Local Studies Websites
All websites below are free to access from the Local Studies
Computers
Family History Websites
1901
census of England and Wales Searchable access to the 1901
and 1851 census returns for England and Wales, and civil
registration records for 1837-2004. 1901 searchable by name,
address, institution, vessel or reference number. Payment
site requires vouchers or credit card payment to view records.
Ancestry Online access to 1841-1901 census
returns for England, Wales, Isle of Man, and Channel Islands.
Also Scotland for 1841-1861. Civil registration for
England and Wales 1837-2004. Also many international
sources. Library subscription only available in Library
branches and Bath Record Office. For more information see the
helpsheet on the right.
Bath
BMD Searchable database of the civil registration records
for the Bath Registration Office. Certificates may be ordered
directly from Registrar’s Office by post for a fee.
British Genealogy A small site but packed with
useful background information on documentary sources, such as the
census, church records and directories.
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission The Commission is responsible for the
maintenance of war cemeteries and memorials around the world.
This site also provides and searchable database of all the names
listed on the memorials or were registered casualties from all
Commonwealth countries.
Family
Search Free website from the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Databases included the
International Genealogical Index, the 1881 census for England and
Wales and numerous personal family trees that have been submitted
to the site.
Find My
Past Formerly 1873online, this website is a subscription
website to various records including census, civil registration,
military, and passenger lists.
FreeBMD Searchable database of a project aiming
to make access to the indexes of civil registration, in England and
Wales, free for 1837-1983. Transcription underway, so
coverage not complete.
FreeCen Searchable database of a project aiming
to make access to the 1841-1891 free. Transcription underway,
so coverage not complete.
FreeReg Searchable database of a project aiming
to make access to Parish Registers free. Transcription
underway, so coverage not complete, but a listing is available of
the parishes completed to date.
Gazette Gateway Online access to the archives of the
London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes. The London Gazette
was, and remains, the publication in which all medal awards and
‘mentions in dispatches’ were officially published. Also
contains bankruptcy notices, death notices etc.
General Register Office The GRO is the official
body in the UK that co-ordinates the civil registration of births,
marriages, deaths and adoptions. Certificates may be ordered
by post or online – forms and payment details on the website.
GenUKI Genealogical information for the UK and
Ireland. There are no databases of records on this site, it a
purely an information site on records, where they are, how to use
them, and county information.
Georgian Newspaper Project Volunteer
run project to index the Bath Chronicle from 1770 to 1799.
Indexing includes adverts, listings of visitors to Bath and news
stories. Copies of articles may be ordered from the Local
Studies Service of the Library for a fee.
Index of old occupations A browsable list of old
occupation titles no longer in use today, but found on old
documents and census returns etc.
Late 18th century, 19th century and early 20th century
Naval and Naval Social History A personal website with a large
collection of lists and information relating to the personnel and
running of the Royal Navy for over two centuries.
National Archives Formerly the Public Record
Office, the National Archives is the main repository for government
documents in England and Wales. Access to the catalogue of
the archives and a very good set of Research Guides that will help
you find the records you require. An increasing amount of
information is also available online, such as passenger lists and
medal recipients. The National Register of Archives and A2A
will also help you locate potentially useful archival records round
the country.
The
Peerage.com The name implies that this website mainly
gives you genealogical connections between the aristocracy of
Britain and Europe, but it also includes a number of lesser-known
persons that may well crop up in your past in some way.
Search by surname.
The
Ships’ List Possibly one of the most comprehensive
listing of passenger lists to North America and Australia/New
Zealand currently available. Lists are searchable by name as
well as by destination or date. Also contains comprehensive
listing of major merchant shipping lines and histories of their
ships.
The
Workhouse This website covers the history and development
of the Workhouses of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Details of changing laws, architecture and Poor Law Unions.
Libraries and Archives Websites
Bath
Record Office Information about the holdings and access
to the Bath Record Office. Catalogue hosted by Somerset
Record Office.
British
Library Online catalogues of the British Library
collections, including newspapers, manuscripts and maps.
COPAC Copac is a union catalogue providing
access to the merged online catalogues of 24 major university
research libraries in the UK and Ireland plus the British Library,
the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of
Wales.
National Archives Formerly the Public Record
Office, the National Archives is the main repository for government
documents in England and Wales. Access to the catalogue of
the archives and a very good set of Research Guides that will help
you find the records you require. An increasing amount of
information is also available online, such as passenger lists and
medal recipients. The National Register of Archives and A2A
will also help you locate potentially useful archival records round
the country.
Somerset Archive and Record Service Access to
information about the holdings of the Record Office in Taunton,
including Parish Registers held on microfiche and as originals. The
catalogue also contains information about the holdings in Bath
Record Office.
Local History Websites
Avon Local History and Archaeology
This website links together various local history societies
around the Avon area. There is a listing of many of the
societies with contact details.
Bath
Chronicle There has been a Bath Chronicle newspaper in
Bath since the 1770s. This is their current website.
Bath Past A website authored by a local
historian with a wealth of information about the history of the
city and the surrounding area.
Bristol’s Lost Pubs Although, as the name
suggests, this website mainly includes details of the Bristol pubs,
it also covers areas just outside the city, on the Somerset side of
the city and in Bath. It gives locations and lists known
landlords with dates.
Georgian Newspaper Project Volunteer
run project to index the Bath Chronicle from 1770 to 1799.
Indexing includes adverts, listings of visitors to Bath and news
stories. Copies of articles may be ordered from the Local
Studies Service of the Library for a fee.
Tap into Bath A searchable guide to the
collections hidden away in various archives around Bath – books,
manuscripts, images etc.
Mapping & General Historical Websites
Multimap Mapping for the UK, Europe and some
other countries. Searchable by postcode or placename –
includes OS mapping.
Streetmap Streetmaps of major UK towns and
cities. Searchable by street name, postcode, telephone code,
and OS grid references.
ViaMichelin Mapping for Europe, UK and US based
on Michelin maps. Searchable by street or place name and
postcode.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Searchable online version of the printed dictionary with
information on significant persons, now dead, connected with the
UK.
Newsbank Searchable archive of
newspapers from round the world. National and regional UK
papers since 1985 (though coverage varies).
Times Digital Archive Searchable access to the
archive of the Times newspaper from 1785 to 1985. Obituaries,
features, medals and reports.
