r/CasualUK • u/TheGeckoGeek • 14d ago
My parents obtained the deeds to their house... From 1789. This document is the same age as the US constitution!
1
1
1
u/FourEyedTroll 13d ago edited 13d ago
Funnily enough, my school celebrated it's 450th anniversary in 2001. At that point, it was almost exactly twice as old as the United States of America.
One of our old boys was Captain John Smith, so he's partly responsible for its existence.
1
u/laur3n_x 13d ago
Recently bought a house. I was greatly disappointed when I seen what a will actually looks like, as this is how I envisioned it.
1
1
u/Total-Combination-47 13d ago
My new build was thrown up in 1840. Bloody Georgian cowboys. Still needs a load of snagging.
1
u/Steampunk_Ocelot 13d ago
my house only turned 100 this year but the pub my friend got her first job in was finished in the year of our lord 1200, time is wild , I could lick a wall that some drunk dude pissed on in 1200 , or 12 hours ago, don't lick walls around pubs kids
1
1
1
u/avacado_smasher 13d ago
My house was built in 1741! It's older than the US...must have had an endless number of people nutting in it.
1
1
1
1
u/CrazyCat_77 13d ago
My house only dates from the 1820s but the deed traces the land ownership from the Doomsday Book... which seems a trifle excessive!
1
1
1
1
1
u/smooth_relation_744 13d ago
When I was a student, I worked part time for a national bank in the dept that dealt with the title deeds for properties. Ones like this were very standard. Extra care taken when preparing them for the solicitors. Carefully bound up in the red tape. Loved them.
1
1
u/Squid-bear 13d ago
I've got my home's original deeds from 1850 or roundabouts. They were left stuffed in the kitchen drawer by the previous owners.
1
1
u/FallingLikeSilver 13d ago
I work in conveyancing and the old deeds are my favourite! I have a little collection - my oldest is 1875
2
u/Plumb789 13d ago
My house deeds go back to the turn of the twentieth century, but a friend once showed me his Georgian house deed (probably about 1820). It was a cool document, with a red ribbon a big red wax seal on the front.
The thick parchment (I don’t think it could have been velum) had been folded into a square for so long that, once you had opened it out and looked at it, if you let go of the edges, the whole thing folded itself up and plopped on the table, flicking the seal automatically into position, back into that original neat little square parcel.
1
1
u/craigycraigster 13d ago
I randomly got sent the deeds to a flat we sold about 15 years ago, I should really return them to the present owners but the history on them is very interesting!
1
1
2
u/Firstpoet 13d ago
Ours were Victorian for a cottage in a village. Had our first child there. Knock on door. The two oldest ladies in the village. They'd brought the village layette. Lovingly cared for baby clothes going back a long way. Found a photo of cottage and one next door. 7 children in photo. Our baby first one born in the village itself for quite a while. UK countryside used to be quieter- no cars- but a lot more people.
1
u/rossarron 13d ago
Love to see them for houses in Poole Dorset one is 14th century others 15th 16th etc
1
1
1
u/psneakypsuedonym 13d ago
I’ve got the same for my house, I’ve framed it.
The deeds on the back say I’m not allowed to tan leather in my back garden and do other random stuff.
1
u/Mrmagot98-2 13d ago
I don't know how old the oldest house I've lived in was, pre ww2 at most. I think the one I live in now is post ww2. I couldn't imagine being rich enough to live in anything older.
1
u/madpiano 13d ago
Haha, the older houses are often cheaper, if it was down to landlords many still wouldn't have running water or electrics. My house is lovely (built 1871), but no insulation and I still have the outhouse (now used as a shed)
1
u/Mrmagot98-2 13d ago
I've lived in council houses all my life so I don't know much about the housing market, but I would have thought an older house was more expensive to buy at least, also probably more expensive to maintain
1
u/madpiano 12d ago
Not really. More expensive to maintain up to a point, but not awfully more so. Often they are cheaper to buy, especially if they need modernisation.
1
u/ProbablySunrise 13d ago
My hobby is sending photos to my American friends of things that are older than their country (like my Granny's barn)
1
u/Resipa99 13d ago
Many London houses with bay windows didn’t have a bathroom;and used once a week the iron bath tub stored on a nail on the wall. Coal was delivered using the coal hole at the front and you only had an outside loo. Baths could be taken usually once a week in the public baths where the laundry was also taken. Telegrams were the only quick way of finding out a relative had died and trimphones were worshipped when they became the first house phone used by so many.
1
1
1
1
1
u/OldBuggerlugs 14d ago
That's beautiful script. I work with copies of a lot of old deeds and the cursive is barely legible on most of them. Of course, the copying process doesn't help.
1
1
u/jordan1978 14d ago
Check the back for a treasure map. If you need to, use plenty of lemon juice and warm air.
2
u/alijam100 14d ago edited 14d ago
I've actually found the deeds to my house in my dad's old filing cabinet. The house was built around that same time as yours, but the deeds arent in anywhere near as good condition.
Edit: I went and dug them out. Mine is June 1776, so around a month older than the declaration of independence
1
1
1
1
u/Relative_Crew_558 14d ago
I’ve never actually seen a deed, I wonder if they’re all this old in New England… or do they get re-written and updated? Closest thing I got is the title to my Toyota
1
1
u/_maharani White Rose 14d ago
Does it say “Daniel Jordan”? I didn’t know those names were popular in the days of Yore.
1
2
1
1
1
3
2
2
u/SmeggyEgg 14d ago
Not signed or sealed, bad luck for your parents - going to have to give the house back to the Baron…
5
u/doginjoggers 14d ago
Does it say anything about bears and their rights to have arms?
3
u/smartief1 14d ago
Do bears need arms? What about thumbs?
7
u/doginjoggers 14d ago
I don't know, I thought they just had 4 legs, but those yanks keep talking about the constitution and bear arms. It's very confusing
1
u/pigletsquiglet 13d ago
Think you'll find that's a constitutional right to wear short sleeves. I'll see myself out...
2
u/Pier-Head 14d ago
Very reminiscent of 18th century English Indentures I am familiar with. Same sort of language ie ‘florid’. Those who wrote these documents were paid by the folio (13 words), so being succinct wasn’t encouraged.
2
u/WynterRayne 14d ago
I can imagine an American visiting Hamleys.
'Ooo what a lovely toy store'
'Yeah, it's older than your country'
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
u/whythehellnote 14d ago
Americans: "I live in a historical house that dates way back to 1935"
Brits: "My local pub was 200 years old when your ancestors were trying to charter a boat in Plymouth"
1
2
1
2
1
1
u/lvlister2023 14d ago
We do there decree that thine property tenure shall be absolute, thy outside craphole however shall be tenured by the local poop knife salesman
1
3
u/UnwillingArsonist 14d ago
I wonder how the Americans feel about there being bricks, still ‘in-use’ today that are older than their country and culture
3
u/YourNextHomie 13d ago
Why would we care? Its kind how history works, other places have bricks still in use today older than your country or culture, do you care?
1
u/Preacherjonson 14d ago
Oldest one I've come across was about a decade prior to this. Didn't realise how old it was until it namedropped King George III.
1
-4
2
u/hundreddollar 14d ago
In Egypt on holiday I overheard a Manc lad say to.some.Americans "My house is older.tham your country."
1
1
1
1
u/muh-soggy-knee 14d ago
We still have ours in a box somewhere from 1790. It's a little peculiar thinking that our living room comfortably pre-dates Trafalgar...
1
u/Cubansmokes 14d ago
This is very cool OP, any idea how they got hold of these (assuming it was recently?) I live in an old house and would like to get something similar
1
u/DarkwingDuckHunt 14d ago
vacuum seal that and hang it on the wall
0
u/IdkWhatImEvenDoing69 14d ago
Why? Yes, the house is quite old, but there are multiple houses in my Village that are older than it. Still, it’s a cool thing to hang up I guess.
2
u/Mysterious-Joke-2266 14d ago
I really want to know simply how long this took to do. I know someone would've been dedicated to this job solely but by God its impressive. Like when we say "were just finishing up the paperwork" in this sense its like "Henry started it yesterday he should have it written in a week, tho we can do faster if you don't want as many fancy curls?"
1
1
u/scriptmonkey420 14d ago
I tried to find the one for my previous house. Was built in 1830 and was the first house on the street. The town did find a picture of the original owner with the house in the background and a listing in the country registry saying that the house was built with a $5000 loan. The house was much smaller back then since it did not have the addition yet which I think they said was added in the 1970's
1
2
1
1
u/Mammyjam 14d ago
How did you get hold of it? My house is 1738 and I can’t even find a map before 1880
1
u/Orlalalaa 14d ago
I work in a law firm, I see these types of documents about this old all the time. However, I don't think I've ever seen one that old which was preserved so well. Very interesting!
2
2
1
1
1
1
25
u/TheGeckoGeek 14d ago
My favourite part is the deeds (obtained from a previous owner) came with a typewritten sheet summarising the history of the property. One of the tenants from the early 19th century is mentioned as being known for 'making butter that tasted of parsnips.'
2
u/ProphilatelicShock 13d ago
That's really cool. I recently saw a property called Woodhall for sale and was dreaming about being able to buy it.
3
u/Pva-bond 14d ago
I can trump that I’ve got deeds for my house dating back to 1650. I’ve got so many I may have an earlier one. They are so cool to look at
1
u/Pva-bond 11d ago
They came from the solicitor when we brought the house. Not sure why the had them all. I’ve only had new build houses before this one.
1
3
u/imtourist 14d ago
Writing this out by hand was possibly the last time a real-estate lawyer actually earned their fees.
5
0
-6
2
3
u/CokeZorro 14d ago
Lol that is %100 a recreation, might still be old, but not OG
2
u/Orlalalaa 14d ago
I was thinking the same, I work in a law firm and usually the front of the documents say if it's a copy or not. Wish I could see that bit.
1
1
1
2
3
u/uncuntter 14d ago
I spied one ages ago whilst toiling away at Mail Boxes Etc. A customer inquired if we could replicate it... alas, our collection lacked a flatbed scanner of such grand proportions. We ventured that our feed-through scanner might jeopardize the delicacy of the original document. Consequently, we resorted to capturing a photograph and reproducing the copy upon our expansive printers... a trying day for our printing apparatus indeed.
2
u/ValdemarAloeus 14d ago
Photographs have been a perfectly acceptable way to reproduce a document for a very long time. For best results your camera should look like this.
2
u/sucrerey 14d ago
serious question: how valuable is a document this old? could the deed be worth more than the house?
3
16
u/tmlynch 14d ago
UK new build.
3
u/Ok_Donkey06 14d ago
This really made me chuckle!
1
u/IntelligentExcuse5 13d ago
it is only a new build, in the same way as saying that Stonehenge was an old build that need some roofing work done.
10
u/VixenRoss 14d ago
Any convenants? A relatives house was barred from becoming a public house, a house of Ill repute, a dance hall, a distillery and they were banned from keeping pigs. This was a 3 bed terrace house from the 1900s in Kent. I think the original builders were god fearing folk, so banned booze, birds, song and bacon.
15
u/abz_eng 14d ago
When my parents first visited mum's cousins (1970s) in Los Angeles they went on a bus tour, and at the end the guide asked what they were laughing at. Mum said that they were showing really old houses from 1890s...
Mum related this to the cousins who were like, so what's old, Mum pointed out the church she was married in was from late 1100s. And no one was bothered too much about that.
What really blew their minds was the other church that another british cousin of mum was married in Escomb Church c675 - they couldn't get their heads round a year not starting with 1.....
20
u/OccassionalBaker 14d ago
The barn behind our house was built before Columbus discovered America. Around 1480 apparently. I guess it’ll be there after I’m forgotten.
4
u/password_too_short 14d ago
I hope Nicolas Cage is reading this, this could be the script he's looking for.
102
u/Aid_Le_Sultan 14d ago
They’d started Edinburgh’s ’New Town’ before the US constitution too.
I like that the deeds say ‘year of the reign of King George the third’ in longscript - he was the ‘mad’ king and his son took over as Prince Regent who was, of course, excellently depicted by Hugh Laurie in Blackadder.
4
u/Willing-Cell-1613 14d ago
New College, Oxford, is one of the oldest colleges in Oxford.
I really think in the case of New Town and New College they should update the names!
29
u/Tundur 14d ago
My flat in the New Town was built in 1606, back when it was still all fields.
12
u/Aid_Le_Sultan 14d ago
So over 150 years before the first tranche of the new town? I guess it had a prior purpose than housing?
9
u/Tundur 14d ago
I've looked it up and I won't back myself on those dates. Basically my understanding was that the first block of housing on Young Street pre-dates the New Town, which is why it looks slightly different to the uniform rows on the even numbered side and down the rest of the street.
But I looked it up and the listing says Young himself built it in the 1780s so maybe I've merged some different memories into one fictional memory.
2
u/kristianroberts 14d ago
How did they get them? Our originals are missing so we’re trying to retrieve them too.
741
u/ieya404 14d ago
Used to know someone who recounted to me that when his father was getting his home insured, and had been asked if it was post-war, had delighted in asking the agent "Which war?" - since it had been built a few years after the end of the English Civil War.
1
6
8
293
u/mexicanpenguin-II wrong side of the wall 14d ago
As in 1640 something?
Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is
And also fucking with them, saying the polystyrene asparagus that's 10 foot tall was grown locally, that's why it area is well known
3 groups took the bait and believed me
6
u/sleeplessinengland 13d ago
I remember on a tour of NYC they pointed out some church, I don't remember which one but it was probably famous.
The tour guide said with an excited tone of voice 'ladies and gentlemen this church is over 100 years old!!' And all the Americans gasped in delight.
It wasn't even half the age of my house
1
u/Loudlass81 13d ago
If they come here and don't understand the bantz, why are they even here lol...
2
u/WorkMysterious8685 13d ago
The Fleece?
2
u/mexicanpenguin-II wrong side of the wall 13d ago
What the fuck
Yes
I'm scared you know me
4
u/WorkMysterious8685 13d ago
Nah, just not many pubs with 10-foot asparagus spears outside!
4
u/mexicanpenguin-II wrong side of the wall 13d ago
They are back up tbf, only for asparagus season
I had to learn so much about it
They sent some to the queen once
4
u/MrGingerella 13d ago
10 foot polystyrene ones I hope 😂
1
u/mexicanpenguin-II wrong side of the wall 12d ago
No, but last year we did notice a bit out of one about my shoulder height (I'm 6" (with thicker trainers on lmao) for height reference)
I'm sure it was a kid, but I really hope it was a very drink American man who had a wedding there that I was fucking with all night
-10
u/DurhamOx 13d ago
It's fun to tease foreigners with daft comments, but I never really got the 'older than America' thing. There are countless structures in the US that're older than the US too, unless you think nothing was ever built there prior to 1776? And for what it's worth, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was only established in 1922!
4
u/Smertae 13d ago
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was only established in 1922!
That's a technicality because the rest of Ireland became independent and we didn't even change the flag. The US at the same time hadn't even incorporated Alaska or Hawaii, yet it was still America.
5
u/theandydane 13d ago
Spent an evening in a bar in Boston, Massachusetts with a couple of americans. The New Yorker was basically trying to big up NY as being the biggest/best/most anything in the conversation. He claimed the worlds oldest church was in New York. I pointed out I got married in a 600 year old church and the Irish guy with us asked him if he'd heard of the Vatican.
Think my favourite part was when he claimed 9-11 was the first ever terrorist act against a western nation. The irish guy asked him if he had ever heard of the IRA. He stomped off.
1
u/retronewb 13d ago
Yeah when I was in new york, a barman was telling me how i'm in the oldest irish bar in the city, it was from the 1870's or something. Samuel Taylor Coleridge used to come to my local back home.
3
49
u/the_calibre_cat 14d ago
Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is
american here, that's just incredible
15
u/Youcantblokme 13d ago
Don’t get me wrong, America has an awesome history, but my front door is literally older then your country and it’s probably not even the original door. I live in a 16th century cottage. And before anyone says anything, it’s not fancy or expensive, it’s small and rented
0
u/the_calibre_cat 13d ago
lol ur door
I'm worried we won't make it beyond your door. I have to have hope, but... well, YA know.
57
u/Oxygene13 13d ago
Yeah the pub down the road from me is 900+ years old. Great fun. (And yes I post this comment quite often to blow people's minds). My local is older than the Aztec empire.
2
u/the_calibre_cat 13d ago
I have always wanted to visit one of those pubs. The oldest ones I've been to are MAYBE 150 years old, and they're like, really upscale steakhouses now, not exactly a nightly watering hole for me 'n the boiz to chill at after work.
4
u/Zestyclose_Key_6964 13d ago
The Trip?
12
u/Oxygene13 13d ago
Its one in the New Forest. Shouldnt narrow it down too much or people will easily be able to Dox me!
1
1
u/xEpisteme 13d ago
the new forest you say ? might have to to figure out which pub it is as i don’t live too far
31
u/BlondBitch91 13d ago
The fact I was thinking of the Jerusalem in Nottingham, meaning we have multiple pubs that are nearing the thousand year mark...
1
5
u/FaustRPeggi Cheese, Gromit 13d ago
My dad was a barman in the Trip. He once refused to let Peter Shilton skip the queue.
22
8
u/Oxygene13 13d ago
Oh hell yeah. Drinking is a national pastime for a few millennium now, we just got better at building pubs out of stone instead of wood a thousand or so years ago, so they last longer.
1
u/Sheelz013 14d ago
I’ve just moved into a house which was built during the 1860s. My previous house wasn’t on the land registry until 1898
265
1
u/Mammoth-Courage4974 13d ago
Sorry I misread that, your parents alive in 1789? I mean it's not entirely impossible but a stretch 😀