Address and Residence History Sheet

Who this is for

Everywhere one person lived, in order. Each line has the dates, the address as the record gave it, who else was there, the source, and ticks for whether the building still stands and whether you have been to see it.

Family historians following one ancestor through census returns, certificates, directories and letters, and anyone planning a trip to see where the family actually lived.

What this helps you track

• Each address the person lived at, with the earliest and latest date you have for it
• Who else was in the household there, as the record names them
• The source for every line, so a move can be checked rather than assumed
• Whether the building still stands and whether you have visited
• The moves between addresses, which often explain the gaps in other records

How to use it

1. Write the person's name and life dates at the top, as far as you know them.
2. Add one line per address, copying it as the record gives it — the spelling, the house name, the district. Modern names can go in the notes.
3. Put the earliest and latest dates you can support in the from and to columns. If a record gives only one date, put it in both and say so in the notes.
4. Name who else was there, in the record's words, and give the source for the line.
5. Tick still standing when you have confirmed it — from a map, a visit or a photograph — and visited when you have been. Whether you may go inside or take photographs is for the present occupier to say.
6. Read the sheet top to bottom: the pattern of moves tells you where to look for the next record. On paper a second page carries on; on screen the sheet saves in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How do I know when someone moved?

Usually you do not, exactly. Records give a date on which a person was at an address, not the day they arrived or left. Put the dates you can support and note that they are bounds rather than the move itself.

Old address or modern one?

The old one, as written, in the address column, and the modern equivalent in the notes if you have worked it out. Streets are renamed and renumbered, so the original wording is what the next record will match.

What if the same address appears in several records?

One line, with the earliest and latest dates and all the sources. Where a family left and came back, give the second stay its own line.

Can I visit the address?

A street is public; a house is somebody's home. Look from the street, and ask before anything more. Whether a building still stands is often answerable from a current map before you travel.