HOW CAN DEEDS HELP YOU?

The information that can be found in Deeds varies from document to document.  Don’t assume that because your ancestors weren’t the landed gentry and were, perhaps, labourers that we won’t be able to help.  Many documents also contain information about the tenants of the property as well as the owners.

Examples of the information which might be available are:-

v      The description and location of the property in question, sometimes with a plan.

v      Who owned the property at the time of the deed as well as who had previously owned the property with information sometimes going back over a hundred years.

v      Who lived there if it was rented.

v      Who used to live there.

v      Who owned the land and lived in the properties to the north, south, east and west and who lived in those properties.

v      The occupations of many of the people mentioned

v      If someone had recently moved, their former parish is often also given – perfect for knocking down that brick wall!

v      Previous documents are often recited so that you have not only the information for the date of the Deed, but also the information as it was years before.

v      Where a property has passed through a family, there can be details of many generations.

v      If the property has been left in a Will then the date of the Will, date of Death, date of Probate and the place where the Probate was granted are all often included.

v      Sometimes you get the tithe reference number so that you can pinpoint exactly where you ancestors were.

v      The list goes on...............