Research sources
The following are the standard sources for family history. In general terms there is a much wider range of sources available for family history research for the 19th and 20th centuries.
The system for registering births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales was introduced in 1837. Indexes are available to these records, meaning that searches are possible. These indexes are now available online on websites such as ancestry (a subscription site, but available to use free of charge at your local library), and FreeBMD (transcribed by volunteers with coverage at present better for the earlier years of civil registration). Some record offices and larger libraries also have the indexes available on microfiche.
The census returns are amongst the most useful sources of historical information about families and individuals. The first national census was taken in 1801. Since then it has been repeated every ten years, except in wartime. As the returns are closed for a period of 100 years, those currently available for consultation by the public cover the census years between 1841 - 1901.
1801 - 1831: The census returns are purely numerical in content and contain no personal information.
1841 census: The first detailed national census was taken on Sunday 6th June, 1841. It lists the name, age, sex and occupation (sometimes fairly generalised) of each person in each household. It also indicates whether a person was born in Staffordshire or not by the use of a "Y" or "N", but it does not record the parish of origin. It was usual to apply the "rounding-down" principle with ages for anyone over the age of 15. The age was rounded down to the nearest five years.
1851 -1901: The 1851 census records full names, exact ages, sex, occupation, trade or profession, family relationships and parish and county of birth. Addresses, such as they were, are given, although it should be remembered that there was little street-numbering, particularly in rural areas.
The subsequent census returns gradually record more information. By 1891, more detail is recorded concerning employment status and the size of individual dwelling houses and in 1901 whether a house is in occupation or is being built. It is also worth remembering that as the population increased and urban areas developed during the later 19th century, the census returns become comparatively bigger and take longer to work through.
Within Staffordshire Libraries you can access all the census returns that are currently publicly available for free via ancestry. Various other websites offer access to census returns, but most are chargeable. However, the 1881 census for this country is available to search for free at the family search website.
All major libraries within Staffordshire hold census returns for their local area on microfiche. The Archive Service also provides access to the census returns for the county.
Trade directories provide lists of principal inhabitants and trades people in particular places. They were published every few years, although not on a consistent basis and can be useful supplementary sources to the census returns, since they can help to locate people in the years between each census. They also pre-date the earliest census returns, the two major directories for Staffordshire prior to this date being those published in 1818 and 1834. All major trade directories for Staffordshire (and some adjoining counties) can be accessed via the Archive Service and at all major libraries in Staffordshire. You can view a selection of old trade directories through the historical directories website.
These list persons eligible to vote according to the franchise in force at the time. This means that, although they can be very useful, the earlier registers are only dealing with a relatively minor percentage of the population. The Archive Service holds electoral registers for most parts of the county from 1832-1908, 1918-1939 and 1945-1974. Main libraries hold some past copies of electoral registers for the local area. The arrangement of electoral registers varies at different times.
Before civil registration was introduced, family historians are largely dependent on parish registers of births, marriages and burials. Parish churches were obliged to keep such registers from the mid-16th century onwards. The amount of information recorded in them will vary depending on the date, and earlier registers contain less useful information than later ones.
The Archive Service holds original registers for the majority of parish churches in the county. These are available on microfiche. Most larger libraries have copies of parish registers for their local area.
Bishops’ transcripts are the diocesan copies of parish registers which were produced from c 1660 onwards. They can be useful where gaps occur in the series of original registers. They are held at Lichfield Record Office and the holdings cover Derbyshire, north Shropshire and north-east Warwickshire as well as Staffordshire.
The International Genealogical Index (IGI) is an index to baptisms and marriages, transcribed from original entries. It is extremely useful to anyone undertaking family history research, although it must be remembered that most entries come from years prior to the end of the 19th century. Most record offices and larger libraries will have copies of the IGI for their local area on microfiche.
The family search website includes free access to the IGI.
Registers survive from the late 18th century for a variety of nonconformist denominations and a number of original registers are deposited with the Archive Service. They are available for consultation on microform at all of the Archive Service points. Full details of holdings can be found in ‘Nonconformist Records’, a handlist produced by the Archive Service.
Roman Catholic registers of baptism, marriage and burial survive mainly from the period after 1778, although there are a few earlier registers but the originals are deposited with the Archdiocese of Birmingham Archives.
These can be particularly helpful for establishing family relationships as well as the social and economic status of individuals. Original wills for the diocese of Lichfield wills are held at Lichfield Record office from the 16th century until 1858. Copy wills are held from 1858 -1928.