Where did your ancestor live?
How long did they live there?
Is it there now?
​What sort of house was it?
​

You have traced your ancestors back in time and found out all you can via certificates, census, parish registers, wills and local records and now you know all about them. Or do you?  

You might have a tree taking you back to William the Conqueror or more modestly (and probably) to the industrial Revolution but what do you really know about how they lived? 

Family history is not just about listing a collection of names on a tree but it provides an opportunity to piece together your ancestors lives and understand the context within which they lived. Obviously their occupations from Census and parish records tell you a lot about them but what about the village and the houses they occupied – where their children grew up – where they lived and died? 

That is where this site can help. We have set out on this web site how to trace the history of a house – whether it’s your own or your ancestors and there is nothing like the thrill when you find a house still standing which once housed a distant relative or you can obtain photos and perhaps go there and stand in the that same spot that your ancestors did.

.

​Sources to help you find out ​more about your ancestors home  

​To find out more about the communities where your ancestors lived visit your library, local county record office or local family history society. The sources you could explore are 
​
1.Street or trade directories assist you to find the house and as they are published every year allow you  to discover how the area has changed

2. Census which tells you about the house and the people who lived in it Find my Past provide some records free including the 1881 census
​
3.Photographs could be of the house, street or district where they lived

4.Maps will show you the position of the house and again how the locale might have changed over time 

5.Town and village histories already  published will tell you about the village or township where  your ancestor lived 

6.Newspapers and magazines could have articles relating to the area, house or even the occupiers 

7.Local museums - sometimes museums hold information about the area and the people that lived in it and it is worth checking out as well as the library and record offices 
​
8. Manorial records help you find out more about the home and the occupier particularly if it belonged to the lord of the manor.

. Oral history - check that the local society has not made recordings that might mention your ancestor or the home they lived in

10.Business records deposited at the local history centre in the library or record office or museum may uncover information about the way your ancestor or occupier worked.
​
11.Diocesan records and Church Court proceeding sometimes mention local people  

12.Parish poor law records may contain your ancestors if they were paupers or parish officers. 

13. Nonconformists records – check out these as not everyone worshipped in the established Church of England

14.Clubs, trades unions and various local organisations may have details of your occupier if they were members
​
15.Family and personal records may have been deposited at a local record office by someone else connected with your family or the person you are researching 

16.Estate or solicitors records in local record offices might contain deeds or transactions relating to the property or the people living there