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County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF
Tel: 0845 600 6400
Fax: 01670 511 413
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri : 8.30am - 5pm

Local Studies and Family History

also known as: Family History, Genealogy, Libraries, Local History.

This page lists what local studies and family history materials can be found at Northumberland libraries.

If you want to know the history of your town or village or see what it looked like a hundred years ago, your library is a good place to start.


All branch libraries in Northumberland have reference and lending collections containing core local studies titles, plus stock relevant to their area. Larger libraries have developed strengths in particular area of local studies, for example, shipbuilding at Blyth and family history at Hexham. 

 


Newspapers
Libraries have local newspapers on microfilm from as early as 1855.  Click here for a full listing of what current and historical newspapers are available in Northumberland Libraries

 

 

Maps
The County Reference Library at Morpeth has the largest collection of maps including 25 inch Ordnance Survey Maps for the county dating from 1860s.  Other main libraries generally hold maps for their immediate surrounding area. Northumberland Collections Service at Woodhorn also has an extensive collection of Ordnance Survey maps from the 1st to provisional editions. Follow this link to their web pages.

 


Family History

There are 5 main branches in Northumberland who have a wide range of resources to support genealogist with their research: Alnwick, Berwick, Blyth, Morpeth, and Hexham Libraries

Census Records on microfilm, microfiche and CD ROM covering Northumberland from 1841 - 1901

GRO Index 1837 - 1900  (General Register Office Index of Births, Marriages & Deaths) on microfiche at Morpeth Library

Historical Electoral Registers: Blyth Library holds Blyth area electoral registers May 1929 to Oct 1940, and Oct 1945 to current register.  

Hexham Library holds South Northumberland/Hexham Constituency electoral registers for 1832-1900; thereafter at 5 yearly intervals until 1950 on microfilm; 1990+ alternate years (paper).

Parish Registers are not available in libraries. They are kept by the Northumberland Collections Service and can be accessed through their facilities at Woodhorn Museum.

 

Ancestry Library Editionis now available FREE on computers in Northumberland Libraries. Trace your family tree using Northumberland Libraries' latest "we pay so you don't have to" website. Ancestry Library Edition is a special version of the well known Ancestry.com subscription site made available free on computers in Northumberland Libraries. It's simple to use - just type in your ancestors' name and any additional detail such as when or where they were born, when they were married or when they died and within seconds Ancestry comes up with answers.

 

  • Ancestry Library Edition includes:
  • Census Records 1841 - 1901 for England & Wales (transcriptions and original images)
  • Scottish Census Records 1841 - 1901
  • Birth, Marriages & Death Index from 1837 to the present
  • British Phonebooks 1880 - 1984
  • London & Home Counties Phonebooks 1880 -1984
  • Extensive USA and Canadian records
  • Easy to use search facility

 

Access to the 1911 census is only available through the official web site at http://www.1911census.co.uk/. This is a pay to view service. As of March 2009 census returns for the north of England and Scotland are not yet available on this site.