What are the stories of your ancestors’ homes?

We often think of our ancestors’ homes. Their home is a space in which to place them, as we research and visualise their stories – a backdrop to their lives. So this issue we are extremely pleased to be sharing the thoughts and tips of many esteemed house historians – both those who work onscreen and behind the scenes of the BBC TV show A House Through Time, and those who, weekly, share inspiration and advice via #Househistoryhour on Twitter, Thursdays at 7pm.

Even within one individual ancestor’s life they are likely to have lived in numerous properties – each of which helps to give us a few further insights to our understanding of them. What do their homes tell you about their lives? By paying attention to the clues given about their address(es) and building on them to learn more about the dwellings, we are gifted a brilliant opportunity to evoke our ancestors’ experiences and more fully connect with their stories.

Many of the search strategies and records mentioned this issue are applicable across the British Isles, and all relate to England and Wales. Those with ancestors in Ireland will be pleased to learn that Chris Paton will be covering Irish land records next month, and we’ll subsequently be focussing on Scottish resources.

What’s more it’s very clear that the records used for house history are often the very same that we employ for family history too. And it’s this blurring of the boundaries between different facets of history that really enriches our understanding of the past – something that Professor David Olusoga expounds on (see page 36) – and an interesting point to remember as, this October, we celebrate Black History Month. The threads of history weave through all our family histories in so many ways.

We hope you’ll enjoy exploring the pages of Family Tree this month, and will feel duly tempted to learn that little bit more about the history of your ancestors’ homes, and perhaps the home in which you live today.