Who Owned That Property?

orwen

Hi,

Am trying to trace ownership of a property (now a shop) in Twickenham. London UK.

By speaking to the current occupant, I know this is now a rented property - but how do I find out who the landlord is please? The occupant hasn't said.

What I want to know (local history) is, who owned or rented the property, circa 1960-1970; presumably this information with be included with the deeds to the property?

Many thanks!

user1977

Assuming the title is registered, you get the current owner's details from the Land Registry. Or you ask the tenant (did you ask them? Not sure what "hasn't said" means!).

But that (probably) isn't going to tell you anything about previous owners, and any pre-registration "deeds" may well no longer exist (or at least not be in the possession of the current owner). You might be better trying other sources of local history.

Alderbank

Start with the Land Registry. If there is an entry it will tell you the current owner but not any tenants.

If there is no entry then ownership has not changed since 1990s, so probably a company. There will be a good chance that nearby properties are owned by the same company so ask neighbours. If it is a company they might still have historic records of tenants, but probably not, and even if they do they will probably be unwilling to share data with you.

The tenant might have paid business rates. There would have been records but they might no longer exist. Ask Richmond Council Rates Office at the Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ

Section62

orwen said:

What I want to know (local history) is, who owned or rented the property, circa 1960-1970; presumably this information with be included with the deeds to the property?

Trade Directories or Telephone Directories might help - try the Ancestry website.  If you don't have personal Ancestry access you may be able to use it at a local library if your one subscribes to the Library Edition.

Grizebeck

Try LR first. Uncles house purchased in the 1970s was available on the LR website

Grumpy_chap

orwen said:

Hi,

Am trying to trace ownership of a property (now a shop) in Twickenham. London UK.

By speaking to the current occupant, I know this is now a rented property - but how do I find out who the landlord is please? The occupant hasn't said.

What I want to know (local history) is, who owned or rented the property, circa 1960-1970; presumably this information with be included with the deeds to the property?

Many thanks!

I am most intrigued by your question.
Which shop is it?
Exactly what are you looking to know?  Past owner and past user may be two different things.
Land Registry may be of some use, as others have said but may not record a user of the premises if the owner was different and the user did not have a registrable interest (long lease).

You say "now a shop".  What was the site in the period of interest?
What was the site prior to that period?
If the site has changed, you may find details on the planning portal, though aged records may well require a visit in person to the Council offices:
https://www2.richmond.gov.uk/lbrplanning/Planning_search.aspx
(It was Twickenham Urban District Council back then until LBRuT came into existence in 1965).

Is it a building of note or local interest?
If so, you may wish to visit the Twickenham Museum, 25 Embankment, Twickenham, TW1 3DU:
https://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/

There is also the Borough of Twickenham Local History Society:
http://botlhs.co.uk/

There are quite a number of published books for the local area.  You mentioned that the property is now a shop.  Is it in a shopping area?  One of the books is specific to the history of shopping areas, so that may give you the exact answers you are after.
One Hundred Years of Shopping in the Old Borough of Twickenham
Published 1999
ISBN 0-9033-4171-9

There are also numerous community Facebook groups covering the local villages in the area, so if you know which local area exactly, you could put a question on there and may strike lucky. 

Hope that helps - I remain entirely intrigued by your query.

bouicca21

There are lots of guides that are useful for tracing the history of a property and it’s occupants. Some are online.

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/your-homes-history/how-to-find-out/who-lived-here/
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/london-metropolitan-archives/collections/house-history

Probably worth a chat with the local history librarian, https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/libraries/branch_libraries/local_studies_collection

and of course there are published guides that you can buy or maybe borrow from a library, e.g. Nat Alcock, Documenting the History of Houses

orwen

user1977 said:

Assuming the title is registered, you get the current owner's details from the Land Registry. Or you ask the tenant (did you ask them? Not sure what "hasn't said" means!).

But that (probably) isn't going to tell you anything about previous owners, and any pre-registration "deeds" may well no longer exist (or at least not be in the possession of the current owner). You might be better trying other sources of local history.

I have contacted the Twickenham Local History society - about a week ago, no response yet. The current renter did not disclose the details of the landlord.

orwen

Alderbank said:

...

The tenant might have paid business rates. There would have been records but they might no longer exist. Ask Richmond Council Rates Office at the Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ

I found a lot - but ... the 1960s phone number I was chasing was POP 1234, thought it was Poplar, but it turned up as POPesgrove in Twickenham. I found the modern number, so traced the premises. But I want to know who had the POP exchange / phone number in the 60s. Probably a music agent, because the phone number was in a music paper or magazine.

orwen

Grumpy_chap said:

orwen said:

Hi,

Am trying to trace ownership of a property (now a shop) in Twickenham. London UK.

By speaking to the current occupant, I know this is now a rented property - but how do I find out who the landlord is please? The occupant hasn't said.

What I want to know (local history) is, who owned or rented the property, circa 1960-1970; presumably this information with be included with the deeds to the property?

Many thanks!

I am most intrigued by your question.
Which shop is it?

Thank you. It is currently rented by a business called Holly & Co, 149 St Margarets Road, TW1. Prior to that is was Denham & Finney, a gift shop. I emailed the last contact address I could find for Denham's, but it bounced - so I can't get any further back. The telephone number of this premises caught my attention many many years ago, I have now identified the building, but I'd like to know who resided here in the mid 1960s, probably a film or music agency - the building is 3 minutes walk from the Twickenham Studios.

Grumpy_chap

OK - have you tried phoning the phone number?  It is possible that whichever business owned a distinctive number has retained it through successive acquisitions if the business still exists.
Outer London dialling code (0208)
POPesgrove exchange is 892 (was 707 previously)
You have the last part.

Holly & Co also closed now (as a physical shop) but still operates online.
That stretch of road has been retail / commercial since at least when the railway came - St Margarets railway station is a few yards away and was in-situ since before the period you are interested in -  railway station opened 1876

The planning portal has nothing since before 2016 online.  A direct enquiry to the Local Authority may reveal historical information.

There are a couple of local FB pages that might be worth enquiring on - quite likely there is someone who will remember.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/StMargaretsandEastTwickenham/?locale=en_GB
https://www.facebook.com/groups/447440405413269/

You may also find that the St Margarets Traders Association can assist:
http://www.mystmargarets.com/
https://www.richmond.gov.uk/local_town_and_traders_organisations#stmargarets

Also, it is not necessarily the owner you are after but the occupier / user.  It is possible that the user was not whoever occupied the retail unit at the time, but whoever had the flat / office upstairs.

Do you have a scan of the initial article you can share that originally piqued your interest?

Good luck, and please do feedback with the outcome.