Genealogy Chat

There is another thread on Chat regarding Barnet Council closing its Farmhouse Museum resource. It reminded me of something regarding the loss of documents, so with thanks to Jim’s thread for reminding me I have posted something about it here.

Anyone that has bought a house some years ago will remember that great stack of documents that are loosely referred to as the deeds. They often list owners going back right to the time of building with all sorts of odd interesting bit and pieces jumbled in with them.

When we sold our house about four years ago our solicitor let slip that they are now destroyed and replaced with just a couple of sheets of A4 detailing the current transaction.

Whoa there! Says I clutching them to my chest, there’s loads of irreplaceable stuff here! Fearing I suspect, that this old fool might end up clutching his chest for reasons other than protecting the documents, she relented and let me keep them.

We passed them on to the new owner telling her the story behind them. Hopefully she will find them interesting and pass them on again; anyway at least I feel I have done my bit!
So if you are moving it’s worth asking your solicitor about the fate of the documents and if you can keep and pass them on, someone may well be very grateful in the future.

Regards,
Mayfield

Thank you Mayfield. I did at least photocopy all mine before stashing them in the bank, but if I do sell at some point, I'll remember what you said.