There are two main ways to search a PDF in Acrobat Reader:
1.        Look for the binoculars symbol in the Toolbar” and click; or
2.        click edit, then click search.
This will bring up a 'search pane'. Click new search and enter the words you wish to search. Initially try click current pdf but later perhaps you may wish to search several documents at the same time, so click all pdf documents in a selected directory or folder. Sometimes the search facility will not respond if you have more than one word so you may miss some of the relevant entries. So check by searching each key word at a time.

'Health' Warning please note that the PDF documents in the Historical Analysis Tools section are research tools and are not perfect! They have been derived from scanning original documents or images using OCR technology and this does not give perfect results. Other documents are created from spreadsheets and the base data may not be completely accurate or have gaps. Despite this the 'Tools' should enable a large number of residents to research their interests.

Resources on this site are often in PDF format. You can download an individual PDF one at a time, or for users of Broadband a whole group at a time. The PDFs can then be searched on your computer.

Kellys Directories and Directories of Gerrards Cross are available from 1903 onwards and show who lived where and when up to 1940. Search the Directories For individual years there may be a Name Directory, a Road Directory and in one year a House Name Directory as well.

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Starting from your house number and name today, look through the historic road directories of Gerrards Cross at the entries for your street noting the position of your house in relation to others in the street. Some houses may retain the same name for some time historically. Also look for the name of the original purchaser of the property in the earliest name directories.

Consult the 'Atlas' for your road and area for general and specific information about neighbourhoods and houses. The Atlas data tables for the Neighbourhoods are available at Atlas Data Tables.

GX2006 have researched and catalogued the Planning Applications made to the Eton Rural District Council up to 1937 and the Amersham Rural District Council up to 1925.

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This catalogue is available at Planning Applications in searchable PDF format and sorted by date of planning application, by owner, by architect, by builder and by address. Start with the 'by address' version and look at the roads in your area. (NB. sometimes the entry you need is in an adjacent road.) Some of the properties have already been identified but many require your own research. It is quite likely that the original purchaser’s name will not appear in the planning database as many houses were built by developers who made the application and subsequently sold to the 'original purchaser' Also many houses were built and then rented, so the Directories may show 'occupier' rather than 'owner'. Search the 'by architect' and 'by builder' which may show if the 'owner' was an architect or builder. Then check out against the 'by owner', was this person, owner of a number of properties?

By combining the above sources, GX2006 has produced some 'working tools' to show the relation between: 'People, Houses and Streets' as searchable PDF documents.

Specifically look for original purchasers names in the 'People' database. This may connect with the house names, streets at which this person lived and when (according to the Directories). You will need to use the magnification feature to read the data in the PDF. The column headings are:

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Or in reverse, if you have a series of house names, look to see if this connects with any resident’s names and dates in the 'GXmasterworkinglistpersonsbystreet' database. You will need to use the magnification feature to read the data in the PDF. The column headings are:

'GXstreetbyhouses' will tell you when a house was first mentioned in a directory and is a good initial guide to what houses were called. But please check out in the individual Directories for the most accurate information. You will need to use the magnification feature to read the data in the PDF. The column headings are:

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'GXCSP Domesday' is an analysis of the data from the Inland Revenue Valuation Study of 1911 and 1912 for Gerrards Cross and selected parts of Chalfont St Peter. This can be used in association with the other working tools, the Planning Application Catalogue and the earliest Directories to identify an entry through either a 'name' or a 'street'. You will need to use the magnification feature to read the data in the PDF. The column headings are:

U	building value	AA
V	timber	AB	TOTAL VALUE
W	fruit trees	AC	Land value
X		AD	land Value Per acre
Y
Z

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		Planning aplications	GXCSP Domesday	GXmaster workinglist personsbystreet
Directories	GX Atlas	People	GXstreet byhouses'

Now go on to Looking at Plans.

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