Local Studies and Family History

Local studies material is available at all 43 libraries in Staffordshire and on the 10 mobile libraries which serve the county. More extensive collections are available at the larger libraries in the county.  These include Burton, Cannock, Leek, Lichfield, Newcastle, Stafford and Tamworth. Please check our Libraries map for details of individual libraries or check on the Mobile Libraries page for details of services in your area.

Local studies collections provide information about the geographical area served by a library. This can include a wide variety of interests, such as history, geography, archaeology, geology, biography and demography.In addition material in local studies collections can sometimes help to start people off on tracing their family history in the immediate locality.

Items which are available for loan can be traced and reserved via our online library catalogue.  However, many items in Local Studies Collections are available only for reference in the library. Local Studies collections may include many different items - please see list below for details of the types of Local Studies materials held in Staffordshire Libraries.

The Library service works closely with the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service and the William Salt Library, Stafford, to provide local studies and services for local and family history throughout the county.The Archive Service catalogue The Gateway to the Past is available online.

Ancestry Search - Use Your Library's subscription to the vast Ancestry.co.uk archives.

The Library Service also works closely with the Staffordshire Arts and Museums Service.

Local History Societies in the area can be traced via the Clubs and Societies page on the Staffordshire Web.

Local Studies materials held in Staffordshire Libraries

Libraries in Staffordshire may contain some, or all of the following types of material in their Local Studies Collections

Books for loan - books about the local area which can be borrowed. These can be traced via Talisprism

Books for reference - books available for use in the library only. Most libraries have some material. Please click here to contact individual libraries.

Trade Directories - provide information about towns, cities and villages, listing tradespeople and businesses and some private residents

Council Minutes - reports of local council meetings.

Parish Registers - printed or microfilmed copies of parish registers, giving details of christenings, marriages and burials.

Journals - series of local magazines and journals.

Newspapers - short or longer runs of local newspapers.

Maps - recent or older maps showing the local area.

Photographs, postcards or illustrations of the local area.

1901 Census Online - the 1901 census for England and Wales available on the internet at all libraries 

Nineteenth century censuses - censuses for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 available on microfilm, microfiche and CD Rom.

International Genealogical Index - (www.familysearch.org/)
Index of births/baptisms and marriages compiled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Audio Visual - material available on video, CD or cassette.

Special Collections - variety of unique local collections specific to individual libraries 

Last Modified: 20/09/2008 14:03:23
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