Cheshire Family History Societies, Clubs, Archives etc.
There are many Cheshire family history resources, including clubs and societies, archives and other record offices, available for those of you who wish to trace ancestors from the county of Cheshire, which includes the historic Roman city of Chester. We’ll be adding more genealogical resources as they become available.
Family History Society of Cheshire
This society was set-up in 1969 to assist any individual who is interested in researching their family history in the Cheshire area. You can sign up to website membership for free (at the time of writing) and this gives you access to the all the public areas of the website. You can also attend meetings at visitor rates and sign up for newsletters. For a modest annual fee you can become a Digital or Printed Cheshire Ancestor Member and access all available services including a Quarterly Journal, access to exchange Journals, and Members’ Interests.
Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
This service is based at the Cheshire Record Office in Chester. Their service includes the identification and collection of all archives and historic publications relating to the Cheshire community. They also perform an archive service for the boroughs of Warrington and Halton.
Baptisms, marriages & burials
FindMyPast.co.uk, the subscription site for family history, holds Cheshire parish records for baptisms, marriages and burials:
Baptisms
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Baptisms 1576-1906
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Parish Baptisms 1538-1911
– Contains almost 2 million baptismal records.
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Parish Baptisms 1538-1911
– Contains almost 2 million baptismal records.
Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Baptism) 17th Century-1910
Marriages
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Marriages 1576-1906
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Parish Marriages 1538-1910
Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Marriages) 17th Century-1910
Cheshire Marriage Licence Bonds and Allegations 1606-1905
– Contains over 900,000 records.
Burials – including monument inscriptions
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Burials 1576-1906
Cheshire Diocese Of Chester Parish Burials 1538-1911
– Contains over 350,000 records.
Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Burials) 17th Century-1910
Cheshire Monumental Inscriptions
– Contains records of gravestones dating back as far as the 16th Century.
Other records
Also from FindMyPast are the following useful links for researching family history records in Cheshire:
Wills & probate
Cheshire Wills and Probate
– FindMyPast holds over 120,000 Cheshire wills and probate records spanning over 250 years.
Electoral Registers
Cheshire Electoral Registers
– Search more than 4 million records showing male landowners and leaseholders eligible to vote.
Land tax assessments
Cheshire Land Tax Assessments 1779-1832
– This findMyPast link contains details of land tax assessments made in Cheshire between 1779 and 1832.
Workhouse records
There are several FindMyPast pages dedicated to Cheshire workhouse records:
Cheshire Workhouse Records (Admissions & Discharges)
– Search for ancestors who were admitted and discharged from Cheshire workhouses between 1781 and 1911.
Also worth searching:
Cheshire Workhouse Records (Births)
Cheshire Workhouse Records (Baptisms)
Cheshire Workhouse Records (Burials)
Cheshire Workhouse Records (Deaths)
Browse by record type, event or place
Cheshire Vital Records Browse
– This FindMyPast tool is useful for searching by parish, event or record type.
Cheshire Newspaper Archives
Local newspaper archives and other historical records often compliment the more conventional birth marriage and death records and census returns. Local newspaper archives often fill missing gaps because they provide essential clues to both the date and location of an event (be it a birth, marriage or death). Other newspaper reports can provide information that is just not available from any other sources e.g. a report of criminal action etc.
Here is the direct link to the Cheshire Newspaper Archives section of the British Newspaper Archive website. This section holds archived records for many local newspapers in Cheshire. The British Newspaper Archive is a subscription based site which is constantly adding local newspaper titles from around Great Britain to its website. so even if you have visited this site before, it is always worth revisiting.