A two-hour course at Tūranga today helped me discover who has lived in my house since it was built around 1935. We looked at historical aerial photos, investigated street names to see if there was a change (there was: my street was High Street until 1904), delved into Wise’s and Stone’s street directories (wearing orange gloves to turn the frail pages), looked at online street directories, electoral rolls and Papers Past.

I already had the Certificate of Title as a useful reference. It lists the owners but I found more names of people who lived here who I’m guessing were boarders or tenants.

The initial sale was of the section only or, as the title says, “a parcel of land”. I presume that the house was built by the Frederick and Hinemoa Andrews who bought the section from Laura Gregg. I noticed in the street directories that Laura Gregg lived further up the street. The Andrews owned it until 1972 when Hinemoa died aged 78 (Frederick having died in 1949 aged 61) but many other people appear to have lived in the house at least from the 1960s. In 1972 it passed to Hinemoa’s daughter (as I discovered from the Papers Past death notices).

Other glimpses I have had previously of former inhabitants include “I hate Mum” scratched into the back of a bedroom door, and the very brief and unremarkable diary of a young boy which I found behind the tongue and groove match lining in the old wash house.

Today, the most interesting details were found in Papers Past by entering my address.

1947 – Lost and Found: one red and one grey blanket strapped together near Otira. Urgent. (Perhaps they came loose from the roof of the Andrews’ car when they were on the West Coast.)

1957 – Art Union Draw: £5 won by George Weller of this address.

1961 – Car for Sale: 1954 Morris Minor

1961 – Engagements: Barbara Blair to Anthony Weller, son of Mr and Mrs George Weller

1980 – Cats, Dogs, Pets: 2 male tabby cats

1982 – Lost and Found: Two-tone jacket near ice skating rink in Cashmere. Please call Megan or Susan at (my phone number, minus the 3 added later), plus this address.

1988 – Garage Sale: Hold it, I thought. I bought the house in 1987 and don’t remember having a garage sale, particularly one which included alabaster lamps! Then I recalled that my flatmate had a garage sale. She was an alabaster lamp sort of person. Whatever they are.