Berkshire Family History Societies, Clubs and Archives

There are many Berkshire family history societies and clubs dedicated to helping family historians who are researching ancestors from the county of Berkshire, England, UK.  We’ll be adding genealogical resources and links which can be useful to anyone researching Berks Family History.

Berkshire Family History Society

This is an active family history society for the people of Berkshire.  With around 2000 members and regular events it’s well worth joining.  They hold regular meetings across the county of Berkshire and weekly family history Advice sessions at various libraries including Newbury Library, Bracknell Library and Wokingham Library.  They also run a Family History Centre in Reading, with excellent internet facilities and access to census records and other Family History records.

Berkshire Record Office

This also offers very useful family history resources and the opportunity of visiting them at their centre in Reading, Berks.  The office holds many birth, marriage and death Records, parish records and use of internet facilities for census records etc.

Births, Marriages and Deaths

Here are some direct links to Berkshire BMD records held by the subscription based FindMyPast.co.uk:

Berkshire Baptisms – 1538-1928
– from 43 Berkshire, England Parishes
Berkshire Marriages – 1538-1927
– from 97 Berkshire, England Parishes
Berkshire Burial Records -1536-1952
– from 175 Berkshire, England Parishes

Berkshire Newspaper Archives – historic newspaper records in the Berkshire area

Local Newspaper Archives and historical newspapers can be an invaluable information resource for family historians. Information can often be found in these archives that is not available in parish records, or censuses. 

The British Newspaper Archive holds a comprehensive range of local newspaper archives – here is the link for the section dedicated to Berkshire newspaper archives. This section of the British Newspaper Archives website holds a comprehensive range of historic Berkshire newspapers. The names of the local newspapers, together with the years for which archives are available, are listed clearly and the site is easy to navigate.