On 16th October 1834, a group of workmen, working in the Houses of Parliament, were charged with burning two cartloads of old wooden tally sticks. This duty they duly discharged, using the furnaces in the basement of the House of Lords. As the day progressed the wooden floors and panelling became very hot but the furnaces were put out in the early evening and the House of Lords closed for the night.
Later in the evening, the seat of Parliament started to blaze, thousands turned out onto the streets to watch, as both the House of Lords and House of Commons were totally destroyed by fire.
Westminster Hall was spared a similar fate by the heroic efforts of fire fighters and by luck as the wind changed direction.
By morning very little was left of this ancient building.
An intriguing thought, if your ancestors lived within a mile of Westminster they would probably have witnessed this event.