Useful Websites
Members Recommendations
1. The National Archives research guides:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/?letter=&search=&research-category=online
2. The GRO
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/
3. Archives - Lancashire - Digital Library
www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/libraries/digital-library/
4. Archives - Lancashire - Lancashire Archives
www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-record-office/
5. Archives - Local - Manchester Archives
www.manchester.gov.uk/info/448/
6. Archives - Local - Wigan Archives
https://archives.wigan.gov.uk/
7. Archives - Local - Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre
www.tameside.gov.uk/archives
8. Archives - Local - Liverpool
https://liverpool.gov.uk/libraries/archives-family-history/
9. Archives - Local - Cumbria
www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/
10. Archives - Local - Rochdale
www.link4life.org/centres/touchstones-rochdale/
11. Archives - Local - Cheshire
www.cheshirearchives.org.uk/home.aspx
12. Vision of Britain
https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/
13. Geograph
A collection of photographs that cover every square mile if England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
https://www.geograph.org.uk
14. National Library of Wales
This offers free access to newspapers published in Wales up 1919, Welsh wills pre 1858, various Welsh journals, as well lots of manuscripts and other achivical materials
https://www.library.wales/
15. National Records of Scotland
This points you often to other sites where to look for information, some of which are pay to view
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
16. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
I may be using this incorrectly, but I haven’t found the search function particularly intuitive. Also quite often it needs to be born in mind that records might be in Dublin rather than Belfast.
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni
17. Ireland National Archives
https://www.nationalarchives.ie/
However, the page below will take people to the search page for what remains of the all Ireland Censuses, particularly for 1901 and 1911
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
18. Preston Digital Archive
A collection of vintage Preston images provides for an enjoyable trip down memory lane or at least allows you to enjoy seeing the town as it existed in our parents and grandparents lifetimes. One of their goals in presenting the images on this photostream is to promote a wider appreciation for the history of the City of Preston. The collection also serves to support research in local and family history.
https://www.flickr.com/people/rpsmithbarney/
19. Family History Resources
The documents in the National Archives collection can play a vital role in piecing together your ancestors’ past, but if you’re new to family history, it can be difficult to know where to begin. For budding genealogists out there, we’ve collated our key family history resources.
https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/exploring-our-family-history-resources/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SocialSignIn
20. Civil Registration
For many years, I used to recommend Barbara Dixon's Tutorials about Civil Registration because they explain clearly the meanings of terms on the BMD certificates – they are not always what one might expect! Barbara Dixon was a Registrar with interest in family history. She must have retired many years ago as she stated that the notes did not deal much with changes post 1974. Sadly, the site seemed to disappear about a year ago – perhaps she has died and the site was not being funded. Happily, I have recently found a copy of the site on an archive site -
https://web.archive.org/web/20190529074536/http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/indexbd.htm
For many years, I used to recommend Barbara Dixon's Tutorials about Civil Registration because they explain clearly the meanings of terms on the BMD certificates – they are not always what one might expect! Barbara Dixon was a Registrar with interest in family history. She must have retired many years ago as she stated that the notes did not deal much with changes post 1974. Sadly, the site seemed to disappear about a year ago – perhaps she has died and the site was not being funded. Happily, I have recently found a copy of the site on an archive site -
https://web.archive.org/web/20190529074536/http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/indexbd.htm
21. Local Lancashire History
For background local history of Lancashire before the 1850s, perhaps the best reference is the Victoria County History of Lancashire. This is still in print at about £70 per volume. Fortunately it is now available free on-line, starting at
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol2
This deals with religious houses, etc, and succeeding volumes deal with the Hundreds in the county in turn.
The Leyland Hundred is in
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6
The volumes include the illustrations. These show maps of the various parishes but the shading techniques of the time can make these difficult to follow. For the Salford Hundred there is a modern site that includes thes maps redrawn and much clearer, see
https://hking2.sdsu.edu/map_projects/map_projects.htm
For background local history of Lancashire before the 1850s, perhaps the best reference is the Victoria County History of Lancashire. This is still in print at about £70 per volume. Fortunately it is now available free on-line, starting at
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol2
This deals with religious houses, etc, and succeeding volumes deal with the Hundreds in the county in turn.
The Leyland Hundred is in
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6
The volumes include the illustrations. These show maps of the various parishes but the shading techniques of the time can make these difficult to follow. For the Salford Hundred there is a modern site that includes thes maps redrawn and much clearer, see
https://hking2.sdsu.edu/map_projects/map_projects.htm
22. Occupations
A question that appears periodically is “What was a particular occupation?” e.g. a stripper. There are many sites that provide lists of occupations with an explanation but I have found them unreliable as they are often simply copies of what others have suggested. One example is 'heald knitter'. Several years ago I looked and found about 12 'definitions' all almost identical and wrong. They suggested that the heald knitter made a knitted fabric when the person would make healds an essential component of a loom!
The most authoritative listing in my opinion is one prepared for the analysis of the 1921 Census, (A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921. Compiled by the Ministry of Labour and published by HMSO, 1927) Yes, it is quite modern by Census standards but uncludes many occupations from the mid-1800s, usually with a clear description of what it was. The Society sells a version on CD but it is now available free on-line at -
http://doot.spub.co.uk/
A question that appears periodically is “What was a particular occupation?” e.g. a stripper. There are many sites that provide lists of occupations with an explanation but I have found them unreliable as they are often simply copies of what others have suggested. One example is 'heald knitter'. Several years ago I looked and found about 12 'definitions' all almost identical and wrong. They suggested that the heald knitter made a knitted fabric when the person would make healds an essential component of a loom!
The most authoritative listing in my opinion is one prepared for the analysis of the 1921 Census, (A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921. Compiled by the Ministry of Labour and published by HMSO, 1927) Yes, it is quite modern by Census standards but uncludes many occupations from the mid-1800s, usually with a clear description of what it was. The Society sells a version on CD but it is now available free on-line at -
http://doot.spub.co.uk/
