GENUKI: Archives & Libraries information for Berkshire and places above it in the hierarchy

hide

Archives & Libraries information for Berkshire and places above it in the hierarchy

Berkshire

General information about archives.

The Berkshire Record Office (BRO) hold most local and family history records for historic Berkshire (including some records of parts that are now in Oxfordshire). Email: arch@reading.gov.uk. Note that you will require a County Archive Research Network (CARN) reader's ticket (or bring suitable ID to get a day pass) to consult any of their onsite records (more about visiting...). The methods available to search different parts of their holdings are:
- Catalogued holdings: use all of the following to be sure:
- Online catalogue (not yet complete, but being added to).
- Use TNA's Discovery advanced search and include "Berkshire Record Office" in the "Exact word or phrase" field, in addition to your own search term(s).
- Use Google (or similar search engine) and include "Berkshire Records Office" (with quotes) in the search field.
- Un-catalogued holdings: can only be identified by contacting or visiting the BRO. Some are listed on this, and linked, pages under the relevant section (e.g. Business and Commerce, Schools, Courts, Towns & Parishes).
- List of their holdings of the parish registers, non-parochial registers, other church records, C of E parish records, borough & town records, court records.
- Some holdings are featured in online galleries.
- YouTube videos.
- Some BRO records have been indexed, transcribed and published by Berkshire FHS (see below), the Berkshire Record Society and the Eureka Partnership.
- The history of the BRO.

The Berkshire Record Office first opened its doors in 1948 in the basement of Shire Hall (now the Forbury Hotel) in Reading with Felix Hull as County Archivist and sole member of staff. The first holdings were those of the County Council itself, the court of Quarter Sessions and the Boards of Guardians. Parish records, privately owned deeds and manorial records were also deposited. In 1951 the office moved to the basement of the Assize Courts and by 1981 it was at the new Shire Hall at Shinfield Park. In 1998 the Berkshire County Council was abolished and the BRO began its new life as a joint service of the 6 Berkshire unitary authorities. It moved to its present home in Coley Avenue in October 2000.

Berkshire Family History Society (Berkshire FHS):
- Their website provides an extensive collection of information and resources for the whole of Berkshire (both present and historic boundaries).
- List of local archives.
- Their Centre for Heritage and Family History in Reading Central Library is open for members and non-members, and contains information about Berkshire and elsewhere in the UK.
- Benefits of membership.
- Berkshire Family Historian magazine (members only).
- The shop catalogue is searchable and orders may be placed online. Some items are available for digital download.

Collections Gateway locates information on research collections held by Berkshire and Reading institutions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a wide range of genealogical resources at its Family History Centres (FHC) around the world. For contact details, click here and search for the centre nearest you. Reading FHC is the only centre in Berkshire. They are best known for the IGI, see Church Records, below.

Reading Central Library offer the following:
- Family history and local history sections with much useful information about Berkshire, not just Reading, including the Berkshire FHS's Centre for Heritage and Family History (see above).
- Approximately 8000 photographs and illustrations of the Reading area to view online and also on History Pin.
- For books about a Berkshire organisations, church, town or parish, search the library catalogue.
- Research service, for which there is a charge.
- Their factsheets: Family history, Electoral Registers, Aerial photographs, Historic local maps, Historic local newspapers.
- See also Bibliography.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM):
- RBWM Libraries have local and family history services at Maidenhead, Windsor and Ascot Libraries which cover each of their local areas. The borough-wide catalogue is useful for local studies queries about items stocked. The above libraries also each maintain their own substantial databases of local information. The libraries offer a research service, for which there can be a charge.
- Maidenhead Heritage Centre is the museum for Maidenhead and the surrounding villages.
- Windsor & Royal Borough Museum.
- Windsor Castle:
- The Royal Archives holds documents that relate to the Royal Family, the monarchy and household staff for a period of over 250 years. Online subscription access for a small part of the archive is available from Find My Past.
- St George's Chapel Archive and Chapter Library (The Aerary).
Reading University's museums and collections, including their Virtual Reading Room, where you can access thousands of items, including images from across Berkshire and rare books, from the University of Reading's Special Collections, Art Collections and Museum of English Rural Life.
Locations and contacts for other record offices and archives in the UK and Ireland.
Other record repositories and organisations that hold Berkshire-related records or copies (others are mentioned on individual parish pages):
- The National Archives (TNA)'s Discovery catalogue allows you to search their own holdings and also the catalogues of other subscribing archives held locally in England and Wales, including most in Berkshire, from the eighth century to the present day. Some TNA records are digitised and can be searched and downloaded. They publish many Research Guides.
- National Register of Archives (NRA) from TNA is particularly useful for finding the location of the archived records of a named organisation (e.g. The Abingdon Railway Company or Robert Adams, blacksmith).
- Similarly, the Archives Hub provides a gateway to hundreds of other archives in over 180 colleges and universities in the UK.
- And AIM25.
- Family Search provided by the Church of Latter-day Saints or Mormons (Genealogical Society of Utah). They also offer an incomplete Research Wiki for Berkshire.
- Bracknell Library and their archive photographs on Flickr.
- Bodleian Library, Oxford.
- Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) of the University of Reading is a specialist museum of farming and rural life in England.
- Museum of Berkshire Aviation.
- Newbury Library has local and family history information and the West Berkshire Museum (look under Arts and Heritage).
- Oxfordshire History Centre (combining the Oxfordshire Record Office (ORO), Oxfordshire Studies and Oxfordshire Health Archives).
- Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) publish data for parishes that were in historic Berkshire and are now in present day Oxfordshire.
- Reading Museum has a number of online collections.
- Society of Genealogists (SoG).
- Swindon Library's Swindon Collection offers local studies and family history material, some specific to Berkshire. They have published some historic photographs on Flickr.
- Thames Pilot – a collection of documents and images charting the history of the River Thames.
- University of Reading's Special Collections.
- Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage has a particularly good set of articles on local history.
- Wiltshire and Swindon Archives holds Bishop's Transcripts for Berkshire (to 1835/1836), wills and probate documents from the Diocesan Court, and some Berkshire family and estate records.
- Wokingham libraries.

England

England - Archives and Libraries - links and information.

England:- Archives and Libraries

Formed by a merger of the Public Record Office and the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, The National Archives (TNA) is the principal repository for English and Welsh records. You might like to start by browsing the titles of their 193 guides classified under 'family history'. TNA offer many, many useful Research Guides.
The National Archives (TNA)'s Discovery system is now the key to finding their holdings - see also: TNA Discovery Help.
TNA's Access to Archives (A2A) programme has been absorbed into Discovery (above).
The National Register of Archives has now been absorbed into Discovery (above). It is/was an extensive searchable database (formerly run by the Royal Commision on Historical Manuscripts, now part of TNA) which contains information on the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records that relate to British history.
Your Archives — NB this is now closed but remains available as a read-only resource — "The National Archives' online community of records users", a wiki that archive users can contribute to: "These pages are for you to contribute your knowledge of archival sources held by The National Archives and by other archives throughout the UK."
The National Archives (TNA, Kew) have a worldwide list of archives. This links into the UK section.
The L.D.S. (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) have now provided online search facilities for the I.G.I. (International Genealogical Index). As well as the general search facility, there is also a Custom Search page allowing more refined searches. Hugh Wallis has provided a search facility which greatly simplifies searching by batch number. See also Finding L.D.S. Batch Numbers.
The FamilySearch site has a list of Family History Centres in England. These are provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
In particular, the London Family History Centre has a useful web site.
The Guildhall Library, London.

UK and Ireland

UK & Ireland - Archives and Libraries - links and information.

UK and Ireland: Archives and Libraries

National Collections

Bevan, Amanda, (Ed.). Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office (6th ed.), The National Archives. [ISBN 1903365341]
["This is a new, revised edition of the best-selling guide. Now in its sixth edition, Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office continues to provide comprehensive guidance to all researchers, new or experienced, wishing to trace their forebears among the records of government or courts held at The National Archives. It leads the reader through the census and military service records, wills and lawsuits, court rolls and hearth taxes and all other records where our ancestors may have left their tracks. . . this new revised edition provides information on this and many other releases of records at the National Archives, including army, navy, merchant navy and immigration records. New information about how to access the records via the catalogue is also provided."]

The National Archives (TNA) in Kew brings together the Public Records Office (PRO) and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and is the principal repository for English and Welsh records. (Note: most Scottish records are held in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, and Northern Ireland Records are held by The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).)
Now that the Access to Archives (A2A) project is no more, TNA's Discovery catalogue covers holdings in many regional archives as well as the National Archives themselves - see their Find an Archive page. (To search all these other archives use the "Held By" option in the catalogue's Advanced Search facility.)
- Copies of the National Archives' Research Guides are now available online, as is their very useful catalogue.
- Research Guides to Online Collections at the National Archives.
- The National Archives' Looking for a Person? resource listing - "Each guide tells you where you can find, access and understand the relevant records".
- Their Manorial Documents Register identifies the location of manorial documents.
- Your Archives - "The National Archives' online community of records users", a wiki that archive users could contribute to - now closed.
- The National Archives publishes a useful free enewsletter giving a "monthly round-up of news, blogs, offers and events".
- They also have a YouTube channel of videos providing tips on using the Discovery catalogue, visiting, etc.
Quick animated guides to using the National Archives.
The British Library's collections may be regarded as the world's finest; the range and effectiveness of the services it provides on the basis of these collections are without rival. Their web pages give access to their comprehensive online catalogues including the British Library Public Catalogue, as well as providing full details of the library's services and facilities.
Helpers - the University of London's web resource intended to help family and local historians utilise Higher Education libraries & archives.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a wide range of genealogical resources at its Family History Centers around the world. For contact details, click here and search for the centre nearest you.

Listings and Guides

The National Archives' "gateway to archival resources, projects and initiatives in the UK and abroad" has been transferred to the UNESCO Archives Portal (archived copy).
JISC's Library Hub Discover provides a means of searching resources in UK and Irish academic, national & specialist libraries - as of Jan 2020, it held "42,377,775 records created from 106,728,673 records contributed by 144 institutions".
The Archives Hub is a service run by MIMAS at Manchester Computing which provides free access to descriptions of archives held in the UK's universities and colleges. The descriptions can be searched in a number of ways and will form one part of the emerging UK National Archives Network.
LDS Family History Centres.
Culture 24, "Latest news, exhibition reviews, links, listings and education resources from thousands of UK museums, galleries, archives and libraries, all in one place".
A list of UK Public Libraries on the Web compiled by Sheila and Robert Harden.
Details of 1600 Museums, Galleries and Historic Houses provided by Britains Finest.
UK250's listing of UK museum websites.
Details of Maritime and Naval Museums in Britain and Ireland provided by Dr Martin H. Evans and Dr Janet West. A Location Map is also available.
The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography - "The biab online database contains datasets covering publications from AD 1695 to the present day on archaeology and the historic environment, historic buildings, maritime and industrial archaeology, environmental history, and the conservation of material culture" - nearly 200,000 references, as of June 2007.
Community Archives - set up on behalf of the National Council on Archives "to show the variety and quantity of community archives in the UK."
UK Parliamentary Archives - Family History section.

Specialist Collections

Society of Genealogists
Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies,
The Methodist Archives and Research Centre is part of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.
The Huguenot Library is located at University College, London
The Royal Archives - from the official website of the British Monarchy. (Subscription access via Find My Past.)
The The British Postal Musem and Archive (formerly Post Office Archives and Records Services) holds the records of the British Post Office from the 17th century to the present day.
Institute for Historical Research
India Office: Family History Research.
The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum.
The Women's Library - "housing the most extensive collection of women's history in the UK".
The National Gas Archive - "The NGA holds up to two kilometres of records covering the history and development of the UK gas industry. The records date from about 1812 to the present day and include many of the administrative, financial, legal, technical, property and personnel records of the industry."
The National Army Museum.

Miscellaneous

Association of Independent Libraries - details of member institutions and publications.

Hide