Useful Websites for Local History Research
Issue 1.4: June 2015
Please send any comments or suggestions for additional sites to Hugh Conway-Jones
Gloucestershire Primary Sources
Gloucestershire Secondary Information
Gloucestershire Primary Sources top
Library
General Catalogue
A catalogue of the books, maps, sound recordings and videos
held by Gloucestershire libraries for lending and reference.
For further information about library services, click
here.
Gloucestershire
Archives Catalogue
Brief details of all collections (including local studies material) held by the Gloucestershire
Archives and a full catalogue of Anglican parish records.
For further information about the Archives services, click
here.
Gloucestershire
Archives Genealogical Database
An index to early wills, non-conformist baptisms and gaol
records held by Gloucestershire Archives. For further
information about Gloucestershire Archives services, click here.
Trans BGAS Index
An index to articles in the Transactions of the Bristol
& Gloucestershire Archaeological Society with links
to digital images of some articles. For further information
about the Society, click here.
Steam
Engines
A list of the Boulton and Watt steam engines supplied
to Gloucestershire, based on the archives held by the
Birmingham Central Library.
Additional
Local History Information
Organisations, Guidelines and Indexes to publications.
Gloucestershire Secondary Information top
Users are
advised to check information given in the following sites
against original sources:
Victoria
County History of Gloucestershire (VCH)
Eight volumes of this important reference work are available
online.
Public
Houses
Historical information on Gloucestershire pubs and breweries.
Lloyd George Survey of Land Values: Gloucestershire
A survey of land values carried out as a result of the 'People's Budget' of 1909.
Woollen
Cloth Industry
Information about the woollen cloth industry in the Dursley
and Stroud valleys, with pictures of historic scenes and
currently surviving features.
Dunkirk
Mill
Information on the history of this former woollen cloth
mill and on the processes that were carried out at such
mills.
Cheltenham
Gazetteer
The origins of roads, streets, localities, water-courses
and some buildings within the built up area of the present
borough of Cheltenham.
Forest
of Dean Coal Mines
Information about the various gales making up the Forest
of Dean coalfield.
Gloucester
Docks & the Sharpness Canal
Information about the history of what
can be seen today, with many comparisons of old and current
views.
Parish
Population Tables 1801 - 1901
Population figures for towns, villages and sometimes hamlets
recorded every ten years from 1801 to 1901 with details
given for the individual parishes of the cities of Gloucester
and Bristol.. The information has been taken from Volume
II of the Victoria History of Gloucestershire published
in 1907.
National
Archives (Formerly PRO) Catalogue
A catalogue of the archives of central government, courts
of law and other national bodies held at Kew. For further
information about the National Archives, click
here.
National
Register of Archives
An index to collections of records, searchable by Corporate
Name, Personal Name, Family Name and Place Name, and a
directory of repositories. This was compiled by the former
Historic Manuscripts Commission which is now part of the
National Archives.
Access
to Archives (A2A) Catalogue
A catalogue of selected groups of archives held by local
record offices and other repositories.
British
Library Catalogue
A catalogue of the collection held by the British Library,
including those books that can be requested through local
libraries. For further information about services provided
by the British Library, click here.
1901
Census
Census information for England and Wales provided by the
National Archives. Use of the index based on transcribed
entries is free and further details with a digital image
of the original entry can be downloaded for a fee.
PCC
Wills
Images of the wills proved at the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury in the period 1384 to 1858 and now held in
the National Archives. Use of the index is free and a
digital image can be downloaded for a fee.
National
Portrait Gallery Index
An index to a selection of the portraits held by the National
Portrait Gallery with images of about half of those selected.
For further information about the Gallery, click here.
Listed
Buildings
Official descriptions of all listed buildings and photographs
of many of them on English Heritage's Images of England
website.
Local
and Private Acts
Chronological lists of Local Acts of Parliament passed
between 1797 and the end of 2002 and Private (later described
as Personal) Acts passed between 1539 and the end of 2002.
ViewFinder
Selected pictures of England at Work and the photographs
of Henry Taunt of Oxford compiled by English Heritage.
The collection includes over 1500 images of industrial
heritage and Cotswold scenes from Gloucestershire.
Church
Plans
Plans relating to applications for grants from the Incorporated
Church Building Society between 1818 and 1982, including
170 churches in modern Gloucestershire. A software download
is needed to see the plans at large scale.
Historical
Directories
A digital library of local and trade directories for England
and Wales, from 1750 to 1919. Gloucestershire directories
include Pigot 1844, Hunt 1849, Slater 1852, Kelly 1856,
Slater 1868, Kelly 1897 and Kelly 1914. For details of
the powerful search facilities, click on Find by Keywords/Technical
FAQs/Advanced Retrieval Methods.
Modern
Maps
Modern maps available from Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map
website.
Old
Maps
Large scale Ordnance Survey maps from c1890.
Google
Internet Search
A powerful search engine for finding information and images
on the internet.
The
Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
Search and view the original text of this famous newspaper.
(Requires input of a recent Gloucestershire Library card
number in the sequence 77xxxxxx.)
The
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Search and view the original text of full runs of 48 influential national and
regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments
of 19th century British society.
(Requires input of a recent Gloucestershire Library card
number in the sequence 77xxxxxx.)
British Newspaper Archive
Search millions of pages of historical newspapers from the British Library's vast collection,
including the Gloucester Citizen, Cheltenham Chronicle,
Cheltenham Looker-On and Gloucestershire Echo.
A search is free and a digital image of the original item can be downloaded for a fee.
Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography
Search and view the life stories of over 50,000 people
who have shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond.
(Requires input of a recent Gloucestershire Library card
number in the sequence 77xxxxxx.)
London
Gazette
Search and view most issues of this official newspaper
from 1752 to the present.
National Secondary Information top
Users are advised to check information given in the following sites against original sources:
1881
Census
A transcription of census information for the British
Isles available on the Family Search website. For further
information about the Family Search project, click here.
International
Genealogical Index
Information on baptisms and marriages, transcribed from
selected parish records. For further information about
the Family Search website, click here.
Medieval
Markets and Fairs
A gazetteer of markets and fairs in England and Wales
to 1516 with indexes of Persons and Institutions.
British
History On-line
A pilot digital library of British historical sources
built by the Institute of Historical Research and the
History of Parliament Trust.
Old
Bailey Trials
Fully searchable texts of the Proceedings of the Old Bailey,
London, during the 18th century. Additional texts are
due to be added during 2004 to complete coverage of the
period from 1674 to 1834.
The Workhouse
This site is dedicated to the workhouse - its buildings,
inmates, staff and administrators, even its poets
Local Population Studies
A number of papers are available to download which consider a range of sources and methods commonly used in local population history. These vary in sophistication and complexity and are accompanied by worked examples.