Stuart A Raymond explains how you can reap the benefits of the unique resources in county archives
The web is a wonderful thing! And thanks to digitisation, census schedules and most parish registers – two of the basic genealogical sources – are now available online for researchers everywhere. Libraries are wonderful too, and are the place to turn for printed collections of other records. That does not, however, mean that all genealogical sources have been digitised or printed. Far from it. County archives/record offices hold many more documents than are ever likely to be digitised or printed. If you are serious about tracing your family history, you really need to visit a record office. Before you do, of course, you should check whether any relevant documents are available online or in print.
Follow The Trail
Once you have done that, your first port of call, if you are a beginning genealogist, is likely to be the record office covering the area your ancestors lived in. County record offices were originally established to hold the records of quarter sessions (local courts traditionally held four times a year), but now generally also hold parish records (not just registers). They have also collected archives from a wide range of institutions, such as private estates, charities, businesses, etc. Many act as diocesan record offices.
You do need to be aware of the way in which county, parish and diocesan boundaries have changed over the years, because this helps to determine where records are deposited. Note particularly that diocesan boundaries are frequently quite different from county boundaries, and that county boundaries changed dramatically in 1974 as a result of the 1972 Local Government Act. A useful atlas to help you with pre-1974 boundaries is provided by Cecil Humphery-Smith’s The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, 3rd Edition (Philimore, 2003). You can use Discovery, the online catalogue of The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, to locate a particular record office: discovery.nationalarchives. gov.uk/find-an-archive.
Check The Website
Record offices’ websites are sometimes very informative. In addition to details of the location and opening hours, they may provide links to sources such as parish registers that have been digitised or indexed; research guides to other records (don’t neglect these!); details of projects, policies and events; and, most importantly, online catalogues o
