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Original poster

Inspired by the 1921 census, have you looked up the history of your house?

82 replies

MedusasBadHairDay · 07/01/2022 16:36

I'm not having a lot of luck finding out about the history of my house, so hoping to hear some success stories to inspire me Grin

We're fairly certain the house was built in the early twenties as part of the drive to build council houses after WWI so I'm hoping I can find it's first residents on the census, though aware it might not have even been built in time, let alone occupied.

OP posts:
TheLovleyChebbyMcGee · 07/01/2022 18:23

Not inspired by the census, but DH found the first resident of our house and we even visited her grave in the cemetery near our house! It was built in 1910.

Chickorma · 07/01/2022 18:24

@TyneFilth

If you look at www.old-maps.co.uk for your postcode, you can go back through older map editions and you may be able to see house names or numbers for the right time period.

My house was built in 1937 so I've got a while to wait before I can find out about its first residents!

You could have a look who lived there at the start of the war on the 1939 register! You can get that on Ancestry and Find My Past 😃
Nowisthemonthofmaying · 07/01/2022 18:30

I did this with my old house in East London which was built in the late 1700s/ early 1800s - originally a widow and her five children lived there, the eldest were poulterers and the youngest clerks or at school. Go forwards a few years and there were something crazy like 18 people living there (in a 4 bed terraced house), all Jewish families who were mainly furriers or tailors, I'm guessing they were refugees from the European pogroms. I loved that house so much, wish I could have afforded to buy it!

Ellmau · 07/01/2022 18:33

Go to your local County Record Office and look at the electoral register to get a resident's name, then look them up on the census.

TyneFilth · 07/01/2022 18:34

@TyneFilth

If you look at www.old-maps.co.uk for your postcode, you can go back through older map editions and you may be able to see house names or numbers for the right time period.

My house was built in 1937 so I've got a while to wait before I can find out about its first residents!

Argh - I've just looked and the site has been made completely private! It used to be an endearingly amateurish interface, but apparently there were 'professional services clients' using it when they should have been buying proper products. So it's lost to everyone. Bah.
Topseyt · 07/01/2022 18:36

It won't work for my house as it was built in 1984. Grin

I am looking forward to looking up more of my ancestors on the 1921 Census though.

CornishGem1975 · 07/01/2022 18:38

Can't wait to get stuck into this census - the last one we will see until 2051 😦 My house won't be on it but relatives will.

Chickorma · 07/01/2022 18:40

I've done the history of ours. Built late 1860s (we looked at the original plans in the history library) but there wasn't anyone occupying it in 1871 - about half of the houses were unoccupied so think they'd not yet sold. A 'proprieter' lived here 1881 until at least 1907 - we've found some newspaper records with the owners name and our street name in 1907. Then the 1911 census has the same couple living here as in 1939 - in 1911 they were something to do with the Railway, and in 1939 the children had moved out and the husband was listed as retired. We moved here in 2010, and the previous owners said they'd lived here 30 years raising their own family. Then coincidentally we had someone pick up something we'd sold on Facebook Marketplace who said their aunty had lived here in the 70s, we established the couple we bought it from bought it from her! So we've only got a space of about 30 years on a house that's over 150 years old that we don't know the occupants.

CasparBloomberg · 07/01/2022 18:42

We did our previous house about 10 years ago. It was a 1920s house and we discovered that when originally built all of the plots were sold unnumbered and the first residents got to choose their house name (no number allocated until 20 years later). The first residents of ours had named it after the cemetery we found their eldest son was buried in during WW1.

Anyway my tip is post office directories or street directories. They were published every couple of years so you can spot changes easily. Your local archives should have them, ours have all been put online for free which was even easier.

Skullycup45 · 07/01/2022 18:46

My house was built in 2019 and we're the only residents, so don't think it will work! Our village was built in 1914 so I'm curious to see what there is for our old house.

Bunnyfuller · 07/01/2022 18:52

How do find it?

Kezzie200 · 07/01/2022 18:54

1956 here. We are second owners and were also passed the deeds and original planning application to build from the original owner when we bought the house (because we knew them).

It's strange to think this 1921 census is the last we will see until the 1952 one. So pleased they continued it, even though we get a bunch of Jedis now.

starfishmummy · 07/01/2022 19:08

@Poledra

How do you know if it's your house, though? My house dates from the 1690s, and its number has changed as the village grew!
Have you looked at old maps? The National Library of Scotland has a collection of historic maps for the whole UK, including some large scale ones. I don't know of they go as late as 1921 but that might help you to pinpoint the house details. Or your local library/archives might hold a map collection.
Sunbeams09 · 07/01/2022 19:09

My house had miners living in it, very unsurprising given we live in a mid terrace in a mining town Grin I paid to see the image and the handwriting was so fancy, much nicer than boring typed census of 2022!

Sunbeams09 · 07/01/2022 19:10

2021 even!

mnahmnah · 07/01/2022 19:10

I’ve only used the census for family tree research, didn’t think to look at our house! It was built in 1901, near the railway, so I assume the first residents were railway workers of some sort. But it would be good to find out. How do you do it? I’ve only seen how to search for people

mnahmnah · 07/01/2022 19:11

Also - was there no census between 1921 and 1952?

Marmite27 · 07/01/2022 19:11

Ours wasn’t built until the 1930’s and has been in the family since then.

It’s boring Grin

tinierclanger · 07/01/2022 19:17

@mnahmnah 1931 was lost in a fire and 1941 didn’t happen because of the war.

hugoagogo · 07/01/2022 19:22

National Library for Scotland as someone mentioned. Local library for smaller scale maps and trade directories. Goad maps if you are in a town.

ShowOfHands · 07/01/2022 19:33

@Chickorma how do you search for an address only on the 1939 register? I've only ever looked for people and it's never occurred to me to look for the house we live in! I can't work out how to do it.

ShowOfHands · 07/01/2022 20:05

Don't worry. I've found a record in a roundabout way. No help. 16 houses all listed just with the road name, no numbers. Helpful! There are 60 houses here now. No way of knowing which entry is our house I suppose.

OldTinHat · 07/01/2022 20:18

I've dated mine back to 1829 from deeds given at completion. The road name and house name and number have changed since then. Good idea about census records, that would be interesting.

SarahAndQuack · 07/01/2022 20:25

I don't know the census stuff for mine, but the survey said it was around 1750, probably almshouses, then farm labourers' housing for generations. The outbuildings have been privies, a forge, stables, and a bathhouse (at different times!).

TheDoctorDances · 07/01/2022 20:38

@TyneFilth

If you look at www.old-maps.co.uk for your postcode, you can go back through older map editions and you may be able to see house names or numbers for the right time period.

My house was built in 1937 so I've got a while to wait before I can find out about its first residents!

The 1939 records were published online a few years ago:

www.findmypast.co.uk/search-address?datasetname=street%20results%20for%201939%20register