To find out if anyone ever died in the house we just bought?

[Ginnyfromtheblock]

Currently having the house we just bought renovated. We aren't living in it yet and because it is near where my brother lives and we have a newborn we gave him a set of keys to go and check up on builders etc.

Yesterday he went to the house after work and video called me to show me the progress. While he was there he suddenly said how just saw a small child in the house and he ran out the house and locked the front door and left.

He isn't the pranking type and also isn't the superstitious type, nor am I. But I am a total wimp and cannot watch any type of horror or anything and I'm now terrified. In the loft there was an old cot and nothing else. I've also got a year's worth of maternity leave and imagine I'll be home alone with baby while DH is at work.

Does anyone know how to find out if there was ever a death in the house or a building? I'm in the UK if that helps.

The old ladies eating biscuits after Sunday service in the local church. You should go to a service, then afterwards stay and chat to them about the community, and you can then ask about the history of your house.

Also churches don’t advertise it loudly, but there is a branch of priests specialising in banishing paranormal stuff.

I’m not at all woo, but I imagine if I ever find myself in your situation, I’d be heading to the nearest church.

If it's an older house, there is a very good chance it's happened. Reality is that people used to die in their homes. In England there is a very good chance you've lived in places that people have died in. Chances are though you won't be able to find out for sure unless it's recent.

How old is your house ? All houses over a certain age will have had people die in them, along with babies being born. My house is 200 years old and will have seen a lot of births and deaths. Any house pre 1950 is likely to have had people die there, and people still do die at home fairly frequently. My next door neighbour died at home a few years ago.

How is that going to help? You have bought the house, there’s no such thing as ghosts (I will get flamed for this but don’t care) and if someone died in the house, so what? If it’s an old house they probably have. Are you going to sell it if they have?

People die, in houses. I live in an 1860s house. I'm sure there have been deaths. That's life?

How old is the house?

Some people love searching for the history of buildings; it's an offshoot of doing family history for many people. As such, there are many ways of finding out more. I might be able to help if you want to pm me as I do a lot of family history and know the sorts of websites etc that might help.

But yes, if the house is more than about 70 years old, there's a fair chance of a previous death in it, increasing as the house age increases. Why does this worry you?

I know of at least 2 people who’ve died in my sisters house ( both of my parents ) and both in the same room , it’s not haunted . If you are concerned and believe in this type of woo , get it blessed or exorcised or whatever you are supposed to do .

You sound about 12, you are going to have to be an adult .

Yes, there has been a death in the house. Now what?

All of my grandmother's generation and above saw dying at home as a right and the calm/peaceful way to go surrounded by family.

She nursed her sick sister in the parlour when she was too weak to climb the stairs who passed there too.

In the UK it's completely normal for people to have, and to continue, to pass in their home.

It doesn't necessarily mean brutal murder or devastating house fire etc.

Unless it's a brand new build it is very likely that someone at some point has died there. The lady who lived in my parents house before us for instance died in the old downstairs bathroom, we only know that because the neighbours told us. There was a time when it was commonplace for people to die at home.

There are no such things as ghosts. There are a million and one explanations for what your brother saw and not one of them will be supernatural. It's more than likely a shadow and because the human brain is a dick like that it's 'looked' like a child.

I think there are two issues here op. One is whether there has ever been a death in your new home. Highly likely unless it's brand new and increasingly likely the older it gets.

Two is whether there's a spirit or ghost in the house. I have an open mind on this point.

A few months ago, just after we got our rescue kittens dd and I both heard a woman's voice say "you need to keep that door closed". Absolutely no explanation. We have been in the house for 8 years. There's nothing unwelcoming about it. It's an old house and someone will have died here I an sure.

My dad died at home. It doesn't have to be an old house for someone to have died in it. People die in their houses all the time. Especially older people.

It's rarer for a child to die and rarer still for them to die at home these days i guess.

BUT there's no need to be afraid anyway - children aren't evil. If one has died in their home and there is some residue of their little soul still around it's nothing to be afraid of.

Wait till you're in the house and see how it feels.

Are you sure it was a ghost small child or has your brother inadvertently locked your new neighbours curious kiddo in your house and done a runner?

I say that with the caveat that I believe in ghosts! But please check OP because that’s one way to get off on the wrong foot with your new neighbours.

How old is the house? If it was anything over, say, 70 or 80 years old I would just assume that at least one person had died there.

On second thoughts, even a much newer house is more likely to have had a death in it than would have been the case a decade or so ago. The NHS is more accomodating now of people who want to die at home.

What did he mean he saw a small child? Doing what? Did he check it wasn't actually just someone's child who had wandered in?! What was this child doing?

I don't believe in ghosts anyway but unless you're buying a relatively new house, someone has probably died in it along the years, yes. But ghosts don't exist so you'll be fine.

Every house is going to be more and more likely to have a death in it going by the state of the NHS these days!

Someone was murdered on my land before I bought it. Nothing specifically to do with the place/ house, just an event that happened. It took me a while to get used to it, part of my rationale being that there isn't an inch of the island that isn't drenched in blood so what difference does it make? I will put a memorial of sorts there.
People die everywhere it is part of life. Difficult as it is, coming to accept one's mortality is a healthy thing.

As to whether ghosts exist - I have never experienced anything like that and I've been to a lot of weird places. I know people who've had some pretty inexplicable experiences and I do not doubt them but nothing like that has ever been part of my reality

It’s a trick of the light OP. You brother is a dick for telling you, but there is no ghost, because there are no ghosts. I expect someone has died there if it’s of any age, but they are long gone.

That's what I was thinking!!!

Most people die in houses. My mum did. My grandad did. My father in law did. I could go on...

My mum died in a Bovis home built in the late nineties. Grandma in a council flat. Grandad in a 60s semi.

I would think it weirder if someone hadn't died in a house over 50 years old tbh.

My first thought too. Second thought was what a wimp.

Finding out about a death in the house wouldn’t necessarily prove anything. I know from old newspapers that at least 2 people have died in my house and it isn’t haunted. It was built in the 1870s so likely more.

It could have been a trick of the light or anything. If you are that scared then call a ghost cleanser or whatever they are called or sell up.