Hidden House History

3. Trade and Street Directories

Historian Dr Nick Barrett explains this key resource: Annual publications listing principal tradesmen in towns and cities were produced from the late eighteenth century onwards, which often included principal citizens, farmers and gentry. By the nineteenth century, more and more houses were included in the records, until residential street directories started to appear, particularly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century onwards.

The early directories are often listed alphabetically, but they are increasingly arranged by street name and house number; this makes it easier to find your property in the lists. As with other sequential sources, such as electoral lists, it is often easier to work back in time, so start with the most recent records. These can usually be found at the nearest main library, local studies centre or county archive.

Further information on local records can be found in Dr Nick Barratt’s article on your research desk.

Estate Records

Historian Dr Nick Barrett explains this key resource: Many houses were built as part of a larger estate, and consequently were leased out to tenants who had to pay rent on an annual or biennial basis. Many estate rentals survive, listing who rented property and how much they were to pay. If you are very lucky, you may find that an estate map was created to assist with the collection of rent, or perhaps as part of a wider survey linked to the profitable administration of the lands that formed part of the estate.

Many of these maps have specific keys that link plots of land or property with the name of the occupier. Where records survive, they are likely to be with the relevant county record office, as part of the deposited records of the family that owned the estate.