Family History Guide

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Northumberland County Council > Libraries > Free Family History > Family History Guide

Family History Guide

also known as: Family Tree Research, Researching your Family Tree.

Are you thinking about researching your family history? By using our free resources you can discover amazing and interesting facts about your ancestors. Or perhaps the BBC programme "Who Do You Think You Are?" has inspired you. So now you can follow in the footsteps of Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, John Bishop, Len Goodman, Richard Madeley, Alan Carr and J K Rowling and who knows what you might discover! To get started have a read of our guide below to find out how Northumberland Libraries can help you.

Family History

Click on one of the options below to find out more:

Books

Ancestry.com

Historical Searches

Microfilms & Microfiches

Useful Resources

Books

We hold a range of books that are perfect to help you in your family history search, they are available to be borrowed from your local library. From books that will help you get started to ones that can give you tips with Internet searching, there is sure to be something for you.

Click here to search the library catalogue to find out what family history books are available.

Free access to Ancestry.com from library computers

All libraries in Northumberland provide free access to the Ancestry.com Library Edition. This is a special version of the well known Ancestry.com subscription site. A huge amount of information is available on this website. For example, you can search census records from 1841 - 1911 for England and Wales and Birth, Marriages and Death Indexes from 1837 to the present date. So why not save some money and make use of this invaluable tool when researching your family history.

For more information on Ancestry Library Edition please click here.

Not sure where to start? It can be daunting to start to research your family history. Click here to read a easy-to-use how-to guide to find out where to begin.

Other Useful Resources

	Historical Searches of Birth, Death and Marriage Records Each Register Office within Northumberland keeps the original Births, Deaths and Marriages Registers for its own District from 1837 to the present day. For more information please click here.
	Information on microfilm and microfiche Some of our libraries have microfilm and microfiche readers enabling you to read local newspapers on microfilm from as early as 1855. Also available are Northumberland Census Records from 1841 - 1901. Other collections are available on microfilm and microfiche too. To find out more information and what libraries have readers please click here.
	Maps If you want to see what the area your family lived in used to be like; Morpeth Library has a large collection of maps including 25 inch Ordnance Survey Maps of Northumberland dating from the 1860s. For more information please click here.
	Experienced staff to answer queries All library staff can offer help and guidance on family history if you need it. This enquiry service is managed by Morpeth Library where a team of information specialists are based. They can offer advice on how to get started when researching your family tree and even assist if you have more complex queries. For more information and contact details please click here.
	Woodhorn Parish registers are not available in libraries. They are kept by the Northumberland Collections Service. They can be accessed through their facilities at Woodhorn Museum. The Local Studies library is also housed at Woodhorn. Please click here to find out what else is available at Woodhorn.