Sources for Family Historians at Staffordshire Record Office
Anglican Parish Registers
Registers of baptism, marriage and burial for the vast majority of Staffordshire parishes, some dating from 1538. Most registers starting on or before 1925 are available on microfiche only (also available at the Lichfield Record Office).
Nonconformist Registers
Registers of baptisms and marriages for many Staffordshire nonconformist churches from the late eighteenth century, and registers of deaths or burials for some churches. Most registers starting on or before 1925 are available on microfiche only. We also hold duplicate microfilms of nonconformist registers held by The National Archives, including those of the Society of Friends (Quakers).
Roman Catholic Registers
Registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths for some Roman Catholic churches in Staffordshire from the archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. Available on microfilm only.
Census Returns and Indexes
Census returns for the historic county of Staffordshire, 1841-1901, on microfiche and some adjacent areas on microfilm.
1881 census indexes for Staffordshire and neighbouring counties on microfiche and Great Britain on CD-rom.
1851 census surname indexes for most of the county in hard copy and on CR-rom.
1871 census surname indexes for North Staffordshire in hard copy and on CD-rom.
Ancestry.com
Free access to Ancestry.com in our reading room.
General Register Office Indexes
We hold the General Register Office Indexes to Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales on microfiche from 1837 to 1960. The registers to which they relate are held by local register offices and the General Register Office in Southport.
International Genealogical Index
We hold the IGI for the British Isles on microfiche.
Electoral Registers
Registers of electors from 1832. Please note that there are some gaps in our holdings, notably the entire county 1908-1917, and large parts of Staffordshire (Stoke on Trent, Newcastle and those parts of the county now in the West Midlands conurbation) 1918 onwards. The electoral registers for 1832-1891 are now available on microfiche only for preservation reasons.
Parish Poor Law Records
Papers of parish overseers of the poor, seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Holdings for individual parishes vary enormously, but may include overseers' accounts, settlement examinations, settlement certificates, removal orders, relief lists, apprenticeship indentures and apprenticeship registers.
Records of Poor Law Unions, 1837-1930.
The poor law union records of most use for family historians are the admission and discharge registers of the Poor Law Institutions (commonly known as workhouses), and relief lists. Please note, however, that these records have not survived for all unions.
Cemetery Records on CD-ROM
Records of many cemeteries in Staffordshire from 19th to 20th centuries.
A wide variety of other records are also useful for family history research.
Divorce Indexes on CD-ROM
The indexes are to petitions for divorce submitted to the following courts :
- Court for Divorce and matrimonial Cases, 1858-1873
- Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 1873-1958
- District registries of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 1922-1958
Last Modified:
14/07/2008 08:05:23
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