Family history - where to start

These include our collections of original documents, transcriptions and copies as well as free access to the Ancestry web resource for customers at Gloucestershire Archives and any library.

Customers at Gloucestershire Archives, any library or Gloucestershire Family History Society's Centre can access Ancestry free of charge or you can subscribe at home via Ancestry.co.uk.

Customers at Gloucestershire Archives or any library can access Find My Past free of charge while on site.

Indexes and transcripts

• Genealogical database including wills and inventories, 1541-1858, the gaol calendars, 1815-1879, parish overseers' settlement papers, pre-1834, and some nonconformist registers, 19th century
• General index to personal names and other specialist indexes compiled from the catalogues
• Indexes and transcripts of some parish registers (on-going)
• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) compiled by the Latter Day Saints with access to the index on-line for the most up-to-date version

Civil Registration Records

General Register Office Index, 1837-1996 (formerly known as the St Catherine's House Index) gives limited information so that a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate can be obtained from the General Register Office or the Superintendent of the district in which the registration took place

Census enumerators' returns

Microfilm copies of the census returns, 1841 - 1901, for the whole of Gloucestershire including Bristol, with street indexes for Gloucester and Cheltenham

Church and chapel registers and bishops transcripts

• Registers of many of the parishes in the diocese of Gloucester with bishops transcripts (contemporary diocesan copies of the registers). View a list of parish registers.
• Registers of many of the nonconformist chapels in Gloucestershire. A list of these can be found in the Non-conformist Records Guide

Probate Records: wills, administrations and inventories

• Wills and administrations proved in the Diocese of Gloucester, 1541-1858, and wills proved in the Gloucester Probate Court, 1858-1941, and Gloucestershire Inventories, 1587-1800

Records for Criminals

• Admission registers and other records of the County Gaol and Houses of Correction, 1780s to 20th century (Q/SG, Q/GC, Q/Gh, Q/Gla, Q/Gli, Q/Gn)
• Records of the Gloucestershire Quarter Sessions from the mid-17th century and the Petty Sessions from the mid-19th century (Q, PS)

Records for the Poor

• Parish settlement, apprenticeship and bastardy records for many parishes in Gloucestershire, mainly 18th and early 19th century (you will find these by searching for P[parish number]/OV/ in the Finding Ref box in the online catalogue). Records of the Boards of Guardians including admission and discharge registers for the Union Workhouses, 1834 to early 20th century

Mental health records

• Records for the 1st and 2nd County Asylums in Gloucester, 19th and 20th century including admission and discharge registers and case papers. Please note that medical records less than 100 years old are not available for research but can be accessed through the NHS Partnership trust. Records of the private asylums in Gloucestershire

Coroner's records

• Records from the county Coroners from 1844 including registers of inquests and inquest files. Please note that these records can be incomplete, especially for the Cheltenham/north Cotswold area and that records less than 75 years old can only be accessed through the Coroner's Office
• Some earlier records survive for Gloucester (GBR, D1406), Tewkesbury (TBR) and the south of the county (D260)
• Local newspapers often include detailed reports of Inquests

School Records

• Records of many of the schools in Gloucestershire (enter the name of the place or school that you wish in the Any Text box on the online catalogue, and look for Finding Refs beginning with S or P prefixes)
• Lists of evacuee children who were admitted to county schools during WW2

Records relating to Employment

• A wide variety of records relating to employees, the police, the clergy, apprentices (search on the word apprentice* in the Any Text box on the online catalogue), freemen and Freeminers. Records of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars

Electoral registers and Poll Books

• The poll books from 1763 and electoral registers from 1832 include the names of those entitled to vote. They cover the whole county but do not include every person over 21 years old until 1928

Trade and Street Directories

• These survive from the late 18th century and cover the whole county with individual volumes for Gloucester, Cheltenham and some of the market towns in the county.  A range are available for you to view in the research room (GAL).

Newspapers

• Gloucester Journal, 1722-1992 and The Citizen, 1876-2004, with other county papers