Family history

Starting research

Get as much information as possible from other relatives - for example: names, dates of birth etc; where the family comes from; is anyone else in the family already researching. Also copies of any existing birth, marriage, or death certificates in their possession. Then read a good book on the subject. This will give you hints on interviewing elderly relatives, the types of material you will need to look at, in what format they are likely to be, and where they are available. It will give you guidelines on good note taking, organisation, and the correct behaviour in libraries and record offices. The latter can be very strict on silence, the use of pencil only, and the handling of fragile original documents. Note: once you get back to 1837 you will need to use record offices and be willing to travel to far flung parts of the country to carry on your research.

Main sources in Bristol Reference Library

The main starting point for most people is searching the St. Catherines House Index of births, marriages and deaths. This, civil registration, is available on microfiche from 1837 (when it started) until 1992. This will give you the code numbers to apply to a national centre for copies of the original certificates. The index covers England and Wales only and is arranged by year, then by the quarters within that year, and then by surname. See below for details of microfiche known to be missing.

The other main national record we hold is the International Genealogical Index, commonly referred to as the IGI, compiled by the Mormon Church from the original parish registers and other early sources. This covers baptisms and marriages and is arranged by county for England, and then by surname. There are separate sequences for Wales, Scotland, and other parts of the world. Bristol historically falls within Gloucestershire for administrative purposes and is not well covered by the microfiche edition. It is worthwhile remembering that the pre-1974 county boundaries are the most relevant for family history research. The IGI is now available on the Mormon Church website.

The next useful source are the census returns, these actually list households - parents, children, and possibly other relatives present on census night. These are available from 1841 to 1901, personal information not being released for 100 years. This library holds returns for the area that was the county of Avon. There are a number of indexes available, compiled by volunteers - instructions on using them can be found at the beginning of each. Libraries usually only hold the census returns for their own county or district.

The library has a good set of Bristol street directories for the period 1790-1973. There is a partial set of poll books, ward lists, and electoral registers, the largest gap in these holdings is from 1914 to 1951.

The Ancestry database provides access to the census returns for England and Wales 1841-1901, the 'freebmd' records and a large number of datasets from the USA and Canada. You can use it from any library computerand also at Bristol Record Office. We have a dedicated computer for Ancestry use.

There is a variety of other material available, all of it can be found in the catalogues under the classification number 929. Material of general and local use is on the open shelves. If you cannot find what you want please ask the staff. None of us are experts in this field, but we will do our best to help.

To view the microfiche make a booking by ringing the Reference Library on 0117 903 7202.

For Internet research try our list of useful family history websites.

1901 Census

The 1901 census is available on MICROFILM only and not fiche.

It's advisable to book in advance as we only have 4 machines (Tel. 0117 903 7202 - see Charges for booking fees).

We have Bristol and Barton Regis, part of South Glos. and part of North Somerset, but not the whole of the ex-Avon area.

Bath Library have the Bath area and Weston-Super-Mare have their area.

We have a printed street index for the City of Bristol, Bedminster, Clifton, St. George and Stapleton areas (includes pub names). Also a printed list of villages.

We do not have a surname index - this is currently only available on the web at 1901 Census Online.

Bristol Record Office have bought the City of Bristol, Barton Regis,Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Keynsham, Long Ashton, Clutton and Axbridge only, on microfiche.

Missing GRO microfiche

In the period Nov-Jan 2002/3 we had a large number of GRO (births, marriages and deaths) microfiche stolen, the letters circa S-Z from all years and events and the entire years from 1984-1992.

Check the lists in Related Documents to find out if your research will be affected. Tip: once the file opens, use the binoculars symbol to jump to the years you want to check.