Cumbria Family History

Cumbria Family History

Comprising the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, plus North Lancashire and North Yorkshire

Cumbria Family History includes the family history of those who lived or died in the old traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, plus the Northern areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire. These are the county areas that were replaced by the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in 1974 – although they ‘live on’ as historic counties for cultural purposes.

This administrative rearrangement of the old historic counties can cause confusion with family historians and this page touches on the family history of Cumbria. However, for a comprehensive view of the old historic counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire and Yorkshire, check out our dedicated historic county pages.

The Cumbria Family History Society

The Cumbria Family History Society publishes a quarterly newsletter for members and holds quarterly meetings in London for those members who live in the South East of England.

Cumbria Archive Service

The Cumbria Archive Service has Archive Centres in Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal and Whitehaven. Archive records include parish records, church records, wills, electoral registers and many more. The archives hold records of Cumbrian families, businesses and local authorities; together, they help paint a vivid picture of life in the region.

Cumbria Archives also produce a very useful pdf document that lists the Cumbrian Church of England parish registers dating back to 1538. The document lists the parish records of individual parishes, together with dates. The document also shows the location of the pre-1858 probate records and bishops transcripts. Very helpfully, it also lists the historic county to which the records relate to i.e. Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire or Yorkshire.

Cumbria Newspaper Archives

Local Newspaper Archives are an indispensable resource for family historians. British Newspaper Archive holds historical newspaper records for the Cumbrian region. Here are the links for both Cumberland newspaper archives and Westmorland newspaper archives.

Related Pages