Family History sources available at the Berkshire Record Office.
Parish Registers
We hold baptism, marriage and burial registers from the 16th century
onwards for most Berkshire parishes (the pre-1974 county including the Vale of
White Horse) and copies of some registers for the old South Buckinghamshire
area.
A number of registers have been transcribed and indexed. The majority
have also now been filmed, and copies of individual entries can be
ordered.
Other parish records may also be relevant. Settlement and removal
papers, apprenticeship indentures and bastardy orders are being
transcribed and indexed: many parishes are now completed.
Non-Parochial Registers
A limited quantity has been deposited. Apart from the Society of Friends
(Quakers) from 1612, and certain Baptist and Independent/ Congregational
records, the majority of registers, including Methodist, are from the 19th and
20th centuries. Our non-parochial register guide also includes workhouse births
and deaths registers. Included are registers that we know exist but are not deposited
with us.
Both the Parish and Non-Parochial Registers are available to search from the Family
History page.
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
We hold the latest Mormons' IGI (1992) on microfiche for Berkshire
and our neighbours Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and
Surrey. We also have the 1984 edition for London and 1978
for the rest of the UK. (Reading Local Studies Library and
Reading Family History Centre both have 1992 for the whole
country.)
Census returns
We hold all the census enumerators' returns for Berkshire 1841-1901
on microfilm or fiche, with indexes for 1851 and 1881. Copies can
be ordered.
Probate records
Until 1858, jurisdiction for probate lay with the church. For
wills proved and administrations (admons) granted by
the archdeacon of Berkshire's court 1508-1857, we hold registers or
individual filed wills/admons; also wills for the peculiar of Faringdon
1547-1853. All are indexed, and copies can be ordered.
Probate inventories survive with many of the wills
and admons up to about 1750. Again, copies can be ordered.
Other Berkshire wills, proved in higher church courts, are
held at Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office (to 1836),
Oxfordshire Record Office (1836-1857), and the Family
Records Centre, London (PCC wills to 1858). For some of
these we have transcripts, indexes or microfilm copies.
For wills/admons 1858-1943, see 'National Indexes'.
Our personal names index should also be checked for any
wills deposited with family, estate and solicitors' papers.
Workhouse and school records
In both cases, the most useful records
are admission registers, though survival is patchy and the
more recent records are closed for reasons of
confidentiality (75 years for workhouses, 30 years for
schools). We can advise on what is available. Workhouse
births and deaths registers are listed in our non-parochial
register guide.
Tithe and Inclosure
Tithe maps and apportionments c.1840 show
the names and property of owners and occupiers previously
liable to pay tithe. We have records for about 150 Berkshire
parishes.
Records of over 200 inclosure agreements, maps and awards
survive from the late 16th to the late 19th century for
Berkshire. These may also show landowners and occupiers.
These have been indexed in our personal names index in the searchroom.
Poll books and electoral registers
Electoral registers held here list those
eligible to vote in 1832, and from 1839 to the present day.
Earlier county and borough poll books survive for certain
years between 1688 and 1863.
Directories
We have a good selection of county and
borough trade directories (e.g. Kelly's) from 1823 to the
1970s. For a fuller series, contact Reading Local Studies
Library.
Maps
We hold 6 inch and 25 inch Ordnance
Survey sheets from the first edition in the 1870s to the
1930s. We also have earlier tithe and inclosure maps, and
manuscript and printed maps, indexed by place. More recent
OS maps may be found at local libraries.
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