Genealogy Chat

Gary thanks for the details. It is possible to view registers at the Land Registry office that covers the area of the property you are interested in, the charge is £4, by appointment. Gary I will email you with what I have found out already. Trish

Thank you all for your help. I shall follow up as best I can. I'm e-mailing the details and some background to you Trish. Gary

From the Land Registry.... Can you tell me if one of my ancestors used to own a particular property and how they came to part with it? We do not retain information relating to the ownership of a property before it was registered with us. After a property becomes registered, we retain documents resulting in changes of ownership. If you are making an enquiry of this type, it would be best if you initially did so by way of a letter. You should set out the property you are interested in, and as much information as you can provide......... The Land Registry does not keep Deeds, they belong to the building society or the purchaser. They keep records of Title of Ownership. If you let me have the address of the property I will do a search for you, I have not searched for title in property that has been demolished, so this will be interesting.

Hi there, I think I would try the Local History Library nearest to the addresses that you have and see if they still have Rate Books for the period required. There are not many of these Rate Books left but if you can find them, they will tell you the occupiers of the premises, how much rent they paid and to whom it was paid which of course should be the owners. It is well worth a try at finding them Good luck, Mary

Try the A2A (access to archives) website. It helped me with the owners of my ancestors home in Warminster, Wilts. Its always worth a try. Elaine x.

Thank you for the replies, but as Louise suggests, I also don't think the records will be found at the Land Registry. From the landreg website (faq): "Do you keep old deeds? - No. Once we complete a registration, as a general rule we return the pre-registration deeds to the solicitor who made the application". Also, elsewhere, on landregistryonline they say "The Land Registry does not provide historical or genealogical information". Are there any other possible sources of info or have I reached a dead-end, anyone? Thank you Gary

Contact the Land Registry that covers the area of the house that you are looking for. You can find help on the Land Registry Website. The Land Registry will let you view their records but only by appointment.

Gary That's a tough one. Presumably the occupiers would have paid rent, and the owner would have been liable for rates. I suspect the answer may be in a record office somewhere. Do you know if the hotel demolished the house - who did they buy the land off? nell

dont know for sure but how about the Land Registry dept Margaret

1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses, electoral roles, and PO Directories give me the occupier(s) of a luxurious house in London. I'm convinced they were not the owners. The property has since been demolished, along with neighbouring houses and the address now belongs to a 5* hotel. How might I trace the actual owners between 1875 and 1905? Thanks Gary