Who lived in your house on the eve of the war?

[ElizabethHerts]

Well, no-one, as it hadn't been built.

Along with all the other bumph that came through our door this afternoon was a postcard-size notification giving information about the 1939 Register and saying to look for your house at findmypast.co.uk/... followed by the name of the town.

I'm about to go and find my childhood home in Devon.

[Margaret in Burton]

Ours hadn't been built then either. Our old house I know who lived there. I have a street directory for 1934 and my old neighbour who is now 91 was born there and knows the full history of the street. Lol:D:D

[ElizabethHerts]

I couldn't locate the individual house as there is no facility for entering a house name or number, but I found the street and recognised quite a few names from my childhood, including the couple who ran the local dairy and delivered our milk. He was a sweetie and they made the best vanilla ice cream ever!

[Nell]

The house I was brought up in didn't exist in 1939 and neither did the house I live in now.

[kiterunner]

First I didn't get the emails announcing it, and now I haven't got a postcard! ;( :d I've never really been into tracing the history of our house as it was repossessed from the previous owners who had gone bankrupt and took the fireplaces with them and cut the gas pipe to their cooker to remove it rather than have it disconnected properly. I know I did look at some old street directory listings one time in the library but not to see who was living in this particular house. Anyway, it does come up on the address search for the 1939 Register and it was a couple and a younger woman, perhaps their married daughter.

[James18]

I've never lived in a house built before 1939.

[Glen TK]

Mine wasn't even built in 1999

[JBee]

My house wasn't built in 1939

My Mum moved from north Birmingham that was being bombed to south Birmingham where a german bomber shot at her as she and her baby were rushing to the air raid shelter - luckily it didn't hit them.

Next house we moved into in mid 1950's had a bomb crater in the garden and I found bullets whilst playing by the local river.

[James18]

My house wasn't built in 1939

My Mum moved from north Birmingham that was being bombed to south Birmingham where a german doctor shot at her as she and her baby were rushing to the air raid shelter - luckily he didn't hit them.

Next house we moved into in mid 1950's had a bomb crater in the garden and I found bullets whilst playing by the local river.
I read that twice as doctor, and looked a third time as it seemed very strange. I could understand there being a German doctor (though I doubt he'd have been too popular) but thought the idea he'd shoot at your mother as she tried to get to a shelter a bit excessive.

That's what happens when you stay online too late. :D

[ElizabethHerts]

First I didn't get the emails announcing it, and now I haven't got a postcard! ;( :d I've never really been into tracing the history of our house as it was repossessed from the previous owners who had gone bankrupt and took the fireplaces with them and cut the gas pipe to their cooker to remove it rather than have it disconnected properly. I know I did look at some old street directory listings one time in the library but not to see who was living in this particular house. Anyway, it does come up on the address search for the 1939 Register and it was a couple and a younger woman, perhaps their married daughter.

This postcard came with a local leaflet delivery (not the postman). But it very much looks as though it is a FMP production - the typeset is similar, and at the bottom it has the familiar logo "A in association with the National Archives".

".... in 1939
From a population of 15,749
109 were in the notable profession of Railway Clerk

Top male occupation Gardener

Top female occupation Unpaid domestic duties"

[Merry]

lol James!

As per usual, I don't seem to be having much luck with searching this register for properties. I found the house I lived in before this one (built in the 1930s) but all the other houses I've lived in are either more recent or I don't know the number in the street.

I decided to see if I could find the house owned by my grandfather in the 1950/60s and also the house opposite that which would have been occupied by my great-great aunt in 1939.

I used the entry for my 2xg aunt to establish she was in the village and to pick up the district name (so, call that a cheat!). I know the surname and sex of the 1939 tenants of my grandfather's house so tried that and saw a very likely possibility. However, I cannot find a way to find these households without the names of the occupants which defeats the object completely. If I put the name of the village in anywhere on the address search I do get results but nothing for the above people (I viewed every household). If I put the village name in the place keywords on the person search I get a load of people but again, not including the people I know are there. There's also the issue that only a few houses show a property names on the address search results - it's inconceivable that my 2xg-aunt didn't include the name of her property on her form.

EDIT I did just try the street address for the above two houses, but as that was Church Lane I was surprised there were only eleven houses in the whole of Banbury district as there would probably be a Church Lane in most local villages and there's no way to tell what place you are looking at. Needless to say none of the occupiers were the right people!

Just in case someone can explain to me what I should be doing (if anything!!), I'm looking for Ivy House, Church Lane, Adderbury, Oxon (Banbury R.D.), occupied by Sophia F Buck b 1869 and Moorey House, Adderbury, Oxon (Banbury R.D.) occupied by the Misses Cawley (two spinster sisters and servants - I've found Helen 1876 and Blanche 1889 who look likely). I've included the names here though I'm trying to find the properties without using them.

[WendyPusey]

The house I currently live in wasn't built then, but the house I was born in was occupied by my Mum and my eldest sister in 1939.

[kiterunner]

lol James!

As per usual, I don't seem to be having much luck with searching this register for properties. I found the house I lived in before this one (built in the 1930s) but all the other houses I've lived in are either more recent or I don't know the number in the street.

I decided to see if I could find the house owned by my grandfather in the 1950/60s and also the house opposite that which would have been occupied by my great-great aunt in 1939.

I used the entry for my 2xg aunt to establish she was in the village and to pick up the district name (so, call that a cheat!). I know the surname and sex of the 1939 tenants of my grandfather's house so tried that and saw a very likely possibility. However, I cannot find a way to find these households without the names of the occupants which defeats the object completely. If I put the name of the village in anywhere on the address search I do get results but nothing for the above people (I viewed every household). If I put the village name in the place keywords on the person search I get a load of people but again, not including the people I know are there. There's also the issue that only a few houses show a property names on the address search results - it's inconceivable that my 2xg-aunt didn't include the name of her property on her form.

EDIT I did just try the street address for the above two houses, but as that was Church Lane I was surprised there were only eleven houses in the whole of Banbury district as there would probably be a Church Lane in most local villages and there's no way to tell what place you are looking at. Needless to say none of the occupiers were the right people!

Just in case someone can explain to me what I should be doing (if anything!!), I'm looking for Ivy House, Church Lane, Adderbury, Oxon (Banbury R.D.), occupied by Sophia F Buck b 1869 and Moorey House, Adderbury, Oxon (Banbury R.D.) occupied by the Misses Cawley (two spinster sisters and servants - I've found Helen 1876 and Blanche 1889 who look likely). I've included the names here though I'm trying to find the properties without using them.

I found out earlier that the "Street" field on the address search can also be the name of the village, when I was trying to look up the village where my mum lives now and failing!). Maybe they will consider renaming the field to avoid confusion?

If you put Adderbury in the "Street" field and Banbury R.D. in the borough / district field on the address search, it comes back with three choices: Adderbury, Adderbury W and Adderbury West. There are only a few houses for the first two of these, and 37 for the third one, most of which do not have a house name listed in the results list.

I remember from when I was doing postcoding in 1980, there were still some people whose address was just their name and the name of the village, no house name. And I believe this was more common in the 1930's.

It's a nightmare looking through the list of results for a surname as it doesn't seem to mark which you have already previewed, so you have to keep counting from the top, but then if you scroll down far enough you can't see how many are off the top of the screen! I don't see why they can't show the first surname in each household in the results list, since you get to see it in the free preview anyway.

Anyway, I think I previewed each "-" house name and didn't see the surnames you were looking for. So I am none the wiser, sorry.

[Anstey Nomad]

I just searched the street and all the individual house numbers came up.

Mr and Mrs Evans were living in our house, which was built between 1901 and 1911.

[Merry]

Thanks for doing that Kate. You got exactly the same results as me and I looked through all those results and found nothing too.

I also tried typing Adderbury in the Place Keywords box on the Person Search page. This brought back 116 names, none of which were Buck or Cawley!

In 1911 there were 494 people living in West Adderbury (where my family lived) and 857 in East Adderbury. Obviously there should only be a proportion of those sort of numbers showing in 1939 because of the closed records, but 116 still sounds very small and doesn't include the people I know were there.

West and East Adderbury are the names designated by Ancestry for 1911. I had previously understood the names to be Adderbury and Adderbury East, to separate the people living in the older part of the village (Adderbury) from those in the newer part (East). None of this background info seems helpful for the 1939 register search though.

[kiterunner]

Kelly's Directory of Oxfordshire 1939 says that Adderbury is the name of the parish which includes the townships and villages of East and West Adderbury and the chapelry of Milton:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/3145/GB1220-00002?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2 fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d3145%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=GB1220-00034

Miss Buck, Ivy house, and the Misses Cawley, Moorey house, are listed under Adderbury East. There are names of other residents and houses on there who you could try looking for on the 1939 Register.

[WendyPusey]

I wish I could search the 1929 database but I can't afford to get a sub just on the offchance of finding something.

[kiterunner]

You don't need a sub to search the 1939 Register, Wendy; the search is free. And a sub won't allow you to view the images anyway. I have done quite a bit of free searching and not felt the urge to buy credits to view anything yet.

[Merry]

Kelly's Directory of Oxfordshire 1939 says that Adderbury is the name of the parish which includes the townships and villages of East and West Adderbury and the chapelry of Milton:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/3145/GB1220-00002?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2 fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d3145%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=GB1220-00034

Miss Buck, Ivy house, and the Misses Cawley, Moorey house, are listed under Adderbury East. There are names of other residents and houses on there who you could try looking for on the 1939 Register.

Well I never re East and West! lol (Aunt Sophie looked just like the wicked witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz but without the green face!)

I will have another look later, but must get on with the decorating now.....

Thanks Kate.