Family History

Family History sources available at the Berkshire Record Office.

If you are new to family history, and need some advice on how to get started, please visit the links page.
The following is a brief guide to the sources held by Berkshire Record Office.

Parish records

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.

Nonconformist records

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.

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.

Record Office Library

The Record Office library has a wide range of printed reference material, including books, pamphlets and notes on some Berkshire families and individuals.

National Indexes

We hold the following on microfiche. Please tell us when booking if you wish to use them.

General Register Office indexes 1837-1997
Births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales; and overseas registrations.

National Probate index 1858-1943
Wills and admons, England and Wales.