This depends on the scope of your chosen package. 

Our House Tales packages are designed to give you a handful of curated glimpses into your home's history and the people who shaped it - rather than a full chronological timeline.

For our more in-depth packages (Classics, Comprehensives and Premiums), we will trace ownership chronologically as far back as records allow, uncovering as many individuals and families as possible within your chosen scope.

As Classic packages are limited to online records, this may mean that findings are mostly post-1840s (as most older records are found in the physical archives, which are explored in a Comprehensive or Premium package).

Please note that information available on occupants and owners after the 1939 register can be very variable due to privacy laws limiting access to national records.

Yes, we will transcribe and reference any records/material already in your possession. Depending on the extent, this time can either be included as part of the research time in your package, or we can add additional hours to your package - we can advise on this pre or post-booking.

In terms of research you have already undertaken, we will also need to check, transcribe and reference your research - and again, depending on the extent of this, the time can either be included as part of the research time or be added to your package.

Please email us: support@pursuingthepast.co.uk if you have any questions.

Yes, you can always upgrade later at the cost of the difference between the two packages.

Precise build dates emerge in about half of our house histories - though the likelihood of finding them varies with the property's status and age (and is more likely in our bigger packages, which give us access to physical archives), we have uncovered construction dates for Victorian homes even in our House Tales research. 

In our online research packages (the House Tales and the Classic packages), if precise dates can’t be found for Victorian and Edwardian properties, we are usually able to narrow down construction periods using maps. For older properties, archive research may be needed to provide a construction period. It depends on the status of the property and the available records for each property.

Architect and builder details tend to surface more often for grander properties.

Historical photographs are available for about 5-10% of properties, so they are relatively rare but exciting to find! They are much more likely to be found for grander properties and in our archive packages, but we have also been lucky to find photographs for more humble properties and even in our online research packages.

The main focus of our work is the social history of a house; however, we will always include details of the house’s architecture and development whenever we find them during our research.

We will ask you to share anything you know about the house and its history and development before we begin your commission – as any information you have could be very useful in our research and in building a fuller picture of the house’s history.

Yes! For homes built after 1920, we offer our Modern House Tales package, which explores your property's surroundings, the land it was built on and how your neighborhood has evolved over time.

Many historical records are now available online, including census returns, maps and newspapers, and our House Tales and Classic packages harness these online resources to uncover fascinating details about your property's past.

However, the full story of your home often extends beyond digital archives. For a deeper exploration, many valuable records are still only accessible in local and national archives, including deeds, tax records, older maps, wills and probate records, sales particulars, estate and manorial records, and more. Our Comprehensive and Premium packages include this archival research, often revealing additional layers of your home's history.

In over 90% of cases, we find sufficient records to create your home's story. After booking a full package, our first step is to conduct a records check. If we find that there aren’t sufficient records to fulfil your chosen package, we will adjust the package level and refund the difference. If we find that your home can’t be easily identified in enough records to fulfil our smallest package, you will receive a full refund less our £50 search fee.

If we find that your house can’t easily be identified in records, this doesn’t mean that no records are available for your house anywhere, but just that we can’t guarantee that further research would produce the results needed to be able to fulfil one of our packages. In this case, we will advise on next steps.

If you prefer, you can book a Package Check first to determine if a property is eligible for one of our house history packages, and which package it is best suited to.