Astonishing, and a great read. I was bought up in a house in a small village in Scotland, built by my ancestors in the 18th century. It was not until I was an adult that I realised that people bought and sold houses, let alone the complexities of renting! In our part of the world you either had a family house that you lived in, or your house came with the job e.g. gamekeeper.
I really enjoyed this, Lisa. FWIW, growing up playing golf, "Moving Day" was associated with the Saturday third round at the Masters tournament in Augusta, GA, one of the four "major" tournaments. I've known my own version of "moving day" just shy of 40 times in my almost 71 years. Haven't looked up the dates yet, but I wonder if the 19th-century US census enumeration periods took moving day into consideration.
That's a great point! From my cursory research, it looks like the enumerator visits for the Canadian censuses moved around the calendar- anywhere from spring to later in the summer.
During my twenties I always recalled May 1st as Moving Day but didn't know of its historical origins. I thought it was because landlords couldn't evict tenants during winter months. Now you've got me thinking about where that came from.
@Lisa, this is amazing - thanks! I’ve never heard of “moving day”, likely because my roots are usually found deep in farmlands, villages and small towns across the Midwest. That said, there’s one line in Detroit, but they were a family of masons and built their homes as show houses to convince clients of their expertise.
It would be fascinating to do a modified “one place study” focused on a family’s “Moving Day” history, wouldn’t it!?
Fascinating piece of personal and community history. It’s hard to fathom a million New Yorkers moving at the same time! P.S. I love old city directories.
I learned something new today! Thanks for this piece, directories are fascinating and I miss old phonebooks. Will look for that Caitlan painting at the MET. It’s lovely.
This is fascinating- I wonder if this was a theme in Europe, as well. My Austro-Hungarian ancestors rented and moved frequently. Is there any insight as to why renters would leave after just one year? Thank you for this information!
In the case of Griffintown I think it was flooding that drove many people out of their home every spring. Generally I believe it was that leases were annual. Not everyone moved every year, but without tenants protections, landlords would get people out to raise the rent (or conversely, raise the rent to get people out) and that was an annual opportunity.
Astonishing, and a great read. I was bought up in a house in a small village in Scotland, built by my ancestors in the 18th century. It was not until I was an adult that I realised that people bought and sold houses, let alone the complexities of renting! In our part of the world you either had a family house that you lived in, or your house came with the job e.g. gamekeeper.
I really enjoyed this, Lisa. FWIW, growing up playing golf, "Moving Day" was associated with the Saturday third round at the Masters tournament in Augusta, GA, one of the four "major" tournaments. I've known my own version of "moving day" just shy of 40 times in my almost 71 years. Haven't looked up the dates yet, but I wonder if the 19th-century US census enumeration periods took moving day into consideration.
That's a great point! From my cursory research, it looks like the enumerator visits for the Canadian censuses moved around the calendar- anywhere from spring to later in the summer.
During my twenties I always recalled May 1st as Moving Day but didn't know of its historical origins. I thought it was because landlords couldn't evict tenants during winter months. Now you've got me thinking about where that came from.
I've been running across more city directories in my research lately. Very cool resource.
@Lisa, this is amazing - thanks! I’ve never heard of “moving day”, likely because my roots are usually found deep in farmlands, villages and small towns across the Midwest. That said, there’s one line in Detroit, but they were a family of masons and built their homes as show houses to convince clients of their expertise.
It would be fascinating to do a modified “one place study” focused on a family’s “Moving Day” history, wouldn’t it!?
Great work! Fascinating!!
I always learn something reading your work. Thank you.
Fascinating piece of personal and community history. It’s hard to fathom a million New Yorkers moving at the same time! P.S. I love old city directories.
So, this is what the opening lines of 'Mountain Greenery' mean - it's not just something Lorenz Hart made up.
You learn something new every day!
Great read, thank you.
I learned something new today! Thanks for this piece, directories are fascinating and I miss old phonebooks. Will look for that Caitlan painting at the MET. It’s lovely.
This is fascinating- I wonder if this was a theme in Europe, as well. My Austro-Hungarian ancestors rented and moved frequently. Is there any insight as to why renters would leave after just one year? Thank you for this information!
In the case of Griffintown I think it was flooding that drove many people out of their home every spring. Generally I believe it was that leases were annual. Not everyone moved every year, but without tenants protections, landlords would get people out to raise the rent (or conversely, raise the rent to get people out) and that was an annual opportunity.