Who's Been Living in My House?

Getting started

Before going to a library or archive, gather the following information to take with you:

• street address
• allotment and section number for the block on which the house sits

Architecture

Examine the house - architectural styles will provide a clue to when the house might have been built or when additions and alterations were carried out.  

Questions to ask when assessing the architecture of your house include:

• When was the house constructed?
• How was the house constructed?
• What materials were used and where might they have come from?  (Could some materials have been re-used from older structures?) 
• Has the house been altered and how?  What might have been removed?  (i.e. internal walls, doors converted to windows or vice versa)

To answer these questions, examine the following:

• Individual elements, such as the walls, the floor, and the roof (e.g. are the walls tongue and grove, fibro sheeting, gyprock, etc.)
• How the elements have been constructed and manufactured 
• Details of any surface treatments (e.g. number of paint layers on a wall, and colours)
• Overall condition

Ipswich specific resources you can use include Every House Has a History and Typical Ipswich House Types by Period.  You can also make use of the free Ipswich Heritage Adviser Service and arrange a time for an experienced conservation architect to come to your house and provide conservation and architectural advice.

Title Search

• Provide a sequence of land ownership, from the original Deed of Grant to the present
• Details of mortgages could suggest a construction date
• Might include the purchase price and mortgages 
• Could include a sketch of land subdivisions 
• Details of transmission by death
• Titles are land records - they do not record information about improvements to the land or the construction of buildings 
• To ensure you are requesting the correct set of Title Deeds, provide the property's allotment number, selection number, and, if known, the name of the Parish and County
• Visit Picture Ipswich's Understanding Title Deeds for more

Post Office Directories

• An alphabetical listing of building occupants (may include occupation)
• A directory of trades and professions with street addresses
• A list of businesses
• Does not include street numbers
• Created between 1868 and 1949
• Ensure you stay on the trail of the right building, as street numbering systems may have changed (street names may also have changed and subdivisions could have resulted in the creation of new streets).  To limit confusion, record the names of landowners on either side of your property.
• Microfiche available in the Ipswich History Room

Rates & valuation books

• Describe a property
• Provide the names of owners / occupiers 
• Changes to land value over time
• Look for changes in the description of a building or set of buildings, to determine if and when improvements might have been made to the site
• Held by the Queensland State Archives 

Maps & Aerial Photos

Early parish maps will provide the name of the original land purchaser.  Later maps could indicate when land was subdivided, how roads and streets have changed (e.g. changes to shape, direction, length, etc).  Some historical maps will identify the location of businesses, churches, and schools and topographical maps can indicate how the lay of the land has changed over time.

Qimagery provides access to Queensland Government aerial photographs from 1946 on.  Aerial images will reveal when post-1946 out buildings (sheds, garages, etc) were constructed and when extensions were added.  The images will also show changes to garden design and fencing.  For more recent images, try Google Maps or Nearmaps (the later being a subscription service).  Also look at Picture Ipswich's Panoramas, Landscapes, & Aerial Views collection.

Newspapers

Use newspapers to find: 

• Tender notices
• House and land sales
• Possible information on past owners / tenants 

(Queensland Times is available on Trove up until 1954, microfilm in the Ipswich History Room for 1955-2020)

Photographs 

Photographs can reveal the changes that have occurred around a house.  There are a number of examples on Picture Ipswich of families lined up in front of their houses in the 19th century.  These provide an indication of how many people might have been living in the house and their ages.  These photos usually show the whole front perspective of the house and could include original fences and early gardens. 

By the early 20th century, and with more people have access to cameras, photos of a family around their house are more likely to be less focused on the house, and more focused on the people.  However, these images can still reveal information about the house, such as close-up details of railings, stairs, verandahs (and verandah furniture), and ferneries under a house.

Photos of house interiors are rare until the mid to late 20th century and the advent of built in flashes on cameras and improved film stock.  Interior photos could provide information on furnishings and original features, such as cornicing.

If you are able to trace descendants of past owners, ask if they have any photos of the family taken in and around the house.  Ask the question on social media and, of course, go on to Picture Ipswich to search for any images.

In 1991, as part of research for the Ipswich Heritage Study, photos were taken of a couple of thousand houses and other sites to be included alongside detailed citations of identified character places and areas.  These are available to view on Picture Ipswich. 

The Expanded Ipswich Heritage Study is also available on Picture Ipswich to read, however the associated images are not currently available outside of the three volumes.  The expanded study covers areas that were part of the former Moreton Shire boundaries. 

Also on Picture Ipswich, examine our collection of panoramas in case your house is visible.  Included in this collection are landscapes and aerial images.

State Library of Queensland's Corley Explorer has 61,000 images of houses taken by Frank and Eunice Corley in the 1960s and 1970s.

F.A.N. Club

Just like you would research the Friends, Associates, and Neighbours (their F.A.N. Club) of your relatives, you can also research the F.A.N. Club of your house. 

Start with the suburb, this might help to answer the question of why your house was built at this location.   The development of Ipswich has occurred in phases, for instance the eastern suburbs had a population boom in the 1950s and 1960s.  When was your house built in relation to the development phases of your suburb? 

Next, have a look around at the building types in your neighbourhood.  Where were the closest shops (shopping centres or corner stores) churches, and schools and are they within walking distance?  

What amenities are there?  Where are the nearest parks?  Is there a railway station, main road, or highway nearby? 

Were their employment opportunities, such as industrial and manufacturing sites or business and retail, that could have made this location a viable spot to build?

Finally, neighbours.  It is not uncommon for families to live close together, particularly if a larger block of land has been subdivided.  Siblings could live side-by-side, children might live next door to parents, or you could have three or more generations living in a row, with each house telling an architectural story of when they were built.  Houses might also have passed from one generation to the next.

House History 

Once you have completed your research, compile it in a format that can be shared.  Print a copy of your research out for yourself, but also have a copy that will remain with the house if you ever sell it (Picture Ipswich would be happy to take a copy as well).  Do not forget to document any changes that you make to the house and add these to your research as well.