Locals have a chance to find out more about their house in a workshop hosted by the Stanley Athenaeum next week as part of the National Trust Heritage Festival.

In a 'house hunting in the archives' workshop people will learn how to use valuable records in the archives and collections to help discover house stories as well as discovering where ancestors lived.

Among key resources used for house hunting will include historic maps, rate records, wills, probate, electoral rolls, directories, local heritage studies, LANDATA Title Search, and property and parcel search.

Julie from Beechworth Indigo Library will lead the session to assist with the research.

Joshua and Margaret Bigelow's house remains as one of the more substantial early houses in Stanley still in existence today.

Joshua, an American, came to Australia in 1853 with his fellow countryman Hiram Crawford and lived in Yackandandah where he operated a store and sawmill.

He was also a partner in various mining companies.

Joshua married Margaret Thompson in Yackandandah in 1856 and a decade later became a mine manager at Sutton and Hillsborough.

The family lived at nearby Sutton, moving to Stanley in 1872 after their house in Sutton was destroyed by fire.

In 1881 his quartz mill at Hillsborough was similarly destroyed.

The workshop accompanies the Athenaeum's 'Home Sweet Home' exhibition running at the Stanley Community Hub.

The event is being held from 10.30am to 12.30pm next Wednesday 6 May at the Stanley Museum, 2 Mount Stanley Road.

Contact stanleyathenaeum@gmail.com or 0458 606 922 for more information and to book a spot for this session.