CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Giddings-Burnham House

historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ5559501 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Giddings-Burnham House is a historic house in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The house was probably built in the 1640s by George Giddings and was sold to his brother-in-law Thomas Burnham. The earliest documentation for this property was the deed of sale between George Giddings and Thomas Burnham in 1667 negating previous thoughts that the house was not built until 1680. The original house has been expanded and renovated and has a plaque on the door from the Ipswich Historical Commission stating that the home was built before 1667 by George Giddings.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

See also

George Giddings House and Barn

Burnham-Patch House, also owned by Thomas Burnham

James Burnham House, owned by Burnham's son

National Register of Historic Places listings in Ipswich, Massachusetts

National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts

References

Giddings, R. (1984). Ipswich to Fort Collins: The Giddings Family, 1635-1985. Parkview Publishing Co.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Giddings-Burnham House” as historic house in Massachusetts, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Giddings-Burnham, House and historic.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1667, 1680, 1990, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1680. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Giddings-Burnham, House and historic providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Giddings-Burnham House”, the useful work is to connect “historic house in Massachusetts, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5559501. Authority coordinates are 42.674, -70.832. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1667, 1680, 1990 and 1984.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Giddings-Burnham House”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Giddings-Burnham House primary sources, Giddings-Burnham House archive and Giddings-Burnham research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Giddings-Burnham House”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Giddings-Burnham House” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.