What History Is In Your House?

[10ClarionSt]

Bearing in mind the TV programme that's on tonight, is there any interesting history in your house? My house is only 60 years old, but the first man who occupied it committed suicide when he found out his wife was having an affair. Before he died, he scrawled his initials on the inside of the garage wall in clear glue. It could only be seen from a certain angle, and had run down into spooky streaks! My kids still think the house is haunted by him, which is cobblers, of course. We were also the last occupants of 10 Clarion St. in Ancoats, and one of the previous occupants was a locally famous person called Rudi Mancini, who used to play the organ in Blackpool and had a "friend" called Neville. Has anyone ever heard of him? So, what's in your house history?

[Togo]

I still have a Danish Blue piece of cheese in the fridge from Christmas, time to exorcise it I suppose. :))

[murraymints]

what's on tonight ?? My house in Herts was an old coaching stop and we had an original stone flagged hall and well.. well had a clear cap on and was lit, done by previous owners.. very old and quite spooky.. had also in it's time been a butchers/abbatoir and village shop..

[Islay]

Our house is approx. 120 years old, was built by a local landowner for his mother and spinster sister and apart from central heating and modernising the bathrooms very little has been done to it.
Its claim to fame is it has played host several times to Thomas Andrews who is known to have visited and dined here.
Its a lovely large house and whilst it is always cold - I love it to bits

[pastafreak]

For those who may not know about it...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l64y9

It sounds like my kind of program......though I live in a 1960s maisonette.

[EDDIE51]

No history, we have been in it since July 1977 and we moved in when it was newly built.

[douglas9401]

Two reproduction art deco candlesticks left in the loft which netted £33 on eBay.
And draughts, that's our history.

[EcclesCake]

Mr Cake is a fine example of history in Starkey Towers!

There are numerous items of an inanimate nature that have hundreds and in some cases millennia of history behind them.

[Buenchico]

Possibly of interest to 10CS:
http://www.ancoatslittleitaly.com/music.htm

[gness]

Hi, 10C...interesting question.....the history of a house is often fascinating....
We have history of the plot of land on which my last house was built going back to 1891 when it was sold (just the plot) for £600.....which is odd because in 1926 the house and land were sold for £450.
Don't know exactly when the house was built but we know it was built by a jobbing builder who built it from his leftovers....and it certainly looked that way!
A lady named Martha then owned the house and sold it in 1940 to a Jewish lady and her family who wanted to bring their jewellery away from the bombing in London...they built a safe in the floor of the hall but when we discovered it it was empty..... :-(
One son was a watch and clock repairer and one a Rabbi and the American Jewish airmen used the front room as a synagogue during the war.....
By sheer coincidence MrG met a writer who was researching the history of American Jewish airmen in Kettering during the war but couldn't find out where they worshiped......MrG was able to tell him...
In 1945 a lady bought the house for £1,400 and left it to her husband when she died in 1946....
He was a lovely rascal......I heard wonderful stories from the neighbours about his hiring and chasing of housekeepers......when we moved in there was still a hole in the hedge where they used to run through to escape his clutches ... :-)
I still can hear my neighbour, Ivy, saying.....Oooo my dear....manys a time I watched him chase 'er round yon garden there....

He eventually caught and married one of his housekeepers....and we bought the house from them in 1983 for a knock down price.....his suggestion....because he thought I was lovely and wanted me to have the house.....he was a proper ladies man!
I discovered much later that MrG's mother had, as a little child, had knitting lessons in our house in the early 1900s...and that one of the barns had been used to make the famous Wicksteed Park ice cream.....
When we moved in a man was living with his cat in a little barn that had once been used as a TB isolation room......his wife was house proud and wouldn't let him in their house during the day after he retired
because he made the place look untidy.....
I hope we left some happy history behind....x

[david small]

My house was built in 1876 by local builder. He built about six houses in the road. I have the original deeds.
Lived here 43 years. Seen neighbors come, and seen them go.

[woofgang]

None. I have lived here since the house was 2 years old. The people who had it before us were just people.

[Arksided]

I don't know the exact year of the converted place that I live, but often have a cold chill where I'm sat right now typing, and apparently a drug user had overdosed and passed away here, I only found out a couple of years ago.. but apart from the occasional chill it's never bothered me.

[tamborine]

My house has Lord Godolphin, Duke of Wellington & Rothschilds on its deeds. A famed scientist of polymer & plastic lived here. It was a derelict shell at auction & still is ;)

[1ozzy]

Our house was once half a pub. Built in the mid to late 1800's about 11kms out of town. When the railway came through in 1940 the line bypassed the town where it was built so the town closed down.
The pub was bought, dismantled carted into our town and two houses were built.

No wonder I'm always thirsty ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

A hundred years ago, where I'm sat would have been a filthy dusty place full of noise, for the weaving sheds of an old cotton mill were here.

It was a huge mill and the only real remnant is the mill lodge just outside my window which supports lots of wildlife both in the water and on the now wooded surrounds.

[tonyav]

My house was built by ( or he had them built 1878 ) is one of six that was built by a well know'n rogue ( well he was then and his name is still remembered in my village ) in the road where I live. He didn't actually live in any of them he lived and owned a mansion in another part of the village and rented the six in our road out.
( I to have the deeds ).

[pastafreak]

Just watched the first episode. Excellent and in depth history of the earliest residents. Looking forward to next week's installment.

[Mamyalynne]

It was excellent, my kind of programme.

[tonyav]

Ohhh I'll watch that on iplayer sometime over the weekend.