Property ownership, address and numbering (England)

[staffs_vic]

One of my ancestors had a grocer's shop in the mid-late 19th century. I am interested in finding out whether he owned the property or just rented it from someone else.

The house numbers of the properties he and his family occupied - his son and daughter-in-law lived next door - seem to change from one census to another so I am also wondering whether the houses were renumbered at some point during the period or whether the family did in fact move.

Does anyone know where I could find this information out? Would such historic information be available from the Land Registry? Our family has no connection with the property any more (except that the building is still named after our ancestor!) and my attempts to contact the current tenants have been unsuccessful.

Would house numbering have been the responsibility of the town/borough/county council? It seems from some census entries that I have looked at, that property numbering was not really formalised in some areas until fairly late, particularly in villages where I guess the postman knew all the residents and where they lived, so didn't really need a 'system'. 

Thank you very much for any light you're able to shed on this.

[rosie99]

If you tell us who you are looking at it and where they are in census it may help us

[Andy J2022]

Are you just relying on census information or do you have more details from electoral registers and directories like Kelly's or Whites to fill the gaps between the censuses? There is no statutory system for street numbering in the UK, and many villages today still don't have house numbers. And yes it is the responsibility of the local authority to allocate or reallocate house numbers.
These days Royal Mail is responsible for maintaining the official database of all UK addresses, which the Ordnance Survey and Office for National Statistics also use. I assume that the Land Registry also uses the same database, but I can't confirm that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcodes_in_the_United_Kingdom#Postcode_Address_File_(PAF)

[CarolA3]

The house numbers of the properties he and his family occupied - his son and daughter-in-law lived next door - seem to change from one census to another

I wonder whether you're looking at the house numbers (i.e. postal addresses), or the schedule numbers which were allocated for census purposes only and weren't carried forward from one census to the next.  For example, here are the 1881 and 1891 entries for 194 & 195 Cowley Road:

[Jebber]

It is worth remembering that numbers used to run consecutively, 1,2,3 etc. I cannot remember the date when they were changed to odd numbers on one side and evens on the opposite side of the Road.

Having said that, I live in a small close where the numbers are consecutive.

[garden genie]

I would think there is a high chance it was rented, because that was the more normal thing to do.

The land registry may have some details depending on the area. Bear in mind that compulsory use of the Land Registry for the whole country is a relatively recent thing. My own property is not yet registered because it hasn't changed hands since it became compulsory. (We bought it about 1985.)

[CarolA3]

Thanks Jebber, I intended to mention that these entries are from Oxford where the practice of consecutive numbering was (is) widespread.

The road I grew up in starts with 1,2,3 etc., we were nearly halfway at 31, then up to 70ish at the end.  Thence across the road, and back along the other side.  100 is opposite 31 and the final number (130+) is opposite 1.  Made life easier for the postie 

Carol

[staffs_vic]

Thank you very much everyone.

I've looked into this in more detail and found a couple of later censuses that definitely give the house number in addition to the schedule number used by the enumerator.

I've also found the house numbers in Kelly's directories from 1888 and 1896.

These have both led me to the conclusion that, at least during the period from around 1881 to 1911, the house numbers stayed the same (some were divided into e.g. 7a and 7b at various points) and the family did move around between three adjacent properties. Two of these were the halves of a semi-detached building which had shops on the ground floor of at least one and possibly both halves. The other property was on the opposite side of a yard which was, at one time, named after the familiy. What I haven't been able to find out for certain, yet, is whether the family owned the properties - the information I've got hold of from the Land Registry so far doesn't give any information dating that far back - but it seems to be quite likely that they did.

In the town in question, Rugeley, they definitely seemed to number in the more common system of odds on one side and evens on the other, at least in all the records I've come across where there is any information about numbering.

I haven't found the relevant electoral registers yet (probably in the county archive, which is currently undergoing refurbishment) but they might also shed some light on who lived where when.