [and since 1995], anyone buying or selling land or property, or taking out a mortgage, must apply to be registered.*
But if you "owned your home from before 1990 and not taken out a mortgage since, your property my not be registered”.**
Added to this “much of the land owned by the Crown, the aristocracy, and the church has not been registered, because it has never been sold”.**
And to do a search there is a fee.
All of which means for some people there has to be another answer.
Maps are a good starting point, but there can be a gap between the publication of one map and another.
Alternatively, there are the Street and Trade Directories which began in the 19th century and survived almost till the end of the 20th century. They list streets, trades, and residents, and were published annually. But the older ones were patchy in the streets and the individuals who were included, and of course it involves a long tedious search for the first mention of your property on your street.
If you know the name of someone who occupied the house they might appear on the census returns, but these were compiled on a ten year cycle, and the first which offers the detail of residents by streets was first issued in 1841, and the last that is available to peruse is the one for 1911.
Although there is the 1939 Register, which was almost a census but quite, and was ordered up to give the Government an accurate list of UK residents which was used to create the programme of identity cards.
All of which leaves the electoral registers, which are published each year, and like the directories it becomes a process of elimination, checking back until your house does not appear.
It isn’t full proof and relies on the inhabitants having a vote and so qualifying to be added to the list.
And it was the electoral register which led me to the date of a house in Knighton in Leicester.
The design of the house and surrounding properties, pointed to a date sometime in the
early 1900s which fitted with the development of Knighton, which offered a window from 1906 to 1911.
In 1906 the house was absent from the street, but it is there in 1911 and appears on the census return, which supplied the name of Mr. Arthur Hammond.
And armed with that name it became a simple process to work back from the 1911-12 electoral registers, locating first the street and then Me. Hammond.
Not that I had to trawl back far, because 1911 was indeed the first time either the
house or the elector is recorded.
So, in the case of this house that pretty much is that.
I could go looking in the local media for a mention of the street or the development, but I rather think this would add little.
Pictures; Knighton, 1902, OS Map for Leicester, 1902, the house , 2020
*HM Land Registry, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry/about
** HM Land Registry
 |
| The house, 2020 |
So, when we moved into our house on Beech Road, the estate agent confidently assured us that it was built “around 1910” only to discover when we looked at our deeds that it was in fact 1915.
All of which may seem trivial to some people, but for others like me it mattered.
The fact that I had to wait 25 years to be able to see the deeds and establish the correct chronology was important, but then I am interested in local history.
Now, for all those who don’t have access to their deeds, and “can’t ask a friend” the route to establishing the age of a property can be quite a challenge.
The UK Land Registry contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for more than 87% of the land mass of England and Wales [and since 1995], anyone buying or selling land or property, or taking out a mortgage, must apply to be registered.*
But if you "owned your home from before 1990 and not taken out a mortgage since, your property my not be registered”.**
Added to this “much of the land owned by the Crown, the aristocracy, and the church has not been registered, because it has never been sold”.**
And to do a search there is a fee.
 |
| Directory, 1895 |
Maps are a good starting point, but there can be a gap between the publication of one map and another.
Alternatively, there are the Street and Trade Directories which began in the 19th century and survived almost till the end of the 20th century. They list streets, trades, and residents, and were published annually. But the older ones were patchy in the streets and the individuals who were included, and of course it involves a long tedious search for the first mention of your property on your street.
If you know the name of someone who occupied the house they might appear on the census returns, but these were compiled on a ten year cycle, and the first which offers the detail of residents by streets was first issued in 1841, and the last that is available to peruse is the one for 1911.
Although there is the 1939 Register, which was almost a census but quite, and was ordered up to give the Government an accurate list of UK residents which was used to create the programme of identity cards.
All of which leaves the electoral registers, which are published each year, and like the directories it becomes a process of elimination, checking back until your house does not appear.
It isn’t full proof and relies on the inhabitants having a vote and so qualifying to be added to the list.
And it was the electoral register which led me to the date of a house in Knighton in Leicester.
 |
| Knighton, 1902 .... no house |
early 1900s which fitted with the development of Knighton, which offered a window from 1906 to 1911.
In 1906 the house was absent from the street, but it is there in 1911 and appears on the census return, which supplied the name of Mr. Arthur Hammond.
And armed with that name it became a simple process to work back from the 1911-12 electoral registers, locating first the street and then Me. Hammond.
Not that I had to trawl back far, because 1911 was indeed the first time either the
house or the elector is recorded.
So, in the case of this house that pretty much is that.
I could go looking in the local media for a mention of the street or the development, but I rather think this would add little.
Pictures; Knighton, 1902, OS Map for Leicester, 1902, the house , 2020
*HM Land Registry, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry/about
** HM Land Registry
The Estate agent dated my property as circa 1900. He wasn't far wrong because I found an old pack of Woodbine cigarettes under the floorboards which were introduced in 1812.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodbine_(cigarette)