A House Through Time on BBC2 - the story of the research

Anglia Research, one of the UK’s leading probate genealogy and legal research companies, was invited by TV production company, Twenty Twenty Television to work on A House Through Time. Imogen was involved with the project from the outset, spending hours at Liverpool Archives compiling a timeline of the residents of 62 Falkner Street and developing their family trees.

 

 

The BBC said: “Through the prism of one single terraced house in Liverpool, this series tells a story of Britain from the 1840s to the present day - a period of seismic social change.

 

“In the first episode of this series David follows the stories of the first inhabitants of the house… how the house came to be built as a merchant’s residence by a canny property developer at a time when Liverpool was one of the great trading ports of the British Empire.

 

“He then uncovers the story of the very first tenant, a customs clerk with a taste for fine furniture and the high life, and explores what happened to his lavish lifestyle when the money dried up.”  

 

 

Imogen said: “Twenty Twenty Television approached Anglia Research to see if we could help identify a street in the city in which they could build a historical documentary looking at the lives of the inhabitants over the years. I suggested Falkner Street, off Hope Street, in the area which has now come to be known as the Georgian Quarter and reflects the rise, decline and regeneration of the city over the decades.”

 

The producers chose 62 Falkner Street and Imogen, along with other researchers, continued to look into the lives of the families who had lived there from the first resident, Richard Glenton, a clerk for HM Customs at The Custom House to the current owner, Gaynor Evans.

 

Imogen added: “The research work was fascinating. Tracing families is what we do on a daily basis but this had an extra dimension to it because it gave me an opportunity to step into the lives and the stories of the people who called it their home.”