Journal
← All postsThe research craft — how to read a deed, resolve a name across census years, and turn scattered records into one clear story.
England, Scotland, and Wales keep their records differently. HM Land Registry and Registers of Scotland, the three listed-building registers (NHLE, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw), the census, and parish records — the GB-wide picture for tracing a house.
May 29, 2026 · 4 min read
Deeds tell you who owned a house. To learn who actually lived there — the families, the boarders, the occupations and origins — you need the census, city directories, newspapers, and a little detective work. Here's how.
May 27, 2026 · 4 min read
Grantor and grantee, consideration, mortgages and satisfactions, the gaps that mean an inheritance — a guide to reading a chain of title like a historian, and an honest account of what it can and can't tell you.
May 23, 2026 · 4 min read
Australia's Trove and New Zealand's Papers Past are among the best free digitised newspaper archives in the world — and they're a house historian's secret weapon. How to use them, and an honest word on whose history the record begins with.
May 23, 2026 · 4 min read
Tax photos, library and historical-society collections, newspaper morgues, real-estate listings, aerial surveys, and Google Street View's own archive — a practical guide to finding a picture of your house as it used to be, and the honest odds for each source.
May 23, 2026 · 4 min read
Drawn to help insurers price risk, the Sanborn maps accidentally recorded American cities building by building — material, height, use, footprint — across decades. Here's what they are, how to read the colors, and where to find them free.
May 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Before the phone book, American cities published annual directories listing every adult by name, address, and occupation — and many printed a street-by-street section you can read like a census of your block. How to use them, and where to find them free.
May 22, 2026 · 4 min read