Family history
Liverpool Record Office in Central Library is an ideal place for you to begin your family history research with support from archive staff who can guide you through the various resources we have on offer.
Computers on the 3rd Floor – Archives can be used for family and local history research. You do not need an appointment to use the computers or our microfilm and microfiche viewers.
Our Family History Helpdesk drop in is available every Tuesday 1pm - 3.30pm. The helpdesk is run by volunteers from the Liverpool and Southwest Lancashire Family History Society who provide support and advice for how to carry out your own searches. Further information can be found on their website: https://www.lswlfhs.org.uk/.
In addition, our research officer can also carry out information searches on your behalf, for a fee. To find out more about this option, follow the link to our research service page.
Sources for researching your family tree
We have a huge range of sources, much of it on microfilm, microfiche and public access computers. The Digital Library is a collection of subscription websites including Ancestry and findmypast that are free for all library members on the library computers.
Ask the family
First of all, try to find out as much as you can at home. Are any older family members still alive? Can they provide information such as dates, addresses, occupations, or religious affiliation? They may also have documents that will be useful to you. These could include birth, marriage or death certificates, entries in family bibles, copies of wills, funeral cards, even books awarded as school prizes. If you are lucky there may be some old photographs. Don't dismiss family legends or stories – these are often embellished but may contain an element of truth.
Births, marriages and deaths indexes
Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths started in England and Wales in 1837. We hold microfiche copies of the indexes to births, marriages and deaths, 1837 to 2004, often referred to as the General Register Office (GRO) Index, formerly St Catherine’s House Index. These indexes will give you sufficient information to purchase copy certificates with full details from a local register office or the General Register Office.
The Ancestry website and Find my Past websites, available free via the Digital Library on all library computers, have birth, death and marriage indexes from 1837 to 2006. The FreeBMD and the Lancashire BMD websites are also available via the Digital Library.
Census returns
Census returns give details of all the members of individual households, including children, servants, visitors and so on, who were present on the night the census was taken. You can discover names, addresses, ages, occupations and places of birth. The first national census giving details about individuals was taken in 1841. A census has been taken at 10-year intervals, except in 1941, ever since. To guarantee confidentiality the information is not released for 100 years.
Ancestry and Find My Past have all available censuses, up to 1911 and we now have access to the 1921 census. These websites require a subscription but you can access them for free via the Digital Library on any Liverpool library computer.
Parish registers
Parish registers are the main source of information for family historians before the start of civil registration in 1837. They give information about christenings, baptisms, marriages and sometimes burials.
The earliest register in the Record Office is for St Mary, Walton-on-the-Hill, which starts in 1586/87. Until registers with a standard format were introduced the amount of information varies.
Please note that many of the registers can only be consulted on microfilm or online at the Ancestry database. For registers that have not been microfilmed or digitised the original volumes can be viewed by appointment only in our search room.
Burial records
Burial records often include details of the deceased's last address, age and occupation, vital information for family history research. We hold the records of Liverpool churchyards and cemeteries. These include private cemeteries and, from the mid-nineteenth century, those maintained by the council. Records of cremation certificates / approvals from 1908 to 1992 are also available on microfilm.
Copies of inscriptions from gravestones often give biographical information about the deceased and other family members. A number of volumes of monumental inscriptions are kept in the Record Office.
The Ancestry website has digitised most of Liverpool's parish graveyards, but not the municipal cemeteries. This can be accessed for free via the Digital Library on any Liverpool library computer.
Street directories
Liverpool Street Directories start in 1766 and were published until 1970. They contain a list of names of inhabitants, an alphabetical list of streets with inhabitants (from 1839) and a list of trades and professions (from 1827). They can be a useful source for finding out where a family lived in Liverpool, but they do contain a number of errors and omissions.
The directories are available on microfilm. Some have been digitised and are available via the Digital Library on any library computer.
Electoral registers
We have electoral or voters’ registers, for Liverpool only, from 1832 to the present. The registers show who was entitled to vote in elections, but remember that the right to vote used to be much more restricted than it is today. Contact the Liverpool Record Office to find out more about consulting the registers.
Wills
If you're lucky enough to find your ancestor’s will it can tell you a lot about their relative wealth and how they lived and it may well give details of your ancestor’s relatives.
Indexes of wills from 1458 to 1837 are published by the Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, with the originals available at the Lancashire or Cheshire Record Offices.
The Ancestry website has digitised probate calendars from 1858 to 1966. These are available for free via the Digital Library on any Liverpool library computer.
Other sources
We have various leaflets and research guides covering a range of topics including burial records, poor law and parish records, to name a few. These can be sent via email upon request. Other useful sources include: newspapers, hospital records, workhouse admission registers, school records (particularly registers), records of orphanages or children's homes, court records and maps and photographs of the area. For more information about these sources contact us.