Bristol Record Office online catalogue

Search our online catalogue

There are over 300,000 catalogue records available to browse in our online catalogue.  

• Go to our online catalogue to start searching
• Within the catalogue, select the Help link in the menu on the left for helpful tips on searching.

Some of our collections are only searchable via the Access to Archives (A2A) website.  We are working towards copying these catalogues across.

Recent additions

In January 2013, we added over 30,000 new entries to the catalogue, including descriptions of the following collections:

• J S Fry and Sons, chocolate manufacturers (RefNo. 38538)
• Elizabeth Shaw Ltd, chocolate manufacturers (RefNo. 43258)
• Arnolfini artists' books (RefNo. 43371)
• Bristol South Cycling Club (RefNo. 44390)
• Fem FM radio station (RefNo. 45001)
• Bristol Rugby Club, additional papers (RefNo. 41582)
• Richard Smith biographical memoirs (RefNo. 35893/36)
• Cottle family records (RefNo. 44775)
• Roy Palmer First World War letters & records (RefNo. 42737)
• Stanley Booker (Bristol Grammar School) First World War letters (RefNo. 40715/Pers/SCB)
• Material in our Information Boxes (RefNo. Infobox)

We have also catalogued the following material transferred from the Central Library's local studies collections:

• Manuscripts of the Rev H T Ellacombe (RefNo. 44786)
• W T Sanigar collection (RefNo. 44829)

We have also transferred the following catalogues, which were previously only available on the Access to Archives website:

• Port of Bristol Authority (RefNo. PBA)
• Crew lists (RefNo. 30182)

About the catalogue

The catalogue includes material for all the types of archives we look after, such as:

• Bristol's schools
• organisations 
• council departments
• public bodies
• families
• estates
• individuals 
• ecclesiastical bodies. 

The online catalogue contains descriptive information about many of the records we hold.  Please note that it does not yet contain references to every record: catalogue data is being entered by our staff continuously and we aim to update the catalogue several times a year.

We have an ongoing programme of digitisation.  Please note that, except in the cases of some postcards and pictures,  the catalogue only has descriptions of the records rather than actual images.  To look at the records themselves, you will need to:

• visit our public search room or
• enquire about getting copies by post. 

Staff are always pleased to answer any questions you have.

Whatever aspect of Bristol's past or present you interests you, use our online catalogue to find out what relevant records we have.