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London Boroughs - Archives and Local Studies Libraries
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This page lists the present-day boroughs of Greater London together with the counties which originally contained their current area, with links to their web sites. For each there is a link to libraries, archives or local studies, with street address.
The City of London Parishes & Wards page has tables showing the current boroughs with links to maps, also a table of the 1889 Metropolitan Boroughs.
B - C - E - G - H - I - K - L - M - N - R - S - T - W
Barking and Dagenham (Essex)
Archives and Local Studies Centre at Valance House Museum, Becontree Avenue, Dagenham RM8 3HT.
Barnet (Middlesex & Hertfordshire)
Local Studies Centre at Hendon Library (first floor), The Burroughs, London NW4 4BQ. Look at their website for opening hours before going there! The Centre holds the records of the Borough of Barnet and its predecessors for the areas of Barnet, Edgware, Finchley Golders Green and Hendon.
Bexley (Kent)
Local Studies and Archives Centre, Townley Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA6 7HJ.
Brent (Middlesex)
Libraries and Museum and Archives
- Brent Archives, and Brent Museum The Library at Willesden Green – second floor, 95 High Road, Willesden, London, NW10 2SF.
Bromley (Kent)
Historic collections, Central library, High Street, Bromley, BR1 1EX. Telephone: 020 3931 0907.
Archives at Central Library, High Street, Bromley, BR1 1EX
Camden (Middlesex)
Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, Holborn Library , 32-38 Theobalds Road , London WC1X 8PA. This web page has links to their family history pages, with "Getting Started", "Guides to Research" and "Family history sources"
City of London or Corporation of London
The London Metropolitan Archives incorporates the former Corporation of London Record Office (CLRO, holding the official archives of the Corporation of London), the Guildhall Library manuscript section, the Guildhall Prints and Maps collection. All these collections are now at the Clerkenwell site of the LMA.
Quote from their web page: "London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the largest local authority record office in the United Kingdom. There are 72KM of archives, modern records, plans, audio-visual and printed material in our strong-rooms - an enormous amount of information about the capital and its people. This material dates from 1067 ...". LMA has online a number of useful research guides, and an introduction to Family History at London Metropolitan Archives.
LMA's catalogue provides descriptions of the vast majority of their collections, including registers of churches (including Bishop's transcripts and non-conformist registers), workhouses, schools and electors. For the most part it does not contain the names of individual Londoners..
Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2 - "the library of London history".
Quote from their web page: "If your interest is in family history, we may be able to help in tracing your ancestors. Guildhall Library holds a wide range of useful secondary sources, including family history society journals and other publications, printed parish register transcripts, Burke's and Debrett's peerage and landed gentry publications, directories of professions (eg Army List, Navy List, Air Force List, Crockford's Clerical Directory, Law List, Medical Directory), printed registers of public schools and universities and the London Gazette. We also have an extensive collection of trade and telephone directories for the whole of the British Isles. Please see our information sheets for further information about Guildhall Library collections which are useful for family history research."
Croydon (Surrey)
Local Studies Library, the Archives Service and Museum are all lcoated at Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, Croydon CR9 1ET
Ealing (Middlesex)
Local History Centre: information on the local history centre, Dominion Centre and Library, 112 The Green, Southall, Middlesex UB2 4BQ Tel: 020 8825 6551. Includes council, school etc archives, newspapers from 1854, thousands of photographs, maps from 1856, books and paintings. Leaflet available. Closed Sunday, Monday.
Enfield (Middlesex)
Library Service
Local Studies Library and Archive, Enfield Local Studies & Archive, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XA. Tel. 020 8379 2724. Email: local.history[at]enfield.gov[dot]uk Open 9am - 12:30pm and 1:30pm - 5pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Greenwich (Kent)
Greenwich Heritage Centre, Building 41, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, London SE18.
Greenwich Libraries page includes a link to "your library online" for catalogue.
Hackney (Middlesex)
Hackney Archives Department 43 De Beauvoir Road London N1 5SQ
Hammersmith and Fulham (Middlesex)
Archives Hammersmith & Fulham Local Studies & Archives, Hammersmith Library, Shepherds Bush Road, London, W6 7AT
Haringey (Middlesex)
Archives and Local History Bruce Castle, Tottenham, Lordship Lane, London N17 8NU
Harrow (Middlesex)
Local History Collection, Harrow Museum Heritage Centre, Pinner View, Harrow, HA2 6PX. Tel: 020 8861 3074. Email: localhistory.library[at]harrow.gov[dot]uk
Harrow Museum, Headstone Manor, Pinner View, Harrow, HA2 6PX.
Havering (Essex)
Local Studies and Family History Centre, Central Library, St Edwards Way, Romford RM1 3AR
Hillingdon (Middlesex)
Hillingdon Museum and Archives Services, Uxbridge Library, 14-15 High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1HD.
Hounslow (Middlesex)
Local History and Archives , Feltham Library, The Centre, High Street, Feltham, TW13 4GU. Tel: 020 8583 5497 Email: localstudies[at]hounslow.gov[dot]uk, and Chiswick Local Studies, Chiswick Library, Duke's Avenue, W4 2AB (includes Brentford information).
Islington (Middlesex)
Local History Centre Islington Local History Collection, Finsbury Library, 245 St John Street, London EC1V 4NB. Tel: 020 7527 7988. Email: local.history[at]islington.gov[dot]uk
Islington Museum is underneath the Finsbury Library at 245 St John Street, London EC1V 4NB. Tel: 020 7527 3235. Open daily 10-5, closed Wednesday and Sunday. Email: islington.museum[at]islington.gov[dot]uk
Kensington and Chelsea (Middlesex)
Local Studies and Archives at the Central Library, Phillimore Walk, LONDON W8 7RX
The Virtual Museum of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Kingston upon Thames (Surrey)
Kingston Heritage Service manages both :
- Kingston Museum at Wheatfield Way, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2PS UK. Telephone 020 8547 6440, emailEmail address: kingston.museum[at]kingston.gov[dot]uk.
- Kingston History Centre at Address: Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1EU. Telephone 020 8547 6738, emailEmail address: local.history[at]kingston.gov[dot]uk.
Lambeth (Surrey)
Lambeth
Lambeth Archives and Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road SE5 9QY.
Lambeth Landmark has online the best 14,000 images from the Lambeth Archives collection of 30,000 old photographs, drawings, prints and water colours.
Lewisham (Surrey & Kent)
Local Studies Centreon the second floor of Lewisham Library, 199-201 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6LG
Merton (Surrey)
Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre, Morden Libary, Merton Civic Centre, London Rd. Morden Surrey SM4 5DX
Newham (Essex)
Local history and archives Stratford Library, 3 The Grove, London E15 1EL.
Redbridge (Essex)
Archives and History Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 1EA.
Richmond upon Thames (Surrey)
Library - Local Studies and Special Collections Albert Barkas Room, Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond TW9 1TP.
Cemeteries - web pages have maps, and links to indexes where available.
Southwark (Surrey)
Southwark Heritage, Cuming Museum, Art Collection and Local History Library and Archive, 211 Borough High Street London SE1 1JA. Tel. (020) 7525 0232 Email: LHLibrary[at]southwark.gov[dot]uk
Sutton (Surrey)
Archive and Local Studies, Central Library, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1EA.
Tel: (020) 8770 4700 Email: local.studies[at]sutton.gov[dot]uk
Tower Hamlets (Middlesex)
Local history library and archives Bancroft Library, 277 Bancroft Road, London, El 4DQ. Covers the area of the present-day London Borough of Tower Hamlets; the original East End of London which, until 1965, comprised of the Boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney.
Waltham Forest (Middlesex & Essex)
The Archives and Local Studies Library is housed in the Vestry House Museum, Waltham Forest's museum of local history. The address is: Vestry Road, Walthamstow , London E17 9NH.
Wandsworth (Surrey)
Wandsworth Heritage Service, Battersea Library, Lavender Hill, SW11 1JB
Westminster (Middlesex)
City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London SW1P 2DE.