Family History Resources at Stoke Archives
For local and national history resources at Stoke-on-Trent City Archives please see Local History Resources at Stoke on Trent City Archives
Anglican Parish Registers
Free access to the 'Staffordshire Collection' on Findmypast, at archive service points and libraries in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Currently this contains around 3,000 parish registers, with 4 million entries, 1538-1900.
Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials for parishes across north Staffordshire, 1538 to c.1925, on microfiche.
A complete set of the publications of the Staffordshire Parish Register Society, which provide printed transcriptions of baptisms, marriages and burials for many Staffordshire parishes, 1536-1812.
We publish a guide to the parish registers and bishop's transcripts held across the Archive Service. Please go to the Guides to Sources page for information on how to request your free copy.
You can also download:
Bishops Transcripts
Bishops transcripts for some Staffordshire parishes on microfiche, 1551-1812.
We publish a guide to the parish registers and bishop's transcripts held across the Archive Service. Please go to the Guides to Sources page for information on how to request your free copy.
Methodist Registers
Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials for both Methodist and other nonconformist chapels within the City, 1797-1976. Pre-1925 registers are available on microfiche only.
Birth and baptism registers for Stoke-on-Trent area only, 1786-1837, on microfilm.
We publish a guide to the nonconformist registers held across the Archive Service. Please go to the Guides to Sources page for information on how to request your free copy.
General Register Office Indexes
Indexes to births, marriages and deaths only for England and Wales on microfiche, 1837-1960.
International Genealogical Index
IGI for England and Wales on microfiche.
Census returns
Census returns for North Staffordshire north of, but not including, Eccleshall, Stone and Uttoxeter, 1841-1901, on microfiche.
1881 Census Indexes for Staffordshire on microfiche and Great Britain on CD-rom.
1851 Census Indexes for part of the City on hard copy.
1871 Census Surname Indexes for North Staffordshire on hard copy.
Ancestry.com
Free access to Ancestry.com in our reading room.
Electoral Registers
Microform
North Staffordshire constituencies 1832-1901 on microfiche; Stoke-on-Trent (towns of Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton, Longton) 1857-1863 on microfilm; Stoke-on-Trent (towns of Stoke, Longton and Fenton) 1911-1915 on microfilm; Hanley (towns of Hanley and Burslem) 1885-1915 on microfilm.
Originals
City of Stoke-on-Trent from 1918-date; Biddulph, 1958-1985; Cheadle, 1979-1985; Leek, 1963-1985; Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1958, and a few earlier ones; Staffordshire Moorlands from 1985 (including Biddulph, Cheadle and Leek); Stafford and Stone, later Stafford, from 1963.
We publish a guide to the electoral registers held across the Archive Service. Please go to the Guides to Sources page for information on how to request your free copy.
Poll Books
Lists of men eligible to vote in local parliamentary elections, for Stoke-on-Trent, 1807, 1859, 1862 and 1865; and for Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1807 and 1837.
Rate Books
Owners and occupiers of individual properties in street order. Hanley 1862-1916 (incomplete); Stoke-on-Trent 1878-1922; Longton 1913 and 1915; Fenton 1915; Burslem 1911 and 1914-1916; Shelton 1907-1910 and 1915.
City of Stoke-on-Trent valuation list, 1934 with additions and alterations to 1956, complete
Poor Law Records
Westcliffe Institution, Turnhurst Road, Chell (Wolstanton and Burslem Union Workhouse): registers of births, baptisms and deaths, 1840-1959; registers of inmates, 1887-1948.
Cemetery Records on CD-ROM
Records of several cemeteries in Staffordshire from 19th to 20th centuries. Please see Latest News for up to date details of what is available.
Divorce Indexes on CD-ROM
The indexes are to petitions for divorce submitted to the following courts :
- Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Cases, 1858-1873
- Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 1873-1958
- District registries of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 1922-1958Trade Directories
Trade Directories
A collection of trade directories for both Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire, 1783-1940.
Newspapers
Staffordshire Sentinel, later Evening Sentinel, now Sentinel, from 1854, on microfilm.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 1795-1973, on microfilm.
Indexes to births, marriages and deaths in the Staffordshire Advertiser, 1795-1840, in hard copy.
Staffordshire Name Indexes
Name indexes to a variety of our collections are available on the Staffordshire Name Indexes website.