The present Burn family believes that its ancestors occupied the house from around 1645 to 1945.

Through the centuries the family pursued many different trades.  Ralph, (b. 1688), was a weaver, as was his son.  John (b.1733) was a sexton, and Martin, son of Michael (b.1745), was a farmer, butcher, coal agent, dealer in ship-wrecked salvage and a dealer in sand and gravel.

More recently, Hannah Burn had a confectionery shop that she ran from the passageway.  Her nephew moved in when she died in 1942 but did not settle.  Eventually, the house and half the farmyard were sold outside the family and renamed 'Raleigh Cottage'.

The last residents left in 1975 and the Museum was established in 1978.