The Old Edinburgh Club has just released a new guide for those who wish to search for the history of their home.
David Olusoga’s latest BBC series, A House Through Time, has stimulated great interest in the history of Edinburgh’s homes and the people who once lived in them.
The sixth series features 20 and 22 Calton Hill, an eighteenth-century tenement standing between the Old and New Towns. Over four episodes, the programme traces the changing fortunes of the building and its occupants, placing their individual stories within the wider history of Edinburgh.
The series demonstrates how much can be discovered by bringing together census returns, valuation rolls, Post Office directories, newspapers, property records, maps, architectural plans and family-history sources. Many of these records are now available online, while others can be consulted in Edinburgh’s libraries and archives.
To help local residents undertake their own research, the Old Edinburgh Club has compiled a new guide: Researching your Edinburgh home.
Old Edinburgh Club President Steven Robb said: “Edinburgh’s buildings form a remarkable historical archive, but they become still more interesting when we connect them with the people who designed and built them, and those who lived in them. A House Through Time has shown what can be uncovered from one address. We hope that our new guide will help Edinburgh residents begin the same journey with their own homes, using records that are often readily accessible online or through the city’s libraries and archives.”
What’s in the guide?
The guide explains where to look for evidence about:
- who lived in a house and what they did
- who owned the property
- when it was built or altered
- how its appearance and surroundings have changed and
- its architect, builder and architectural character
