YORK has a reputation as a city of ghosts. But few can be as kindly or well intentioned as the ones which may – or may not – inhabit No 0, Westminster Road, Clifton.

Some time in the 1920s, a redoubtable American lady by the name of Miss Caroline Abbott Derby bought Grey Gables, at No 7 Water End, as a home for herself and her companion, Miss Archabel Little. There the pair lived until their deaths, Miss Derby in 1945 at the age of 72, Miss Little 20 years later, aged 89.

Several owners later, the house was demolished to make way for what local historian Van Wilson describes, in her latest book, The Changing Face Of Clifton, as a “rather unusual building, which looks a little like a church, with one side of glass”. This is the aforementioned No 0 Westminster Road.

While the house was being built, Van writes, the contractors found a letter behind the fireplace. It was addressed to “whoever finds this in the wall”.

And it read as follows: “This house was completed in February 1933, for me (Miss) Caroline Abbott Derby, aged 59 years… My friend (Miss) Archabel Little also lives here with me. We hope whoever finds this note in after years will have a happy home here, and remember the first occupants. Do not be afraid of us, if we ‘come back’ with our little dog Timmy, we are kindly ‘ghosts’. God bless you all, Caroline A Derby.”

Marion Tweedy, who was born in Ousecliffe Gardens in 1931, remembered the pair. “They lived like ladies,” she recalls in Van’s book. “Miss Derby was always in dove grey or lavender. Very Edwardian… Miss Little was just ordinary. One had more money and provided the home and the other probably organised things... There were an awful lot of single women following the First World War, this is what happened.”

It’s a lovely story – one of many in Van's new book which brings the history and the people of Clifton past to vivid life.

We don’t know much about the Ogle sisters, Elizabeth and Harriet, except that they were among five Ogle siblings who, from the 1850s, lived at No 2 Clifton, a house which belonged to the Acaster Malbis Charity Trust. Elizabeth and Harriet, both maiden ladies, were the last to survive: Elizabeth dying in 1870 and Harriet in 1876. The photos we have of them were taken in about 1860.

The last photo from Van’s book shows the Cowl family in about 1916 or 1917. They lived in what was known as Cowl’s Yard (named after an earlier member of the family, Thomas Cowl), which is shown in the 1850 Ordnance Survey map as being next to Clifton Green House.

In 1883, the deeds of Clifton Green House described “a parcel of land south west of the village green on which are ten dwelling houses… then used as a market garden occupied by Henry Cowl, who also occupies one of the dwellings”.

Van interviewed Henry’s great grandson, Keith Cowl, for her book. “There were ten freehold cottages known as Cowl's Cottages, and a market garden behind, occupied by Henry Cowl and others,” he recalls in the book.

The cottages housed farm labourers, a weaver, a shopkeeper, a butler and two widows, Van writes. In 1880, the yard and cottages were divided into 15 shares. Henry continued to live at No 10 until his death from “dropsy” in 1903. It is his son Robert (Keith’s grandfather) who is seen in the photograph with his family.

• The Changing face of Clifton by Van Wilson, is published by York Archaeological Trust, priced £9.99. It is available from local bookshops, and from Jorvik.