How To Track House Number Changes?

[peakoverload]

I'm researching the street I grew up on and it's history is quite long and extensive. Since it's origins of a dirt track through a forest to the present day the street has gone through 3 name changes. During the same time period, the houses on the street have been renumbered 3 times, two of which have occurred since the street was given its current name in 1867.

I'm trying to research specific houses and businesses and whilst some of the houses also have names that have lasted to the present day, which makes tracking them much easier, businesses often just give a number. Very occasionally I can work out what the number of a house would have been in say 1870 and therefore work out what the number of a business was 4 doors away but it's a very long road!

I'm presuming that the local council must have some kind of record of when the buildings were renumbered but would they keep a record of what every building number was and what it then became and what would such a document be called?

It's also not helped that the road falls across the boundary of two councils with one side of the road being one council and the other side being another!

[martin hooper]

I've researched several houses with number changes. And in one case a change in the name of the road. I've never found any records with local councils which described number changes. I have resolved all of mine with detective work using trade directories, electoral rolls, census records, rate books, newspapers, photographs, maps and so on. It is tedious and I use a spreadsheet as a grid to record addresses/numbers/occupiers down the side and dates going across. Each snippet of information can then be marked up on the spreadsheet. After a while you become something of an expert on a particular street. In more than one case I've been able to advise London Picture Archive where their captions could be improved.

It's very rewarding!

Martin

[AllanUK]

I've researched several houses with number changes. And in one case a change in the name of the road. I've never found any records with local councils which described number changes. I have resolved all of mine with detective work using trade directories, electoral rolls, census records, rate books, newspapers, photographs, maps and so on. It is tedious and I use a spreadsheet as a grid to record addresses/numbers/occupiers down the side and dates going across. Each snippet of information can then be marked up on the spreadsheet. After a while you become something of an expert on a particular street. In more than one case I've been able to advise London Picture Archive where their captions could be improved.

It's very rewarding!

Martin

I agree with Martin, my experience is that local councils do not retain any information regarding renumbering / renaming streets. The only way forward is as Martin has posted, long winded perhaps but can be very interesting.

Best of luck in your searches.

[peakoverload]

Thank you both, I feared that might be the case as struggling to find enough records over the time period to build a detailed enough picture.

Clearly this is going to take some time!